Apple Maps Monumental Miscalculation?

So much hoopla over Apple Maps. For instance this email that starts off like this

Nobody’s perfect, but it’s still a shock to witness a company as legendarily focused and fastidious as Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) make the kind of massive tactical error it made with the launch of its new Maps platform for iOS. Developed in-house as a replacement for Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) Maps, which had been a fixture of the iOS ecosystem since the first iPhone hit retail in mid-2007, Apple Maps so far looks like a miscalculation on par with New Coke or the Segway–consumers have identified dozens of inaccuracies including missing roads, misplaced landmarks and mislabeled businesses, and last week, Apple CEO Tim Cook even issued a public apology, admitting “We fell short” on meeting customer expectations and suggesting that consumers consider alternative mapping technologies while Apple strives to improve the service.

Being an avid user of Google Maps I don’t think Apple could be much worse. I’ve been looking to switch from Google to something else and if Apple is available to us Linux users I’ll switch in a heartbeat with a big big grin. I’m so tired of reporting map problems to Google. Getting an email back saying I was right and they’ll fix it. Then waiting six months for a fix which is often wrong. I’ve learned to live with faulty mapping software but not with Google’s monolithic unapproachable hubris.