Apple CEO ‘extremely sorry’ for Apple Maps

A single mistake can tarnish the reputation of a once high-standing business. As this blog has covered, the NFL is learning this the hard way following the replacement referee debacle and now a tech giant is standing in front of the firing squad.

Earlier this month, after Apple introduced the iPhone 5 and iOS 6, millions of people started using them. One of the highly touted new features – at least by the company – was a new application known as Apple Maps, which replaced the highly popular Google Maps. It was clear from the the moment consumers got their hands on it that there was something wrong.

The application didn’t seem to be finished and a number of glitches, missing information and overall poor quality was complained about. Technology reviewers ripped the application apart and wondered if such a poor quality program, would be allowed into consumers hands if late CEO Steve Jobs was still alive.

It got so bad, current CEO Tim Cook released a statement on the company website apologizing for how poor the program is. According to Cook, Apple Maps does not live up to the “world-class” standards that consumers hold for the company, which is “extremely sorry for the frustration” customers have felt. He even encouraged users to look into rival applications, including the browser-based Google Maps, until Apple Maps is fixed.

A simple misstep can be damaging. As IT departments are considering where to invest their budgets, a mistake could be the end of their business. CIOs would be wise to partner with an experienced IT consulting firm like CTI Technology to get a hand sifting through the options to find the solution that best fits their company needs.