“The closest thing Maps can find for ‘Dulles Airport’ is ‘Dulles Airport Taxi.’ Search for Cleveland, Ga., and you’ll wind up right smack in Cleveland, Tenn. Riverside Hospital in Jacksonville, Fla, is in the right place but the wrong decade; it became a Publix supermarket 11 years ago.
And on, and on, and on. Entire lakes, train stations, bridges and tourist attractions have been moved, mislabeled or simply erased. Satellite photo views consist of stitched-together scenes from completely different seasons, weather conditions and even years. The point-of-interest data, in particular, seems to be incomplete or flaky, especially overseas (many snarky examples at theamazingios6maps.tumblr.com).
The most stunning new feature, Flyover, offers interactive, photorealistic 3-D models of major cities — but some scenes have gone horribly wrong. The Brooklyn Bridge has melted into the river, the road to the Hoover Dam plunges straight down into a canyon and Auckland’s main train station is in the middle of the sea.
In short, Maps is an appalling first release. It may be the most embarrassing, least usable piece of software Apple has ever unleashed.“
NYT
