Apple's iOS 6 maps STILL muddle Mildura
Travellers relying on their iPhones and iOS 6 to find the Australian town of Mildura are now in less danger finding themselves in a hostile, waterless, environment. Apple has tweaked maps on the iPhone so that travellers seeking the Mildura are directed to the actual town and not the geo-wonk-only namesake we spotted earlier …
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Re: Big intake of breath
There are a number of commentards who obviously haven't driven in a place like Australia. First, the real Mildura is not off really the beaten track, so expecting people to pack survival gear is a bit like expecting them to pack same when driving from Edinburgh to Thurso: it's a good idea, but many other things are, too; it's not essential, no more than a (real) spare tyre / spare can of petrol / etc. is.
Next, there are plenty of roads/tracks/etc. that make sense IF (for example) you have 4WD and the conditions are reasonable. For example, if you look at this map http://www.travel-outback-australia.com/support-files/central_australia_map.pdf you will see a track near a place (station) called Owen Springs; in a regular car, taking this would be A Bad Idea, but coming from (e.g.) Hermannsburg headed to Adelaide to the south, it's a perfectly reasonable, well signposted 4WD route.
So if your GPS suggests a route that takes you onto an unmetalled road, and IF you believe that you are within a few (tens of) miles of your destination, the idea of taking a short cut is hardly completely unreasonable.
By the way, part of the issue arise because the mapping data ISN'T complete: first time I visited central Australia, I had a paper map, asked for directions, and basically got duff data (the locals didn't want too many tourists heading where I was going, so they were vague, not to say misleading, in their directions).
An example with Google's mapping can be seen due west of Alice Springs airport: there's a road called Hatt Road that runs just to the south of the Kuyunba Conservation Reserve. If you compare the satellite imagery with the map data, you'll see that the road doesn't end where the map says it does.
Just wait.
Be prepared for Apple to patent whatever patch of land is where they point to now. I know you can't patent land, but this is apple and they will patent 'air' next.
Seems you cared enough to complain.
In addition 4 people felt strongly enough to read almost a page of comments to thumbs up you in agreement for not caring.
You couldn't get lost
You just couldn't.
Even here in Aus we have those big metal road sign thingies.
Sure, many have bullet holes and pellet marks from shotties.
But they're all you'd ever need if departing from a city and driving on tarmac.
Re: You couldn't get lost
That may be true, but there are people out there, with driving permits and all, who could easily get lost in a cul-de-sac. Sad, but true.
"There may be other messes waiting to be uncovered"
This isn't gettig fixed any time soon. I'd get used to it if I were you. Hardly news.
What's that whirring sound?
Steve Jobs spinning in his grave...
Maybe Cupertino man didn't realise
That down under the Sun's in the wrong place.
Really buggers up all sense of direction for us Northern Hemisphere types.
Perhaps a map wouldn't help?
As they must have passed signs indicating the way to Mildura.
One news report I read indicated that they ended up near Rocket Lake which is a long way off the bitumen and along a rough dirt track. If they can continue down such a track looking for Mildura, I doubt that anything short of a guide could have helped them.
Apple.
It Just Works (slightly better than it did before)!
To be fair to Apple Maps
If I had the opportunity to save people from ending up in Mildura, I'd take it. Bloody awful place.
To all those who have made fun of me refusing to use autorouting...
THIS is why.
I manually plan my trip beforehand, with at least a couple of broad, and more detailed maps.
I make sure I have suitable and reliable OFFLINE maps for the area I'll be covering.
Although I have a paper map/compass background, I use GPS because it works so much better.
Using this method, I've been led astray a total of zero times.
And yes, I've covered a fair amount of land on dirt tracks too. On purpose.
GPS...
Is an aid to navigation, that is all - just an aid, you still have to use your brain. Mind you there in lies the problem.
I am planning a trip up the Cairngorms mountains soon, i will be taking blankets, a paper map etc. why? because i am expecting the best. but planning for the worse.
GPS have errors?
I was stunned the first time my GPS brought me, with authority, 100km from my intended destination. They are usually accurate enough that we don't tend to doubt them. Beside their instructions are hard to review, you know your trip once you are in the car on your journey, with all your planning already done and without access to alternative sources. Afterall, you ditched the map so you didn't need to pack luggage and have to fuss with the lost and found dept of your least hated airline.
My old TomTom has done this to me several times. So much so that now I carry both paper printout of google maps and the GPS plus now the Android phone. I guess we are getting our money's worth when you pay the equivalent of maybe $20 for the entire maps of planet earth.
Out for a spin
It just works has always been out and out spin.
So when out for a spin, the iPhone's your dizzy friend.
Two problems...
1) "Mildura" .NE. "Rural City of Mildura"
2) A point .NE. an extended area
Start with these two dumb errors, then anything is possible.
Note that the 2nd one is a common error with almost all mapping databases.
The Correct Apple Response
To paraphrase another Apple quote ...
Just move the town. It's no big deal!
Needless to say...
Needless to say, I won't be buying any iOS devices for anyone this ChristX. I don't hate anyone enough to do it.
Mildura not the only place Apple Maps has wrong in Australia
I was in the New South Wales region last month visiting the Jarvis Bar Area, the girl of my dreams was driving (she's from Sydney) and I was the designated map reader. I was (stupidly) using the Apple Maps to navigate us to one of the many beautiful and secluded beaches in the Booderee National Park area. Thinking, as it was a reasonably built up and inhabited area, the maps would be pretty accurate.
Placing faith and trust (stupidly) in Apple Maps I vehemently insisted that I knew where i was going and that I would have no problem getting us to our destination, the roads were clearly marked on the GPS, however it quickly became apparent that the roads on Apple Maps don't actually exist in real life. This resulted in us getting unnecessarily lost, which in turn lead my date to getting anxious and very frustrated, which culminated in her crying and announcing that she wants to go home!! This was followed by an very awkward silence until we finally ended up finding the beach.
Thankfully the day ended well and I was forgiven, however the lesson learned is dont trust Apple Maps if you are trying to impress a girl or get her to date you!!
Cheers!
"Perhaps they could have referred to some sort of officail Australian reference source?"
They did!
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-57558512-37/apples-australian-maps-mishap-linked-to-local-data/
"Apparently there are two listings for the same problematic location in the Australian Gazetteer, the de facto local geographical dictionary that lists some 322,000 locations and their corresponding GPS coordinates.
As reported by The Register, this resulted in two possible results for "Mildura" -- one of which was located in remote wilderness more than 40 miles away from the town of the same name. Data from the Australian Gazetteer comes from various local government agencies and is managed by the country's federal government."
Boya!
The REAL Story
From a real news organization:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-57558512-37/apples-australian-maps-mishap-linked-to-local-data/
"Apparently there are two listings for the same problematic location in the Australian Gazetteer, the de facto local geographical dictionary that lists some 322,000 locations and their corresponding GPS coordinates.
As reported by The Register, this resulted in two possible results for "Mildura" -- one of which was located in remote wilderness more than 40 miles away from the town of the same name. Data from the Australian Gazetteer comes from various local government agencies and is managed by the country's federal government."
Boya!
It's Apple's fault....
Somebody's obviously been rounding the corners on their routing algorithms!!
(best I could come up with...)
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