Apple scrambled to hire iOS 6 maps engineers days before launch

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/09/21/apple_hiring_ios_maps_engineers/

by cpeterso • 14 years ago

39 44 14 years ago

theregister.co.uk

nextstep• 14 years ago

Why was this article written in pseudo-textspeak? Is that the style that guardian uses for technology news now?

bapbap• 14 years ago

It's written for The Register which has a much more relaxed reporting style.

kapowaz• 14 years ago

If by ‘relaxed’ you mean ‘tabloid’, sure. It seems to be a requirement that any Register article about Apple products has to be dismissive towards people who use them (even though that is most people who might read the article these days):

> fanbois and fangrrls across the world branded the new satnav-like service as rubbish

1. needlessly trollsome, 2. alludes to them being irrational supporters, and yet… these are the people being critical? Maybe they're not irrational fanatics after all…?

sbuk• 14 years ago

I'd describe it as less credible. Especially articles written by Leach. A hack if ever there was one. In fact a hell-banning of Register articles wouldn't be a bad thing at all.

Zarathust• 14 years ago

As a "Steve Jobs would", I'm pretty sure that not launching half baked products was very high in his priority list

InclinedPlane• 14 years ago

Imagine the level of shouting there would be at Apple from Jobs after the iOS 6 maps fuckup. Is there anyway whatsoever that anyone at Apple is feeling that much heat right now?

taligent• 14 years ago

Why does this nonsense keep being perpetuated on here.

Steve Jobs routinely launched products that were less than perfect. Hence his quote, "real artists ship".

topbanana• 14 years ago

Can you point to something (in the iOS line) that was as broken as this? I can't think of anything

mikeash2• 14 years ago

The trouble here is that, from a user's perspective, this isn't a launch. It's version 6.0 of a product, by which we expect the kinks to be thoroughly worked out.

By replacing Maps with something new that was presented as just an upgrade, they put themselves in a really tough spot that they don't normally do.

nirvana3• 14 years ago

I've not seen Apple launch a half baked product in quite a long time, not like the crap that, for instance, google still ships and calls "android".

iOS Maps with its first iteration is far better than google maps, after 8 years.

The company is not perfect, but the idea that something is "half backed" is just standard issue FUD from the apple bashers.

Remember how the iPod was going to fail? The iPhone had "no chance"? The iPas "just a big ipod touch" and "reminds me of a feminine product?"

I really wonder if people foget all this nonsense. Remember "antennagate" and consume rreports selling out its integrity and honor for page views?

Noticed a pattern?

pooriaazimi• 14 years ago

Nirvana: I usually (50-60% of the time) agree with your comments here on HN, but this time... I disagree with your first, second, third, fourth and fifth paragraphs (too much hyperbole!). Android might've been bad, but is quite allright now (in many areas, including "intents" it's far ahead of iOS. Though in ease of use, ease of development and things like Core2D/CoreData lags behind iOS). iOS maps is good IMO, but worse than current GMaps.

The company is not infallible. Apple has the best advertisement of any company (IMO), but remember those unbelievably stupid and corny Olympics ads?

batista4• 14 years ago

Steve Jobs: "If you're not failing once in a while, you're not trying hard enough".

iPod: "No wireless, less space than a Nomad. Lame".

iPhone: "What? No copy/paste? No third party apps?"

OS X 10.0/.1 shall we even go there?

Apple's way was always one of iterative enhancement.

The only reason for the current regression was that they started from zero, were the previous offering was from a third party competitor (Google) with 8+ years head-start in mapping.

SquareWheel• 14 years ago

I don't care for the title. Clearly these spots aren't for engineers to come on board and fix maps in a couple days, they are there for future development. "Scrambled" implies an imminent deadline.

CamperBob2• 14 years ago

Another explanation is that a substantial portion of their Maps team either walked out or was fired just prior to launch, and must now be replaced.

What does Fr. Occam say?

Exactly the same thing happened with Antennagate.

nirvana3• 14 years ago

Or that, once shipping a piece of software, the team was ready to re-staff for the next major release, coming in a year.

You don't add engineers on at the end but at the beginning.

There was no mass firing for "Antennagate" in fact there was no "antennagate"... like this BS maps "issue" Antennagate was just a bunch of apple haters bashing the company.

The reality is, the iOS maps app is already far better than google maps around here. Apple has terrain data and correct streets, google doesn't even know this major city exists (becuase it isn't in the US or europe.)

rmc3• 14 years ago

Or there's a persistant shortage of software developers and Apple (like lots of tech companies) are always looking for new staff.

poundy• 14 years ago

This reminds me of how they "scrambled" to hire antenna engineers and similar job posts with iPhone 4 launch!

brudgers• 14 years ago

The advertisements for employees (whether there were or will be any actual hires is unknown) is Apple's way of controlling the narrative in a case where they have long known they would be shipping an inferior product.

Every update to maps is now newsworthy, and every piece will be themed "look at all these improvements." Part of me, the cynical part, suspects that the earlier copyright issue with OpenStreetMaps was deliberate and intended to positively brand the product with the FOSS community by drawing attention to their use of open source. It was TomTom that they threw under the bus this week.

logn• 14 years ago

TomTom got thrown under the bus and there were so many other players involved in making the failure. There are tens of companies that contributed to the data all of whom have gotten little exposure/blame.

batista4• 14 years ago

>The advertisements for employees (whether there were or will be any actual hires is unknown) is Apple's way of controlling the narrative in a case where they have long known they would be shipping an inferior product.

Going out of your way to avoid the Occam razor, aren't you?

Hiring as a conspiracy to spin/control the eventual PR issues that would emerge from shipping an inferior product.

Seriously?

Somehow some job postings would make Apple "control the narrative"? Seriously? And how exactly do they "control it", now that they have made those postings?

How about using the bloody Occam Razor and saying that: Apple started work on their Maps app for iOS 6, saw it needed more manpower, and are expanding their team for the eventual iOS 7 release.

thomasd• 14 years ago

I don't know how Apple is going to catch up with Google, when Google has about 7100 people working on Google Maps

http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-has-7000-fewer-people-w...

Zenst• 14 years ago

Maybe Apple should recruit these two chaps:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGZ56qzXltU

There again maybe they did.

But in all fairness, Apple have stated it will get better and in that everybody believes them because I doubt it could get much worse, especialy given pictures like this: https://plus.google.com/u/0/105902573976541607678/posts/iTjb...

On the plus side, they haven't found anything to realy moan about the phone, so there had to be something for the press to complain about. A company new to maps release a map that they can update as they go along and make it better, oh the shock, what was google maps like on initial beta, I know last year google maps got me lost and upon one occacion traveling thru a brick wall, bless. It'll get better and or there will be something new to complain about. Poor Apple, were is RIM when you need them :D.

SpikeDad2• 14 years ago

Cheesus H Crust. Apple has leaped over years of Google development in 1 release and people are complaining? Apple hate has no relationship to reality.

Apple scrambled to hire iOS 6 maps engineers days before launch

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