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Police warn Apple Maps bug could lead to 'life-threatening' situations

TheSeeker

Waiting for the next Cycle
Moderator
In case Apple Maps hasn't been ridiculed enough, Police in Australia are now warning using it could lead to life threatening situations.

In a press release issued Monday, Victoria Police Acting Senior Sgt. Sharon Darcy said that local police in the city of Mildura had been called to assist a number of motorists stranded after following their iPhone's directions there.


Instead of finding their way to the city of approximately 30,000 people located 400 kilometres east of Adelaide, Darcy said the distressed drivers wound up 70 kilometres away in Murray-Sunset National Park.

"Police are extremely concerned as there is no water supply within the Park and temperatures can reach as high as 46 degrees, making this a potentially life threatening issue," Darcy said.

Link
 
Re: Police warn Apple Maps bug could lead to 'life-threatening' situat

However seems that is half a story...

Apple wasn't completely wrong in directing Australians who searched for "Mildura" to the midst of the Murray-Sunset National Park – at least according to the Australian government's official gazetteer, which includes a location called "Mildura Rural City" at the place where Mildura was previously marked on iPhone maps.

As first noted by The Register news website, the official gazetteer – which is the authoritative reference for the names and locations of 384,104 places, objects and towns in the continent – contains an entry at the precise place to which Apple was directing hapless drivers until making a hurried correction on Monday.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/dec/11/apple-maps-fault-mildura-australia-confusion
 
Re: Police warn Apple Maps bug could lead to 'life-threatening' situat

However seems that is half a story...

Apple wasn't completely wrong in directing Australians who searched for "Mildura" to the midst of the Murray-Sunset National Park – at least according to the Australian government's official gazetteer, which includes a location called "Mildura Rural City" at the place where Mildura was previously marked on iPhone maps.

As first noted by The Register news website, the official gazetteer – which is the authoritative reference for the names and locations of 384,104 places, objects and towns in the continent – contains an entry at the precise place to which Apple was directing hapless drivers until making a hurried correction on Monday.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/dec/11/apple-maps-fault-mildura-australia-confusion

Indeed, the real problem here is Apple misinterpreting what a user means by "Mildura." The application erroneously gave precedence to the Mildura region, rather than the city of Mildura. The directions Apple Maps provide lead you to the dead center of the Mildura region.
 
Re: Police warn Apple Maps bug could lead to 'life-threatening' situat

I was thinking along these lines

[YT]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sPwS5rYlQo[/YT]
 
Re: Police warn Apple Maps bug could lead to 'life-threatening' situat

And I'm pretty sure that this isn't the first that a GPS has had this result just never quite made the news the way the apple one has. Of course many as using as an apple bashing tool.

Much as been said about Apple dropping google maps but the licencning actually prevented them from providing turn by turn directions. So the people in this istance could have would up with another GPS and had another problem.
 
Re: Police warn Apple Maps bug could lead to 'life-threatening' situat

And I'm pretty sure that this isn't the first that a GPS has had this result just never quite made the news the way the apple one has. Of course many as using as an apple bashing tool.

Apple shouldn't be criticized when their software provides dangerously faulty instructions?

Much as been said about Apple dropping google maps but the licencning actually prevented them from providing turn by turn directions. So the people in this istance could have would up with another GPS and had another problem.

They could have kept Google, they just weren't willing to accept Google's terms on branding, then they released their own map/navigation system that's been notoriously inaccurate, to the point that the person responsible for that product has been canned.
 
Re: Police warn Apple Maps bug could lead to 'life-threatening' situat

Apple and their software should absolutely be criticized for providing faulty instructions, but I'm wondering how far off the beaten path one has to wander before it stops being the navigation system's fault exclusively. You'd think you'd notice something was a bit off before you're 70 kilometers from your destination in the middle of nowhere and Lord Humungous and the rest of the cast of the Road Warrior starts chasing your car for its gas.

If I ask for directions to Outback Steakhouse and wind up in the actual Outback, I probably should pay a bit more attention to where I'm going.
 
Re: Police warn Apple Maps bug could lead to 'life-threatening' situat

If you are using a GPS system to go to a place you've never been before, how would you know that you are the beaten track?
 
Re: Police warn Apple Maps bug could lead to 'life-threatening' situat

If you are using a GPS system to go to a place you've never been before, how would you know that you are the beaten track?

If I'm going somewhere I've never been before, I generally like to have a rough idea of the region's terrain and landmarks along the way beforehand and not rely solely on the GPS.

Not dismissing the navigation software's role in all of this, but the town and the road to it are in a wide swath of farmland following a river, so you'd think 70 kilometers after seeing no indications of farmland or rivers or towns or signage to that effect you might say "hmmm." It's a pretty desolate region besides that area around the river as well, so I'd want to be extra careful to double-check where I was going before driving there.

Just an offhand remark though, nothing I'm too invested in.
 
Re: Police warn Apple Maps bug could lead to 'life-threatening' situat

Quality there has really slipped once their god has left the mortal coil.
 
Re: Police warn Apple Maps bug could lead to 'life-threatening' situat

I generally look at a map as well, but not everyone would look at a map first, instead they would rely soley on a sat nav.
 
Re: Police warn Apple Maps bug could lead to 'life-threatening' situat

I usually check the satellite view. It's not uncommon for the address of a place I was planning on going, showing as a stretch of road miles away, or in middle of the woods.
 
Re: Police warn Apple Maps bug could lead to 'life-threatening' situat

I generally look at a map as well, but not everyone would look at a map first, instead they would rely soley on a sat nav.

On any kind of long drive I usually check out the route the GPS lays out to make sure it's reasonable.
 
Re: Police warn Apple Maps bug could lead to 'life-threatening' situat

FWIW Google Maps is now available for iOS, as of 4hrs ago.
 
Re: Police warn Apple Maps bug could lead to 'life-threatening' situat

I also have a paper Road Map in the car.
 
Re: Police warn Apple Maps bug could lead to 'life-threatening' situat

I put "Trouville" into my satnav once. Came up with Trouville sur Scie (a tiny village) instad of Trouville sur Mer (a large city). The first one was referred to by my map as "Trouville", and I hadn't been aware that the second one had the "sur Mer" tag.
 
Re: Police warn Apple Maps bug could lead to 'life-threatening' situat

I have one little problem with Apple getting overly criticised because their maps are not totally accurate and unambiguous.

Foreword: I do prefer and promote open map projects such as OpenStreetMap over proprietary map projects, because I believe that they are infinitely more useful to us as a whole. The former immediately become a tool that anyone can use for any purpose, and the latter are confined to the limited uses that their makers approved. The problem is that such projects are unfortunately community-driven, which means they don't have the resources to deal with any negative consequences from the mistakes found inside, and they are more prone to mistakes (though I would expect them mostly in areas that Google and Apple maps would have a poor coverage of).

An expectation that a map and routing software magically does all the work for you, and you don't have to make any part of the decision has the following consequences: 1) it gives routing software and electronic maps an unfairly bad name, 2) it disqualifies any community-driven projects, 3) it deters people from having the awareness and anticipation about where they are going exactly.

Electronic maps are not worse than paper maps. You still need to think when you're using them. Identical names are an issue for paper maps as well, and people would sometimes head for a place they saw on the map before looking at the alphabetical index. People will sometimes use outdated maps with older names or places. But with a tiny bit of common sense even that's not a problem. Checking two or three different map sources is always a good idea. Take a minute to have a look at the map on your computer before you leave, be curious how the place you're going to looks like and fetch a paper map if one is available. You're likely to spot any discrepancy if one exists.
 
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