Letter from Tim Cook

On Friday 28th September 2012, Tim Cook (CEO of Apple) released a letter to users to apologise for the screw up they made with regards to replacing Google maps(which worked) with Apple own map(which was not tested properly). 


According to this article by Jay Yarow, Apple tried to negotiate with Google to get turn-by-turn navigation, but Google wouldn't give up that data without some concessions from Apple. Google wanted more Google branding in the maps as well as the inclusion of Lattitude, Google's Foursquare-esque social network that tracks people if they opt-in. On that note, Apple decided to go create it's own mapping solution, which turned up not to be up to scratch. 



In a nutshell, the main reason for this, from Google perspective was to retain some form of exclusivity for Android users, but from Apple perspectives, it's about giving the iOS users more option, and reason not to move to the Android platform. 


The letter from T.Cook to the customers is narrated below - 

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

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