Google Maps changed the way we get around. It all began in a bedroom in Sydney
theguardian.com
theguardian.com
MapQuest actually changed the way we get around. It all began in 1967 in Chicago.
Google eats a bag of dicks more and more every day.
Seems I was misinformed and been spreading a falsehood all these years. Oh well. Now I know.
I guess "The Guardian" is in financial difficulties. They don't have money to pay students to find out about iGo, TomTom and others. And the funniest part: they want money for this "article". /s
There are many stories of Google Maps getting people stranded in remote locations. Anecdotally, I find its route suggestions become less sensible every year.
Last month I took a drive through regional Australia from Swan Hill to Albury.
The quickest, safest, most fuel efficient and easiest route is to follow B400 Murray Valley Highway all the way, and this is what Apple Maps suggested.
Google Maps, on the other hand absolutely refused to do this. It insisted on routing me down dirt tracks in the middle of nowhere, even when I added every major town on the route as an intermediate stop. This is the sort of thing that gets people stranded and killed.
That's an unfair and inaccurate statement. It's not like they started perfect and has only gotten worse.
Maps has gotten shittier, but for me (or I've only noticed it) only since the last few years. I usually use it, even for known routes, to be noitified of traffic jams. And last year it started to offer a new route out of my neighborhood, which is basically "Drive into this dead-end road, and before you reach the end, turn right down these set of stairs"...