Is Apple Maps a Cartographer’s Nightmare?

It didn’t take long for users to report some serious glitches with the new iOS 6 which come stuffed with a slew of new features like Facebook integration.

However, one new feature, Apple Maps, may mark a major oopsy-daisy for the company. With the iPhone 5 set to hit shelves tomorrow, this is certainly not a good time for Apple to be warding off complaints about its new operating system.

Users reported problems with the new map app just minutes after the iOS6 take-off, including a shrunken down Sears Tower in Chicago and a park in place of the Helsinki railway station. The eminent Paddington Station was nowhere to be found (neither was Tokyo Station, one of the largest train terminals on the globe), London was repositioned to Ontario, Canada and Dublin was gifted a new “airport”.

The blunders are almost comical – but some, like the imaginary airport in Dublin can actually be dangerous, and the Republic’s justice minister, Alan Shatter, has ordered Apple to reverse the mistake as soon as possible.

Airfield in Dublin is a greenfield site with a working farm. On its 35 acres there are formal gardens and a café. It is by no means a landing site for airplanes; nevertheless, Apple has placed a plane icon on the location. Says Shatter: “Clearly the designation is not only wrong but is dangerously misleading in that it could result in a pilot, unfamiliar with the area, in an emergency situation and without other available information, attempting a landing.” In place of the airplane symbol, Shatter suggests that Apple place a cow, sheep, goat or flower to represent the Airfield.

Apple ditched Google Maps in order to implement its own version of the service not long ago, and since Google has not developed a solitary version of its app for users to download, those who update to iOS with be sans Google Maps with no option but to make do with Apple’s cartographic mess.

Apple collaborated with Yalp! And TomTom in order to develop the map service; but it at this point it looks like the trio’s brainstorm is a flop, and the only way that iOS maps proves an enhancement is if a user is looking for an Apple Store, since they are more accurately displayed that any other places in the cities they are in.

*cc image from Flickr