Some people keep saying this, but that's not my recollection, nor does it match up with old Google Maps reviews, which leaned towards high praise after it came out in 2005. E.g.
About.com - 2005. Five stars. "Google Maps are incredible. They're very intuitive, well designed, interactive, and the search capabilities are amazing. While there are still some snags, the site is one to be utilized if you're looking for directions or maps of anyplace."
CNET - 2006. "Google's map and directions service, Google Maps Beta, is out in a full release version called Google Local. Google Local rolls the phone book, maps, and driving directions into one big, interactive ball that's handy and just plain fun to use."
Google Maps was definitely one of my favorite smartphone apps back in 2006. (Plus everyone loved their satellite views starting in 2005.)
Heck, Apple bent over backwards to put Google Maps into the iPhone at the last minute for its debut in 2007. You don't do that for junk.
Even more importantly for the iPhone, Google had been using Maps to collect cell tower stats from all the smartphones with GPS that had come before it. This allowed the GPS-less first iPhone to later get location services by cell tower id.
So, no, I don't remember Google Maps getting panned at all. Perhaps you're thinking of other, earlier map services.
I don't recall anything about Google scanning emails for copyrighted material. What was the reason they gave for that?
As for the Google Books project, they're also partnered with dozens of universities and libraries, as well as settling any remaining issues with book publishers. They're good with it for now. The settlement with authors was disapproved by a judge so that remains an issue. But Google wasn't "publishing books" without the authors' consent in the first place AFAIK.
There's some excellent resources if you wish to research it some:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Books
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Books_Library_Project
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"No theatrics and no more personal attacks, just stick to the logic and tell me why I don't have any argument ~ Jragosta/2012
melior diabolus quem scies
"No theatrics and no more personal attacks, just stick to the logic and tell me why I don't have any argument ~ Jragosta/2012
Actually, yes, that first five star review was from March 12, 2005. The earliest mention I find is in this Feb 9, 2005 blog, which talked about "how the astonishing Google Maps service is accomplished."
You're welcome to dig up any negative reviews from back then and show them to us. Who knows, perhaps my memory is faulty. But you have to prove it :)
My only negative memory is that, at first, a lot of addresses seemed offset by two houses. However, the desktop version let you move markers to correct that (within reason). Everyone liked that part, because few road or business maps were accurate back then.
As for the mobile version, which is what we're really talking about, it was very well received. There was nothing else like it.
Sure, but that only speaks badly for Apple today, not Google back then.
Although the article mentions the illegal circumventing of Safari privacy protections, the interviewer apparently did not not ask for any comments from Mr. Jones related to that privacy violation after he stated that he trusted Google. Perhaps Google did nothing harmful with the data once they acquired it but the technique used to gain protected information should have been part of any discussion regarding Google's trustworthiness, especially when comparing the organization to Apple with respect to privacy.
Life is too short to drink bad coffee.
Life is too short to drink bad coffee.
Although the article mentions the illegal circumventing of Safari privacy protections, the interviewer apparently did not not ask for any comments from Mr. Jones related to that privacy violation after he stated that he trusted Google. Perhaps Google did nothing harmful with the data once they acquired it but the technique used to gain protected information should have been part of any discussion regarding Google's trustworthiness, especially when comparing the organization to Apple with respect to privacy.
Kudos for actually watching the interview.
melior diabolus quem scies
"No theatrics and no more personal attacks, just stick to the logic and tell me why I don't have any argument ~ Jragosta/2012
melior diabolus quem scies
"No theatrics and no more personal attacks, just stick to the logic and tell me why I don't have any argument ~ Jragosta/2012
I'm glad I have the Google Maps app for transit, and I'm glad Apple's Maps app will hand off searches to it automatically... so that I can do the search in Apple's app even when I want transit.
I thought I'd be using the Google App semi-regularly whenever Apple's app fell short... but funny, it never comes up! Not once. (I'm in the US... I know in other countries there are places where Google is top and places where Apple Maps are best.)
The dealbreaker for me even if I DID like Google's app and weird UI... no Contacts integration! The most common places I'm going to/from are the homes and businesses of friends and professional contacts. In Apple's app (the new one AND the old Google-data one) you just start typing the person's name and you've got it. It will even present a choice of Work, Home, etc. if needed.
Google Maps doesn't do that. Apparently, not even if you let Google have all your contacts. Apparently, not even on Android itself! Hard to believe. That's a basic function of a smart device with maps, and after all these years of Apple doing it right, Google still can't?
Meanwhile I just love lots of thoughtful touches about how Apple's new app works and looks (except for the the smallest roads being too pale). It's out of my way. Google's app makes me feel like I'm fighting it... using it. I'm too aware of the app.
I also really like something that never gets mentioned: Apple's new Maps app essentially combines Google Maps and Google Earth (a toy maybe, but an awesome one). Now I've deleted Google Earth, since the entire globe has 3D terrain in Apple Maps (even places without 3D buildings).
P.S. I was out with die-hard Android users the other day... they couldn't find we were meeting people... Apple Maps could! I don't know which has more errors--but they both have plenty, only people are trained to jump on Apple's errors and shrug off Google's. A year ago (the Google days) I'd get errors all the time--I'd shrug and try another way to find the place. Still useful even if Google wasn't always right. Today, I really NOTICE those same kinds of errors. The media has trained me! It's no wonder people think mapping errors are some new thing Apple invented :p
The Apple Maps "problem" is a lot like the old antenna "problem" it seems to me: whole LOT of people complaining on behalf of OTHER people who they assume are having problems... but not so many people actually complaining on their OWN behalf. That's known as: a lot of smoke, not much fire.
Agreed. I just changed to Yahoo on all my devices! :)
I wish Apple would by Yahoo for search to go around Google, Sprint to go around the telecom companies and Dish to circumvent the Media companies.
They wouldn't even have to buy them outright, just take a controlling interest.
P.S. AI, when I hit the link "Comments" shouldn't I go to the start of the comments section and not the start of the Article? Great website, BTW! :)
It was an obvious dig at apple from a sycophant executive that wants to claim me too status on googles executive ladder. So when he is up for review he can say see I put apple down too. I am loyal to the company. I would not have a google product or use a google product since they started circumventing my security settings in my own browser so they could sell me to there advertisers. That was the last straw. Google is an absolute lie of a company. I want nothing to do with them. You cant trust anything they do. They have been caught so many times by so many different countries and companies sniffing where they should not be that it is comical when they say "Oh that was just a glitch we didnt really mean to do that". What they really ment to say was "damn we got caught again, we will just plead stupidity and it will all blow over".
I am really happy for those that use google but as for me and mine I would not touch them with a 30 meter cattle prod.
How about some of those Eric Shmidt Quotes about privacy:
“We know where you are. We know where you’ve been. We can more or less know what you’re thinking about.”
“If you have something that you don’t want anyone to know maybe you shouldn’t be doing it in the first place”
“Every young person one day will be entitled automatically to change his or her name on reaching adulthood in order to disown youthful hijinks stored on their friends’ social media sites.”
“Just remember when you post something, the computers remember forever”
About getting data from Facebook:
“We are willing to get it one way or another, with or without deal.”
“We Want People To Be More Logged Into Google.”
“You can trust us with your data”
Also seriously does this guy believe google is an A or A+ company? What heroin induced haze is he living in? The only thing I can figure is
like I said before is that he is trying to suck his way up the corporate ladder looking good for the lead executive team.
"DO NO EVIL"
Really? Where did your article say Google was publishing books without the author's permission? Perhaps spending less time laughing and more time reading might be in order. I linked the complete history for you in my previous post, which includes Google Print, if you're at all concerned with what Google say they intended to accomplish rather than what you'd apparently rather think it was.
melior diabolus quem scies
"No theatrics and no more personal attacks, just stick to the logic and tell me why I don't have any argument ~ Jragosta/2012
melior diabolus quem scies
"No theatrics and no more personal attacks, just stick to the logic and tell me why I don't have any argument ~ Jragosta/2012
I am a Realtor in Arizona who drives on an almost daily basis to a variety of properties. Apple Maps has not missed once. Not once. One of my clients was driving their own car and had entered the same addresses on their Android/Google device. I did the same on my iPhone using Apple Maps. Guess what? Their route almost always took them a longer way while I ended up at all of the destinations ahead of schedule. My client commented, saying that he thought Apple Maps didn't work and he had no idea that it actually worked better than the Google Maps on his Samsung Galaxy S3.
This is just the experience of two people in Arizona, but positive nonetheless.
Because Apple has shown such a positive track record when it comes to deploying its internet-based services? LOL
As for the apple maps vs. google maps, I honestly have been using apple maps since there inception (beta developer versions) and it has never failed me yet in multiple cities, and different areas, Turn by turn has worked flawlessly without problem. Google has a big issue with apple not using there maps because of loosing the ad revenue stream, that is the only reason google built there own stand alone map app and finally coughed up turn by turn and other features that were missing. Apple got tired of not having those features that google told them were "only for android" and did something about it.
Google maps both the old apple maps and the new standalone have flaws, and glitches. Googles mapping system (old apple maps) was horrible on my iphone 3g when i first started using it and directed me to the wrong location quite a few times.
Apples maps is improving day by day and will eventually get all of the kinks worked out. But for me right now Apples maps app does everything I need and does it well with full integration with siri and iOS services. Honestly I dont need google maps for anything at all currently. Others mileage may vary, but like I said in my previous post im happy with google not shoving ads in my face and tracking my every move and selling my demographic to advertisers and the more I can stop that by not using there apps the less irritating and peaceful and private my life will be.
"Yahoo has entered into an advertising deal with Google by which the search engine giant will run its ads on some of Yahoo’s websites..."
http://techcircle.vccircle.com/2013/02/08/yahoo-signs-an-online-advertising-deal-with-google/
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"No theatrics and no more personal attacks, just stick to the logic and tell me why I don't have any argument ~ Jragosta/2012
melior diabolus quem scies
"No theatrics and no more personal attacks, just stick to the logic and tell me why I don't have any argument ~ Jragosta/2012
Because Apple has shown such a positive track record when it comes to deploying its internet-based services? LOL
I will give you one caveat Mobile me was not very good and did have a lot of problems. I agree there, but iCloud for me has been seamless and has had very little issues.
In fact it works so well syncing my music, emails, documents, photos, contacts, calendar appointments, bookmarks and tons of other stuff that i dont notice it doing it, which is how it should be. The data just shows up on all of my iDevices and computers. Of which I have many.
There have been a few glitches here and there but have been resolved by a restore from iCloud, and the problem is gone.
Your mileage may vary but for me iCloud has been a very good experience.
Google Maps is becoming a joke these days. I can not tell you how many time I am standing in front of a place I was looking for only to have Google Maps stay the location was in a completely different place. They seem to have the biggest issue with places which are on strip malls. To show you how bad it was, I was on an Android phone which is suppose to be better than the apple version on IOS5 on my wife's phone and her google maps showed the location to be in a different place than the Android version. It obvious to me that Google is using two different databases for their maping programs one for IOS devices and one for Android.
Oh BTW, my tomtom got it right, seem like their POI database is much better, I trust my TomTom over google maps any day.
Even among Android devices it is not consistent, I was on a recent trip and used turn by turn on my android phone and it got me exactly where i needed to go. However the person i was traveling with got lost going to the same location. He was using a different phone and version of Android, which obviously had a different map version. It found the right location but could not resolve the fact the place was on on the highway but in a business park next to the highway. It told them down the highway, made them get off the exit go over the over pass then back on the highway heading in the opposite direction they were coming from. Then told them to stop on the highway since they reach their destination. Talk about taking you life in your hands. The person had to go ask someone for directions to how to get into the business park.
The other thing I have notice is Google seems to know they have lots of wrong places in their data base, some of these wrong location have an extra item that show up when you click on the marker it will ask you if this marker is in the right place. However, most times this question comes up on location which are already in the right place, it the one which are wrong which do not allow you to tell them it is wrong.
I am not saying Apple product is better since I have very limited experience with it, But Google maps is starting to have some serious issues and I am not talking about it 3D picture looking wrong or Street View being wrong. Their address database is screw up and sometime it does not even know a road exist that has been around for 100 yrs.
Google is also rely in the user to tell them things are wrong, so if someone wanted to mess with google they can begin reporting things which are obviously correct as wrong. How much time do you thing Google invest in fact checking and making sure it is correct.
Well of course you're never wrong. . . What part of "distribute" means the same as they're publishing a book, and when did a claim made by a litigant become true simply because they said so? By your inferred rule Apple would have been found guilty hundreds of times already.
Publishing books as you claim they were doing is a far cry from snippets of a book delivered in a web-search result, which is what they actually did in a Google search. Even your new link doesn't claim Google is publishing books without the author's permission. Keep looking. It's gotta be out there, as evil as you apparently consider this devious plan to be.
By the way the AAP is the group that settled with Google.
http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/news/2012/10/04/google-settles-with-publisher-group-aap.html
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"No theatrics and no more personal attacks, just stick to the logic and tell me why I don't have any argument ~ Jragosta/2012
melior diabolus quem scies
"No theatrics and no more personal attacks, just stick to the logic and tell me why I don't have any argument ~ Jragosta/2012
Totally agree. I used iDisk all the time just as a quick way to copy projects from my work computer to my MBP or home iMac so I could continue working on them. Now with iCloud that is impossible. I have not put even one file on iCloud. I whipped together my own file management service over http which I run on a server in our datacenter. It works pretty much like Dropbox and has the added security of being private.
Life is too short to drink bad coffee.
Life is too short to drink bad coffee.
As for the Google Books project, they're also partnered with dozens of universities and libraries, as well as settling any remaining issues with book publishers. They're good with it for now. The settlement with authors was disapproved by a judge so that remains an issue. But Google wasn't "publishing books" without the authors' consent in the first place AFAIK.
OK, this is simply a brazen lie. Of course they were, and there is no possibility to deny it. The fact the they "partnered" with universities is irrelevant since those entities didn't own the copyrights either. The best you get out of those "partnerships" is that Google conspired with dozens of universities and libraries to commit thousands of copyright violations.
Two things. First, shortly after Apple Maps caused somebody problems in Australia, Google's Maps did the same. So not sure why Google is talking here. Second, I usually use Navigon, and thought I would try Apple's Maps again around where I live in Ann Arbor Michigan. My experience is Apple's maps are better looking than Google's, and they render faster. I also find the App has no problem with street locations and names. The weak part of the product is Apple's reliance on Yelp for Point of Data information. Yesterday, Yelp had Lowes, Kroger, and Home Goods on the wrong side of the street a block off. I don't think this causes problems when getting driving directions because Apple doesn't rely on Yelp for address information when giving directions. Yet, it is annoying if you are trying to find something based on what you see on the Map.
It will be interesting to see how Apple fixes the Map App. It is getting data from other sources, and my understanding is it has to rely on the other sources to correct data errors (e.g. yelp). Google's advantage is it has a staff that can correct errors with location data on the fly without going to a third party to do it.
Really? Where did your article say Google was publishing books without the author's permission? Perhaps spending less time laughing and more time reading might be in order. I linked the complete history for you in my previous post, which includes Google Print, if you're at all concerned with what Google say they intended to accomplish rather than what you'd apparently rather think it was.
They made them available on the internet without the copyright holder's permission. And, frankly, it doesn't require publishing to commit a copyright violation. Simply making a single illegal copy is the copyright violation. Making additional copies and distributing them -- i.e., returning book content to a web browser -- are separate offenses.
Your lies have simply gone too far in this instance. There is absolutely no possibility of credibly denying that Google broke the law by committing thousands of copyright violations. Brazenly attempting to do so shows us your true character and complete lack of honesty or decency.
OK, this is simply a brazen lie. Of course they were, and there is no possibility to deny it. The fact the they "partnered" with universities is irrelevant since those entities didn't own the copyrights either. The best you get out of those "partnerships" is that Google conspired with dozens of universities and libraries to commit thousands of copyright violations.
Yes, but the real issue is does the copying of the copyrighted material amount to copyright infringement? Not all copying of copyright works for commercial purposes amounts to infringement. Google is relying on a fair-use defense, which I think is a valid defense. What Google did wasn't much different than what Sony did when it came out with its Beta Max players that allowed people to copy copyrighted works from the TV. Content holders argued that Sony was liable for contributory copyright infringement. The Supreme Court sided with Sony claiming that Sony's facilitation of the copying of copyrighted works was fair-use largely because Sony was doing something that advanced the public good in a way that didn't significantly deprive the copyright holders of income.
Google was definitely benefiting the public in a way that didn't injury copyright holders. If anything, Google was going to make them more money because all those works that largely were out of print could easily be located. Google would show people excerpts of the works, and tell people where to acquire the works. In some cases, Google would have offered to sell people the works with the authors' permission. Since copyright infringement liability is huge, Google, unlike Sony, decided to opt for trying to settle the matter. I wish Google would have fought it as it seems like a straight forward fair-use defense.
