The original iPhone Maps app was only a client. It relied on Google's servers for its data, which already had years of polishing.

The iOS 6 Maps app is an excellent client. Its only problem is with the data it fetches from Apple. Their maps data is very new and rather less polished.

It is silly to compare the two. Building a worldwide database of map data is orders of magnitude more difficult than writing an iPhone app.

Edit: This comment was a response to OP's headline, which was "Apple built original Maps app in three weeks". He has since changed the headline.

I like Apple's response, but I don't think we need to be reminded of it with every new article repeating their message (or in this case, not even bothering to share the message). It was nice seeing the link to Apple's site here the first time. The TechCrunch link didn't really contribute anything, though that's typical of TechCrunch. Far as I can tell, the only thing the NYT does here is summarize what led up to it and relate it to MobileMe and so on.

They also refer to Tim Cook as "Timothy D. Cook, Apple’s chief executive," which honestly baffles me for some reason. I suppose it's just strange seeing an article not refer to him as just Tim Cook (which is what everyone else would use, including Apple). They also seem unable to spell "iPhone" correctly when it begins an article.

At any rate, I think the Apple's own page is sufficient unless something unique is added, and I just don't get the impression that the NYT is doing that. If anything, they're actually ignoring aspects of the message: there's no mention of the alternatives Apple suggested, including Bing. I personally found that interesting, and to ignore it seems a little strange.

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