iSolated: Bad Apple Maps directions lead to desert
SYDNEY (AP) — The city of Mildura is not at the end of a dirt road in the Australian bush, in tire-choking desert sand far from food and water. Unfortunately, Apple's much-maligned mapping application thinks it is.
More than two months after Apple's CEO apologized for errors in its Maps service, Australian police say the app is "potentially life threatening" because of the bad directions it has given to the southern city. On Tuesday, a police official said Apple had "sort of half-fixed" the problem.
Victoria state police say they've had to rescue several Mildura-bound drivers who were directed by the app to remote Murray Sunset National Park, about 70 kilometers (44 miles) away. Some were stranded for 24 hours without food or water, and had to walk long distances through tough terrain to access phone reception.
"Police are extremely concerned as there is no water supply within the park and temperatures can reach as high as 46 degrees (115 degrees Fahrenheit), making this a potentially life threatening issue," police said in a statement.
The 5,000-square-kilometer (1,900-square-mile) park has desert-like conditions, scorching temperatures and virtually no mobile phone reception.
In the past 30 days, six people have been stranded after turning into the park via a dirt road the Maps application recommends, Mildura police inspector Simon Clemence said. Some were able to get out on their own but others needed to be rescued by police, he said.
The track eventually opens up into rough desert terrain that is accessible only to 4-wheel-drive vehicles. That's where cars are getting stuck in the sand, Clemence said.
"If you're stuck out there in that you haven't prepared, you've got nothing, you could be in a fair bit of trouble," he said.
Earlier this year, Apple dropped Google Maps from its mobile operating systems in favor of its own mapping application, which was quickly and widely criticized for bad directions, misplaced landmarks and missing towns. Apple CEO Tim Cook apologized for the mapping service in September and promised to improve it.
"We screwed up and we are putting the weight of the company behind correcting it," Cook said in an interview aired Thursday on NBC's "Rock Center."
Apple spokeswoman Fiona Martin declined to comment Tuesday, and referred The Associated Press to Cook's apology.
Clemence said police received no response when they tried to contact Apple, but that on Tuesday morning — a day after police went public with the problem — it appeared that the company had tried to fix it.
Drivers coming from the southern city of Adelaide are now correctly directed by the Maps application to Mildura, Clemence said. But drivers from Melbourne are still sent into the park.
"So 50 percent of the people are safe and 50 percent of the people aren't," Clemence said with a chuckle. "So they sort of half-fixed it."
With temperatures this week expected to soar in the region, Clemence said it's critical that the directions are corrected quickly.
"It's a pretty serious problem," Clemence said. "There's a fair amount of responsibility on Apple to get this fixed."
More than two months after Apple's CEO apologized for errors in its Maps service, Australian police say the app is "potentially life threatening" because of the bad directions it has given to the southern city. On Tuesday, a police official said Apple had "sort of half-fixed" the problem.
Victoria state police say they've had to rescue several Mildura-bound drivers who were directed by the app to remote Murray Sunset National Park, about 70 kilometers (44 miles) away. Some were stranded for 24 hours without food or water, and had to walk long distances through tough terrain to access phone reception.
"Police are extremely concerned as there is no water supply within the park and temperatures can reach as high as 46 degrees (115 degrees Fahrenheit), making this a potentially life threatening issue," police said in a statement.
The 5,000-square-kilometer (1,900-square-mile) park has desert-like conditions, scorching temperatures and virtually no mobile phone reception.
In the past 30 days, six people have been stranded after turning into the park via a dirt road the Maps application recommends, Mildura police inspector Simon Clemence said. Some were able to get out on their own but others needed to be rescued by police, he said.
The track eventually opens up into rough desert terrain that is accessible only to 4-wheel-drive vehicles. That's where cars are getting stuck in the sand, Clemence said.
"If you're stuck out there in that you haven't prepared, you've got nothing, you could be in a fair bit of trouble," he said.
Earlier this year, Apple dropped Google Maps from its mobile operating systems in favor of its own mapping application, which was quickly and widely criticized for bad directions, misplaced landmarks and missing towns. Apple CEO Tim Cook apologized for the mapping service in September and promised to improve it.
"We screwed up and we are putting the weight of the company behind correcting it," Cook said in an interview aired Thursday on NBC's "Rock Center."
Apple spokeswoman Fiona Martin declined to comment Tuesday, and referred The Associated Press to Cook's apology.
Clemence said police received no response when they tried to contact Apple, but that on Tuesday morning — a day after police went public with the problem — it appeared that the company had tried to fix it.
Drivers coming from the southern city of Adelaide are now correctly directed by the Maps application to Mildura, Clemence said. But drivers from Melbourne are still sent into the park.
"So 50 percent of the people are safe and 50 percent of the people aren't," Clemence said with a chuckle. "So they sort of half-fixed it."
With temperatures this week expected to soar in the region, Clemence said it's critical that the directions are corrected quickly.
"It's a pretty serious problem," Clemence said. "There's a fair amount of responsibility on Apple to get this fixed."
So stupid people blindly obeying a GPS mapping program and going into a desolate place without adequate food, water or survival supplies are blaming Apple maps for their lack of common sense?
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Some folks just need to experience this to learn a lesson that those with common sense and a little Boy Scout training learned in 8th grade.
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I would have said "only in America" but it appears that there are stupid Australians also unless some are tourists.
Ok first, own a map. Sure GPS is nice but you should always have an actual map in your car. What if your phone dies when your car is out of juice?
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Second, trusting a device so fully is foolish. You go 30 minutes into a desert, turn around and ask for directions. Yeah I said it ASK.
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Finally, I am NOT an Apple apologist (I hate Apple), but does no one remember early Google Maps? It was awful. We used to sit around and see what things it would screw up. It had people going through downtown to get to Vancouver, or it would tell you to go southbound on northbound streets. But Google had YEARS to make Maps work and now they do.
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So all of this is Fluff. Apple will fix the errors.
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 @RepomanÂ
Google maps have all kinds of flaws. They may have fixed the local stuff but outside the urban area they are worthless and will take those who rely on them 100% off the edge of a cliff.
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I don't trust any GPS setup and before I drive anywhere I look at the general direction that I will be heading and the main roads I will be traveling.
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I just got back from the south Pacific and can tell you that Google maps are worthless there. My friend just got back from Australia and Google maps are worthless there also. I am leaving for Hawaii in a week and already looked at the mapping systems there and the boards are full of complaints on all the mapping systems.
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No one gets it right and anyone who trusts them is a total idiot.