Interesting read about the internal fallout over Apple's Map app:

[appleinsider.com]

"Bloomberg was first to report on Tuesday that Williamson was fired, and that Cue has been seeking advice from mapping technology experts outside of Apple. He has also reportedly encouraged partner TomTom to fix issues with landmarks and navigation data."

I laughed at the above paragraph. To say that Cue "encouraged" TomTom to fix issues with their data is kind of like saying the mob "encourages" people who owe it money to repay their debt.

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Ammo
I laughed at the above paragraph. To say that Cue "encouraged" TomTom to fix issues with their data is kind of like saying the mob "encourages" people who owe it money to repay their debt.

Doesn't everyone know that TomTom's data is bad? Water is wet, ice is cold, TomTom data is bad... seems more like trying to "encourage" water not to be wet.

I was with a friend who used his TomTom to find a gas station in Seattle. It took us to a location where a hotel had been built several years prior.

Now if TomToms came with a time machine that would take you back to when their data was accurate, that would sometimes be useful.

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I read total scapegoat. Williamson was with Apple for 10 years, worked at Next before that, and was part of the iPhone development team. I'd say that he has Apple in his DNA. Then to get fired over this smells pretty bad. A power struggle or personality conflict maybe?

I'm worried that Apple is getting rid of key brains, I'm hoping that they won't be replacing them with yes-men and beancounters. That is what led to Apple's fall originally.

My biggest problem is that Apple is falling short of good execution in several areas.

The Maps fiasco could have been trivially resolved by declaring it a beta and only going gold in iOS7.

I think iOS 5 is more stable than iOS 6 independent of the maps issue.

I'm not sure the new iMacs are really ready for prime time, I think the iP5 and iPad mini were delayed due to execution issues, and I think Mac OS X 10.7 was definitely half-baked when it was released. I even think the glue solution for the MBPR was definitely due to efforts to deliver a product faster - they did not have a better design solution to stay small, thin and a full 15" form factor.

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sekker
My biggest problem is that Apple is falling short of good execution in several areas.

I'll see your biggest problem(s) in Maps, iOS and hardware releases and raise you:

The way iOS updates, esp. when used with Configurator to manage multiple devices require a "check-in" with Apple to verify that the update is valid before loading them onto the devices.

Claiming that iPads are personal devices intended for end users yet touting their record sales into education where they are pretty consistently being used in schools on carts... and that a different iPad often goes to a different kid each day. (Have and eat your cake too, eh?)

Refusing to incorporate the now-successful Bluray standard because it conflicts with their preferred / trendy "media free" concept and competes with their profitable online store that reaps a 33% profit from all content sold.

Moving to curtail and restrict independent developers, via their walled garden app stores for iOS and MacOS. Anybody remember when the iPhone was first introduced and there goal was to have everything be HTML-based applets that anybody could develop and host on any internet accessible server?

The gluing, the pentalobe screwing, the forced obsolescence of less than 2 year old hardware (i.e. iPad) and the forced upgrade path from just over 2 year old software (no updates for Snow Leopard) the killing of MobileMe while lacking features in iCloud (I'm still trying to replace Gallery.)

I could go on. But Apple's not getting any more of my money anytime soon.

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gabester
I could go on. But Apple's not getting any more of my money anytime soon.

I just HAD to add the Fusion drive ripoff and the proprietary SSD connector.

Sounds serious, gabester.