Google Maps is apparently not good enough for Apple iPhone
Saynora, Google Maps. The tech trendsetters at Apple have voted you off the iPhone island. Sure, you were good but apparently, your best is not good enough for the ubercool tech wizards at the Cupertino-based hardware maker. Looks like Steve Jobs’ old-time grudge against Google has a tough time dying. Funny how grudges at Apple continue beyond the grave. Indeed, given Jobs’ legendary temperament, he is one tough hombre to betray-his untimely death notwithstanding. Well, it looks like his lieutenants at Apple stuck close to their chairman’s wishes and banished Google Maps from the iPhone as a built-in feature. Quite a blow for Google “betraying” Jobs by releasing the Android smartphone OS. That should show Google not to mess with Apple, right? Well, not exactly. Regardless of Apple’s hissy fit at last Monday’s Apple fanboy fest also known as the World Wide Developers’ Conference, Google’s Android is continuing to eat into Apple’s iOS market share and no amount of drama, it seems, can stop its Pacmanesque (the video game not the boxing legend) advance.
Apple’s snub of Google Maps in its upcoming iOS 6 release slated for this fall is the end of a five year bundle that started when the first version of the iPhone debuted in 2007. Google Maps is a tough act to follow but it appears that Apple feels confident that it has a worthy replacement in a wholly Apple-developed alternative. While iPhone users who feel like they don’t want to get used to the new Apple mapping alternative can always find and install the Google Maps app at the App store, the real hassle is wholly on Google’s shoulders. Why? Three words: Lost Advertising Revenue. That’s right, when it comes to tech grudge fests, bruised egos and shed tears are made even more painful when there’s a hit to the bottom line involved. To be honest, it is quite a puzzle why Apple took this long to kick Google off considering the huge amount of mobile ad revenues Google was enjoying by having its app on millions of iPhones and iPads not to mention the commercial value of knowing such users’ geographic locations.
On a related note, Apple introduced much deeper Facebook integration. Apparently, this is what Apple’s CEO meant when he said that Apple wanted a deeper relationship with Facebook. It’s nice for both parties, we suppose but it is far from the rumored buyout some rumor mongers were flogging about recently.