http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/09/21/apple_maps_fix_them_yourself/
Yep, Apple say by using them and getting lost, then reporting the correction you will get a better service. It's sort of like when you used to hold your iPhoen incorrectly and thus were unable to get a signal - a little bit of training and the user will be fine again :P
On a more serious note, it really does stagger me when Apple can take arguably the best satnav company's data (TomTom) and somehow lose towns, cities, airports and their customer support all in one go. OTOH if you are a maps engineer then Apple are hiring shed loads at the moment.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/09/21/apple_hiring_ios_maps_engineers/
It seems clear that Apple was more interested in it's users not using Google Maps than providing them with a better service. I worry more and more about Apple post Steve Jobs. They wouldn't have released anything this shoddy in his day.
Still the new iPhone launch seems to be going well. "Huge queues outside churches, public toilets and the statue of a horse as people head to buy new iPhone using Apple Maps "
Well, some of the implications are quite funny, like not being able to correctly identify where your own Apple flagship stores are:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/09/23/ios_6_maps_get_apple_store_sydney_location_wrong/
I've had SatNav on my phone since CoPilot Live got bundled with my phone in around 2006 and even then the maps weren't that bad. I'm sure store locations wouldn't have been there, but if you typed the name of a town it would show up and guide you there. What's the point of GPS on a phone if it tells you the wrong locations?
Having used TomTom I know that it doesn't miss out whole towns and generally does a pretty good job, so this problem must be squarely on Apple. They should have pushed their maps service back a year and got it working right before releasing it. As for the DIY approach to fixing it...Two problems: the Apple user base is very different Google and I imagine less inclined to do the leg work to make the mapping service "just work". Second is they've launched something that is below their competitors, why use the subpar version when you can use the competitor? And if you're using the competitor you're not correcting the Apple version.
I can't see them having too many options. They can't pull the maps app because they'll be ridiculed. If they want maps to work they can't allow google maps back on the platform so it's a year of using Safari to view google maps and missing out on turn-by-turn navigation on the cards of iPhone users. It seems a shame to punish their users for a spat with google. It's a sign they should enter the real world of business and start licensing and negotiating rather than suing their competitors.
Google already have a map app submitted to Apple for inclusion in the App Store. While I'm sure Apple are loathed to approve it they will need to be very careful not to fall foul of some strict US rules on unfair business practices. If the Federal Trade Commission in the US get even a whiff of Apple denying the Google app for commercial reasons they'll be all over them like a rash. So maybe everything will turn out well for Apple users.