Uber and Apple maps mayhem

dhariri.com

4 points·davidhariri··6 comments

I've had an uber driver take the on-ramp instead of the side road beside the highway at the destination because the pin indicated it's a bit further ahead.. I guess it's my fault for not noticing (since I was in the front seat). Added 20min to the trip, good thing Uber refunded though. Seriously, driving + gps = zero common sense.

It's such a striking example of people ignoring their common sense in favour of a computer's (none)

>Especially when one of them has such a rich history of failure.

Apple Maps has greatly improved since it was first release 3 years ago. If Apple Maps can be better in some way than Google Maps, why Uber shouldn't make the experiment and try?

I agree and I use it every day. In the case of driving directions, Apple is not better than Google though. Just cheaper I bet.

Anecdata, but Apple Maps still places my address as a block and a half way from where it actually is. I know this because the occasional Postmate uses Apple Maps and calls me, unable to find my location. I live within a block of Moscone Center in SF.

The US Census has an address to latitude/longitude service, which I've seen put things about a block and a half from where they are supposed to be. I wonder if Apple is using that?

Here's an example of a URL to lookup an address and get back the latitude/longitude in JSON, in case you are curious to see where it places you:

http://geocoding.geo.census.gov/geocoder/locations/onelinead...

The address I used in that URL is 747 Howard St, San Francisco, CA 94103, which is Moscone Center.

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