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You beat me to it! The BBC is interesting too... | 343 comments | Create New Account
Comments belong to whoever posts them. Please notify us of inappropriate comments.
Guardian: Apple Maps could be life-threatening, Australian police warn
Authored by: AlexWright on Monday, December 10 2012 @ 08:17 AM EST

I guess this is going to be an increasing problem when people get used to accurate online maps, and then find not all online maps are equal.

See also: Google's Mr Maps sets his sights on world delineation.

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

You beat me to it! The BBC is interesting too...
Authored by: tiger99 on Monday, December 10 2012 @ 10:14 AM EST
I was just about to post a link to the BBC about the same thing.

There is a very big difference between the way safety critical software and consumer junk is developed, however junk software can become safety critical due to human error in certain circumstances. People really do need to be aware that they must not trust anything that is nor properly certified for the use to which they are putting it, and that means not using dubious apps from any supplier for navigating in dangerous terrain.

The linked research paper is quite interesting, as it suggests that the core GPS software is invariably closed-source, so you don't really know what it is doing. In this particular case it was not the core GPS software that was at fault, but higher-level mapping, which can be open or closed source, in this case closed and very buggy. I do believe that OpenStreetmap and associated projects are doing very much better.....

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

Lost in australia Australia aaaaargh!
Authored by: Anonymous on Monday, December 10 2012 @ 11:30 AM EST
The Aussie desert and/or bush is not a good place to be lost in. If you are not
found quick, and thirst or starvation do not get you the nasties will.

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

Guardian: Apple Maps could be life-threatening, Australian police warn
Authored by: Wol on Monday, December 10 2012 @ 06:06 PM EST
In the comments on a story, someone gave a very interesting explanation for
this. Let's use an American example ...

In Kansas State there is a city called Kansas (well, actually, most of it's in
Missouri). The problem with Apple maps is that if the county and the town have
the same name, Apple Maps gives priority to the county, and places the county
marker in the middle of the county.

So to take my American example, anybody looking for Kansas City is likely to be
"tricked" into selecting Kansas State, and will end up many miles from
their destination.

In Australia, that could easily be fatal ... indeed it could easily be fatal in
rural America ...

Cheers,
Wol

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

Why were they doing that?
Authored by: Anonymous on Monday, December 10 2012 @ 10:24 PM EST
This topic was picked apart lightly on NZ National Radio. Salient comment
from a standup comedian:
There's a time when you just have to go analog, is it a river or a
concrete wall? I'm going with the eyes.
from a journalist:
What's wrong with a paper map? Such a beautiful thing to hold.

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

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