This is actually a fairly serious issue for all non-Android handsets, IMO.
The built-in integrated-into-almost-everything Google Nav functionality is the killer feature that trumps all other killer features in phones for me. Obviously YMMV and for some people this feature isn't as big a deal, but it is a huge deal for me and it is what stops me from seriously considering anything that isn't an Android phone these days.
For the record, I do realize there are quite a few GPS turn by turn solutions for the iPhone, but suggesting they are a true replacement for Google's Nav stuff is like suggesting Google Voice Search is a replacement for Siri.
>This is actually a fairly serious issue for all non-Android handsets, IMO.
Well not all non-Android handsets - Nokia maps has free turn-by-turn directions as well as downloadable maps (not just pre-caching a route, you can download maps of the entire USA if you want). As I tend to travel a lot to areas with spotty or non-existant cellphone coverage, this is the primary reason I'm sticking with Symbian for the time being.
I use Tom-Tom in the iPhone and it is good. The most incredible thing is that if I make a wrong turn it recalculates new directions. I knew this existed in classic GPS devices but never realized how useful it was until I actually used it. Plus it does not require a signal which is actually really useful when you travel to Canada (from the USA) where you cannot use the local telephone service unless you are ready to pay a lot of money.
I think iPhone with Tom-Tom is fine. It costs $60 dollars but you can share it with 4 other devices which means you can spread the cost.
You just did that thing which I tried to prevent anyone from doing with my last paragraph.
Sorry but the GPS solutions on the iPhone just aren't the same (btw, direction recalculation is a no brainer and of course Google Nav does that, and a whole lot more like local data polling from other Google Nav users to determine realtime road speeds for path redirection)
Anyway, it is the full OS integration that is key. Basically anything on the phone that displays an address (web browser, Google Maps, apps like Yelp, etc) displays it as a clickable link letting me instantly pull up directions and switch into nav mode. This sort of integration is huge but sadly the sort of thing people tend to gloss over unless they've actually experienced it, which is why I tried to preempt that with the (also flawed) comparison between Google Voice Search and Siri.
> Basically anything on the phone that displays an address (web browser, Google Maps, apps like Yelp, etc) displays it as a clickable link letting me instantly pull up directions and switch into nav mode.
This is in iOS too. Of course you don't get turn-by-turn, just directions, but if Apple is eventually going to add turn by turn you'll find it there.
Nokia bought up Navteq a few years back so they have a good data source for it - I'd expect that they should be able to provide turn-by-turn navigation that's comparable to Google's.
I don't get the comparison. I use Navigon on my iPhone. I travel extensively. It's been 99.9 percent perfect. As good if not better than stand alone GPS devices. I understand how it's nice to have it built into Android, not having to pay for a separate app, but turn by turn directions either work or don't work. And I use them every day.
I'll be more than happy when Apple builds it in, but until then, I've more than happy, and it's certainly not enough to make me look at switching to Android, even if it never happened.
Probably as often as the data provider(s) that Google is feeding into their system as well. You didn't think that Google was actually collecting that info directly, did you?
I believe he answered your question as well as could be done without some inside knowledge. We don't know how often anyone's db is updated, so with no benchmark how can a fair comparison be made?
I have no idea. When I start having problems with finding businesses, or if it takes me to closed businesses, I'll worry about it. So far, in over 2 years using the app, I've not had problems.
> For the record, I do realize there are quite a few GPS turn by turn solutions for the iPhone, but suggesting they are a true replacement for Google's Nav stuff is like suggesting Google Voice Search is a replacement for Siri.
How do you think it is better than conventional navigation devices/apps? Do you have a link to a demo video or a review that shows the coolest features? The only distinguishing feature I can see is Street View integration.
Every time I think about switching to an iPhone for my daily use, I remember this. This is a huge deal and replaces yet another device I don't have to lug around while on travel. I've even stopped using my Garmin since the maps tend to be much more up-to-date and the screen is easier to type addresses on.
This is another issue that's been mythicized by Android users. There are plenty of great turn-by-turn apps—free and low-cost—that work online and offline. I've used MapQuest (http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mapquest-4-mobile/id316126557) on my iPhone; worked great.
Not any more mythicized than any particular iOS feature. Mapquest is available for free on Android as well. It is a nice app, but it can't match the integration of native Google Navigation.
It really is funny though. I don't know a single person (and most of my friends are quite happy iPhone users) with an iPhone that has a turn-by-turn app.
The ones that do use a GPS drag around a Garmin, the rest just try and work with Google maps as best they can.
A couple did switch to Android recently, but assumed it too didn't have turn-by-turn and kept muddling through with Google Maps until I showed them how to do it.
I don't know why that is exactly, but it's weird and gives me a strange impression that this is a seriously omission from the platform. This acquisition is no doubt part of a larger strategy to bring this capability (probably in a wonderfully Apple-y way) to their mobile platforms.
Just as a data point, the TomTom turn by turn apps have been consistently in the top 5 paid apps over the last several years here in the UK. You could argue that's even more reason for Apple to provide their own solution of course.
It's a serious omission, yet everyone you know seems happy on the iPhone, and the couple that switched didn't even know about turn by turn directions on Android. Doesn't seem serious at all. (by the way, I know plenty of people that have iPhones, and the vast majority do have 3rd party GPS apps. The rest have no use for them.)
I agree with a previous commentator, this omission has been overblown. Yes, it will be nice when iOS comes with a turn by turn app that integrates with the whole iPhone. But if you want one now, you can buy one that works great.
> In Seattle, for instance, the last big protests (against the World Trade Organisation, in 1999) looked mindless. If they had a goal, it was selfish—an attempt to impoverish the emerging world through protectionism.
Wow. While a case can be made that the anti-globalization movement would of had that effect, that was not its goal. I really should stop reading the Economist.
Protectionism has always been ONE OF the goals of the anti-globalization movement, especially insofar as that movement has had union support.
This is just one more aspect of the general rule that these protests do not have a unified agenda, because they're composed of diverse individuals with diverse goals. And in my ignorant opinion, a lot of those diverse individuals demonstrably have no clue what they're talking about, except of course in the domain of their personal misery and frustration. I recall, then as now, lots of anti-WTO (and anti-APEC 2 years earlier) protesters who had some pretty blurry ideas about what they were fighting for. There was lots of thinly-veiled "trade will steal our jobs" rhetoric in there - of course along with the environmental concerns, the third-world human rights concerns (Suharto was a big issue in the APEC '97 protests), the concerns about capital flight and race-to-the-bottom, etc.
That's crazy, isn't it. It makes you realize how important it is to diversify one's sources of information (as well as to be open to different points of view), in order to avoid unconscious brainwashing.
The bad news: a change in how iOS manages files in version 5 means Instapaper's ability to store articles for you to read offline has reached something of a limit. If you get low on space iOS will now delete Instapaper's copies of articles:
> If you're looking for a role model of a technical founder he'd be my pick.
That's a good choice. Still, you might want to avoid some of the PR choices he has made.
I think it's kind of shame that Woz gets as much mainstream media attention as he does, especially surrounding his relationship with Kathy Griffin. In many people's eyes he's just grabbing fame by latching himself onto Steve Jobs. I think he would have gained less publicity but more respect if he stepped out of the limelight a little more often.
I don't mean to be overly critical, because there are advantages to the choices he's made, but it's worth understanding why Woz doesn't get all the respect he deserves.
>In many people's eyes he's just grabbing fame by latching himself onto Steve Jobs.
Interesting. This is exactly the opposite of how most technical people I know would describe the situation.
>I think he would have gained less publicity but more respect if he stepped out of the limelight a little more often.
I don't see why a technical person should avoid publicity any more than a business person. I mean, sure, it's better to have publicity for your technical achievements, but let's face facts. Few in the mainstream media care about your technical achievements.
As for the Kathy Griffin thing, eh, so he's seeing someone famous. Who cares? I mean, it's not something that'd make me respect him more, but I guess I don't really see why it'd make anyone respect him less.
I had never heard of this Kathy Griffin before you mentioned her, and never heard nor read of any connection between her and Woz until now. Wozniak is almost completely absent from almost all the the media[1] I consume - I don't think he has much mainstream fame and attention except as colour commentary when Apple is doing or has done something.
Are you sure that you aren't actively looking for Woz stories, that there isn't a bias at work?
[1] Mainstream media for me is a range of UK Guardian, Telegraph and BBC website, Economist, NYT and occasional WaPo, WSJ and FT.
I'm not actively searching for Woz stories, but wouldn't you perk up if heard Steve Wozniak's name on the promo for Entertainment Tonight? It was extremely out of place, but sadly that kind of thing is all some people know about him.
All I'm saying is that, even though Woz deserves a lot of respect, his reputation has been distorted by the American media behemoth. In the end that doesn't really matter, but it is something that happened.
In many people's eyes he's just grabbing fame by latching himself onto Steve Jobs.
Those people's eyes need clearing. If anything it was Jobs who, with his eye for talent, "latched himself onto" Wozniak, not the other way around. Woz is not only the prototypical engineering genius, he practically defines the term ingenuous.
I don't agree, and then the image of them together is what sticked with me as Apple ][ user. He had fun doing some dancing and that's all - if nothing else shows that a geek can have some fun.
Giving TM2 as a free upgrade probably does make a lot of sense to the developers. Textmate is hugely popular, and I wouldn't be surprised if he gets more than enough to finance what he wants to do off of its sales. And by making it free he makes sure that no one has a reason to use TM1 anymore, keeping his userbase unified and easier to handle.
It's also worth mentioning that licences from one discount bundle (MacHeist) will require an upgrade fee, a smart distinction to make.
Buttt, this is a case where he is severely undervaluing his software, which isn't helping in a market where software is already too cheap. The developers are doing less harm to themselves then they are the Mac software community.
