Looking things ex-post, Apple ignoring map development for last 5 years and then launching a crappy map app seems to be a big strategic miss. Location based services will be a big piece for smartphone monetization. Search remains the gateway for internet in PC and the same will work for mobile internet/data services. And local search is the key be it ecommerce which includes product/service etc.
Seems that Steve jobs missed this while thinking about what smartphone will be able to do when he thought about iphone otherwise Apple would have a better map solution like it has for media consumption like e-books, music etc, voice and utilities(App platform)..
1 comment:
Apple has dropped the ball in favor of Google a long time back. Although, I don't really think Apple has the depth to sustain a map ecosystem. Case in point: penetration of iPhones in India is abysmal - and at the end of the day - local geographical information has to be crowd-sourced (not in the literal sense, but more like updating of maps, getting traffic data, pinpointing commercial establishments, reviews, updates). Apple's strategy has always been to control content, whereas Google's has been to collect content and control the filtering of relevant content. Google had gotten that bang on a long time back. Even in Apple's bread and butter market, the US, GPS systems and Android penetration has now surpassed the iOS. Plus, I think there is a fundamental difference between Android adapters and iPhone adapters. At risk of generalization - Apple's consumers are still moochers, they don't want to contribute to content, merely leeching off information that has been provided already, and Apple is not going to change in the near future on that count. Google's consumer base, au contraire is far more adventurous - that of people who add content, people who do take risks in understanding and updating technology.
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