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Why doesn’t “Look Around” cover more areas?

justinobeirne.com

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Re: Why doesn’t “Look Around” cover more areas?

#3
post #2

Did anyone actually finish this article? It felt like it was building towards something really interesting but could have used just a bit more editorial discipline.

It had gone into too details about author's life and specific cities midway and I ended up with just the conclusion that there is some chaos between different parts of Apple Maps - Look Around, POI etc.

I also felt it was building towards something really interesting.

Perhaps it could have used less examples.

Re: Why doesn’t “Look Around” cover more areas?

#6
post #2

Did anyone actually finish this article? It felt like it was building towards something really interesting but could have used just a bit more editorial discipline.

Sometimes, article have low information/length ratio.

This one has a ton information of information, but still fail to satisfy because it has a low point/information ratio. It just rambles on with data points and examples.

AFAICT, the points made are:

   * Apple switched from vans to subarus for data gathering. (IOW, they changed their data acquisition equipment.)
   * Their new equipment must be better, because Apple seem to have thrown away all data they acquired with vans.
   * Yet, they still lack tons of labels and mis-label / mis-place many buildings / store etc.
   * Apple seems to be processing data faster than they used to.
... and even these points are must of the shrug / why would I care category, except maybe the fact that most cities are not labeled.

Take-away: you're better off with google street view.

Re: Why doesn’t “Look Around” cover more areas?

#7
post #4

I love this type of article, and the effort put into it - but the main thing I can't help but do is wonder what kind of person is driven to exhaustively research Apple Maps over a 5+ year period.

> I love this type of article, and the effort put into it - but the main thing I can't help but do is wonder what kind of person is driven to exhaustively research Apple Maps over a 5+ year period.

I'm under the vague impression that Justin O'Beirne works in this space, so this isn't just a hobby. Can anyone confirm?

Edit: this article (https://www.businessinsider.com/google-maps-vs-apple-maps-ke...) describes him as "a map expert who helped work on Apple Maps." This article (https://medium.com/all-consuming/the-most-overlooked-touchpo...) describes him as "Head of Cartography at Apple."

Re: Why doesn’t “Look Around” cover more areas?

#8
>...seem to suggest that Apple might be having issues algorithmically identifying POI information in its imagery. And if that’s the case, it raises interesting questions regarding Apple’s overall mapping effort...

Really? The quote sounds grandiose, but what "interesting questions" does it raise, aside from "it's not perfect" (who would have thought) and "what else might be missing?"?

Re: Why doesn’t “Look Around” cover more areas?

#9
post #2

Did anyone actually finish this article? It felt like it was building towards something really interesting but could have used just a bit more editorial discipline.

I've read from this website before, they're not about some snappy argument/case, they're about thorough research and lots of detailed examples.
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