I have an iPad, a Macbook, and I'm thinking about buying an iPhone. I really enjoy Apple products. But, I know this may be hard for you to all understand, Apple isn't perfect. I know what you're thinking. You're thinking I'm crazy. What kind of lunatic would say something like that?
My case in point, who remembers Antennagate? When people held their iPhones in a pretty normal way their reception would face-plant. CNN ranked Antennagate as the top tech fail of 2010.
Well, there is a new controversy bubbling up in the soap opera that is the tech industry. Apple recently threw all Google's built in apps out of the proverbial window, and proceeded to kick Google out of the house of iOS. There is no more Youtube app on your iPhone, and worst of all there is no more Google Maps app in iOS 6.
Google Maps is one of the most amazing developments in tech history. It has made the world small enough to fit in your hands. You can literally explore the world though Google Maps in ways that aren't possible with a regular atlas. Turn by turn directions used to be for cool people with fancy GPS devices. Now anyone with an Android phone can use turn by turn directions. NO MORE GETTING LOST!
Apple got rid of Google Maps, and started their own mapping service called Maps. Boy is it pretty. I said this earlier this week on Twitter:
Can't help but view iOS6 maps like a really beautifully varnished table that falls apart when you sit at it. Beauty lacking function.
— gradearawk (@IveyRhodes) September 20, 2012
Example of Maps Beauty:
Financial District on Manhattan Island. you can see the under construction Freedom Tower toward the top of the picture. It's a quite nice 3D rendering.
Example of Maps, um... weirdness:
This is Charleston's very own Cooper River Bridge (Arthur Ravenel for you out of towners). I don't know if I'd drive over that... seems a little, uh, bumpy?
If you're using Maps you will not find Oceanside Church. We've worked hard to keep all our online info up to date, because we want people be able to find our church easily. Now, with one quick update, Apple has made it where millions of people can't find our church on their iPhone. That's annoying.
All this failing on the part of Apple's new Maps app got me thinking about how we often choose the shiny and new over the best. God is the best, but so many times new things come and we kick Him out of being a meaningful part of our lives. Something new, exciting, and shiny comes along and we're like a crow pecking at an empty glass Coke bottle in the sun. It's shiny, but it's empty.
...proclaim the Message with intensity; keep on your watch. Challenge, warn, and urge your people. Don't ever quit. Just keep it simple.
You're going to find that there will be times when people will have no stomach for solid teaching, but will fill up on spiritual junk food—catchy opinions that tickle their fancy. They'll turn their backs on truth and chase mirages. 2 Timothy 4:2-5 The Message
I think valuing pretty, new, and shiny over real substance is part of our sin nature. We're always looking for something different. It's alright for us to stay current, but we have to make sure that what we're saying and doing matches up with the teachings of the Bible.
God is the substance. Everything else is just filler and counterfeit.
All that being said, I'm sure Apple will eventually get their Maps app working correctly. Until that day they're just the off brand map application. I'll use Maps.Google.com
- Unscheduling God for work will never pay off.
- Kicking God out so your boyfriend or girlfriend can move in isn't going to work.
- Stealing from God so that you can give to that car payment won't add up.
- Running from God to find something new will only lead you to a dead end.
God is the substance. Everything else is just filler and counterfeit.
All that being said, I'm sure Apple will eventually get their Maps app working correctly. Until that day they're just the off brand map application. I'll use Maps.Google.com
