Apple

[thehawk]

It really is a religious discussion these days.

Unfortunately, this.

I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing.  It means the consumer doesn't really make a bad choice, assuming he understands what he needs in a smartphone.  We can get into the whole open source vs proprietary application development but that doesn't really affect the consumer any more since there are very few applications that are only available on one platform or the other (Google maps being the most obvious exception and maybe Java; not really sure if there are actual apps that are iPhone-only).

So are there any plans for Google to develop a Maps app for the iphone?

There is.  Its supposed to be out before the end of the year (admittedly a wide window).  The other issue will be that any time there is a 'link' to the maps app (for example touching an address in a web page or contact), it will go to the apple maps app and not the Google app.

[Richard Chuggar]

It really is a religious discussion these days.

Unfortunately, this.

I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing.  It means the consumer doesn't really make a bad choice, assuming he understands what he needs in a smartphone.  We can get into the whole open source vs proprietary application development but that doesn't really affect the consumer any more since there are very few applications that are only available on one platform or the other (Google maps being the most obvious exception and maybe Java; not really sure if there are actual apps that are iPhone-only).

So are there any plans for Google to develop a Maps app for the iphone?

I thought Apple was banishing Google to the curb for daring to develop the Android OS.

Doubt it. Apple was busy patenting the curb

Does this mean that Weebs has to pay royalties?

Or just rent?

HE'S DEAD

[Yeti]

So since the shitty new Apple Maps app doesn't support transit directions, anybody know of a good, free app that can reproduce the transit directions that the old Google Maps app used to give me?

Yea, www.androidphones.com

That site doesn't work, just like your Android phone.

It works pretty well as it powers through 20GB of data each month.

[PenPho]

So since the shitty new Apple Maps app doesn't support transit directions, anybody know of a good, free app that can reproduce the transit directions that the old Google Maps app used to give me?

Yea, www.androidphones.com

That site doesn't work, just like your Android phone.

It works pretty well as it powers through 20GB of data each month.

This comment combined with your avatar makes me not hate my internet life for a fleeting moment.

[ChuckD]

It really is a religious discussion these days.

Unfortunately, this.

I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing.  It means the consumer doesn't really make a bad choice, assuming he understands what he needs in a smartphone.  We can get into the whole open source vs proprietary application development but that doesn't really affect the consumer any more since there are very few applications that are only available on one platform or the other (Google maps being the most obvious exception and maybe Java; not really sure if there are actual apps that are iPhone-only).

So are there any plans for Google to develop a Maps app for the iphone?

I thought Apple was banishing Google to the curb for daring to develop the Android OS.

Doubt it. Apple was busy patenting the curb

Does this mean that Weebs has to pay royalties?

Or just rent?

Weebs got his curb from his brother. His brother got it after it fell off a truck that transports stolen goods.

[J. Walter Weatherman]

It really is a religious discussion these days.

Unfortunately, this.

I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing.  It means the consumer doesn't really make a bad choice, assuming he understands what he needs in a smartphone.  We can get into the whole open source vs proprietary application development but that doesn't really affect the consumer any more since there are very few applications that are only available on one platform or the other (Google maps being the most obvious exception and maybe Java; not really sure if there are actual apps that are iPhone-only).

So are there any plans for Google to develop a Maps app for the iphone?

I thought Apple was banishing Google to the curb for daring to develop the Android OS.

http://allthingsd.com/20120926/apple-google-maps-talks-crashed-over-voice-guided-directions/

Spoken turn-by-turn navigation has been a free service offered through Google's Android mobile OS for a few years now. But it was never part of the deal that brought Google's Maps to iOS. And sources say Apple very much wanted it to be. Requiring iPhone users to look directly at handsets for directions and manually move through each step — while Android users enjoyed native voice-guided instructions — put Apple at a clear disadvantage in the mobile space. And having chosen Google as its original mapping partner, the iPhone maker was now in a position where an archrival was calling the shots on functionality important to the iOS maps feature set.

And this caused Apple — which typically enjoys very tight control over its products — no end of philosophical discomfort, sources say. Apple pushed Google hard to provide the data it needed to bring voice-guided navigation to iOS. But according to people familiar with Google's thinking, the search giant, which had invested massive sums in creating that data and views it as a key feature of Android, wasn't willing to simply hand it over to a competing platform.

And if there were terms under which it might have agreed to do so, Apple wasn't offering them. Sources tell AllThingsD that Google, for example, wanted more say in the iOS maps feature set. It wasn't happy simply providing back-end data. It asked for in-app branding. Apple declined. It suggested adding Google Latitude. Again, Apple declined. And these became major points of contention between the two companies, whose relationship was already deteriorating for a variety of other reasons, including Apple's concern that Google was gathering too much user data from the app.

"There were a number of issues inflaming negotiations, but voice navigation was the biggest," one source familiar with Apple and Google's negotiations told AllThingsD. "Ultimately, it was a deal-breaker."

[J. Walter Weatherman]

So since the shitty new Apple Maps app doesn't support transit directions, anybody know of a good, free app that can reproduce the transit directions that the old Google Maps app used to give me?

http://www.apple.com/letter-from-tim-cook-on-maps/

To our customers,

At Apple, we strive to make world-class products that deliver the best experience possible to our customers. With the launch of our new Maps last week, we fell short on this commitment. We are extremely sorry for the frustration this has caused our customers and we are doing everything we can to make Maps better.

We launched Maps initially with the first version of iOS. As time progressed, we wanted to provide our customers with even better Maps including features such as turn-by-turn directions, voice integration, Flyover and vector-based maps. In order to do this, we had to create a new version of Maps from the ground up.

There are already more than 100 million iOS devices using the new Apple Maps, with more and more joining us every day. In just over a week, iOS users with the new Maps have already searched for nearly half a billion locations. The more our customers use our Maps the better it will get and we greatly appreciate all of the feedback we have received from you.

While we're improving Maps, you can try alternatives by downloading map apps from the App Store like Bing, MapQuest and Waze, or use Google or Nokia maps by going to their websites and creating an icon on your home screen to their web app.

Everything we do at Apple is aimed at making our products the best in the world. We know that you expect that from us, and we will keep working non-stop until Maps lives up to the same incredibly high standard.

Tim Cook
Apple's CEO

[Wheezer]

Should anyone care to plumb the hilarious depths of Apple's front-line support, I can recommend the following method:

1. Get somebody on the line and try to explain that it's impossible to get iTunes to reset a password if the account is registered to @[box].[domain] but $box no longer exists and, yes, at the time you just made up a fucking birthday, but you just need $box trimmed off that thing to be able to listen to what you paid for on a completely separate and, impressively, ever more defective Apple laptop.

2. Try to drag the poor fellow through the woods and explain that "the cloud" has nothing to do with the price of tea in China a few times.

3. Wait while you are eventually escalated.

4. Listen for The President's Analyst to ask whether you would like to make a call.

[J. Walter Weatherman]

Should anyone care to plumb the hilarious depths of Apple's front-line support, I can recommend the following method:

1. Get somebody on the line and try to explain that it's impossible to get iTunes to reset a password if the account is registered to @[box].[domain] but $box no longer exists and, yes, at the time you just made up a fucking birthday, but you just need $box trimmed off that thing to be able to listen to what you paid for on a completely separate and, impressively, ever more defective Apple laptop.

2. Try to drag the poor fellow through the woods and explain that "the cloud" has nothing to do with the price of tea in China a few times.

3. Wait while you are eventually escalated.

4. Listen for The President's Analyst to ask whether you would like to make a call.

I doubt Apple tech support will be bending over backwards to make AppleID resets easier in the wake of THIS WHOLE THING.

(Follow up here.)

[Wheezer]

Should anyone care to plumb the hilarious depths of Apple's front-line support, I can recommend the following method:

1. Get somebody on the line and try to explain that it's impossible to get iTunes to reset a password if the account is registered to @[box].[domain] but $box no longer exists and, yes, at the time you just made up a fucking birthday, but you just need $box trimmed off that thing to be able to listen to what you paid for on a completely separate and, impressively, ever more defective Apple laptop.

2. Try to drag the poor fellow through the woods and explain that "the cloud" has nothing to do with the price of tea in China a few times.

3. Wait while you are eventually escalated.

4. Listen for The President's Analyst to ask whether you would like to make a call.

I doubt Apple tech support will be bending over backwards to make AppleID resets easier in the wake of THIS WHOLE THING.

(Follow up here.)

If it will authenticate from the original machine with an external boot drive, I'm just stripping the DRM. Otherwise, I'm going to the People's Court, mark my words.

[Saul Goodman]

iTunes 11 is now out.  All my iTunes purchases appeared for iCloud streaming on the MacBook Air; the digital copies of my music all reside on an iMac.  That alone is pretty cool, and it's about time they overhauled the app.  I'm eager to see if performance has improved, which is what almost everyone's main complaint about iTunes seems to be.

[BH]

iTunes 11 is now out.  All my iTunes purchases appeared for iCloud streaming on the MacBook Air; the digital copies of my music all reside on an iMac.  That alone is pretty cool, and it's about time they overhauled the app.  I'm eager to see if performance has improved, which is what almost everyone's main complaint about iTunes seems to be.

iTunes has to be one of the worst music app available. It really messed up my library consolidating and organizing my music, even going as far as renaming music incorrectly (changing artists, albums, etc). It sucks at identifying duplicates. Any change has to be better than the way it's been.

[Oleg]

iTunes 11 is now out.  All my iTunes purchases appeared for iCloud streaming on the MacBook Air; the digital copies of my music all reside on an iMac.  That alone is pretty cool, and it's about time they overhauled the app.  I'm eager to see if performance has improved, which is what almost everyone's main complaint about iTunes seems to be.

You can't own music, man.

[Tinker to Evers to Chance]

iTunes 11 is now out.  All my iTunes purchases appeared for iCloud streaming on the MacBook Air; the digital copies of my music all reside on an iMac.  That alone is pretty cool, and it's about time they overhauled the app.  I'm eager to see if performance has improved, which is what almost everyone's main complaint about iTunes seems to be.

You can't own music, man.

I can, but that's because I'm not a penniless hippie.

[Saul Goodman]

Some nice overlap with the Samardzija thread found here:

The Maps debacle [at Apple] led to the defenestration of some company executives, including reportedly Richard Williamson, who oversaw the mapping team.