Waze celebrates annual ‘Tim Cook Day,’ attributes success to fubar launch of Apple Maps

“Waze CEO recently sat down for an interview with Business Insider, and spoke about the company’s $1 billion acquisition by Google, self-driving cars, and why the company attributes Waze’s widespread success to Apple and celebrates an annual ‘Tim Cook Day,'” Alex Allegro reports for 9o5Mac.
“The reasoning dates back to 2012, when Apple Maps’ debacle proved a worst case scenario for the company, forcing CEO Tim Cook to write a public apology letter over the numerous Apple Maps shortcomings,” Allegro reports. “In the letter, Apple took the rather unprecedented step of recommending users try out alternative map options found in the App Store. One of those apps? You guessed it, Waze.”
2012 was sort of a defining moment for the company. It’s a day that’s still celebrated today at the company every year: It’s called Tim Cook day, and it’s the day Apple came out with Apple Maps… Tim Cook came out and actually put out a letter apologizing for Apple Maps, and he said until that comes out you can use Microsoft, Google, and Waze. That was our coming-out moment in the US, and from there things start to pick up pace… — Waze CEO Noam Bardin
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: So do makers of high-end Windows towers for professional users.
As per Apple Maps: Ah, the importance of the “beta” tag, or lack thereof.
Had Apple been smart enough to simply place a “beta” tag on Maps, all of this rigamarole would never have occurred. — MacDailyNews, September 28, 2012
SEE ALSO:
Waze CEO: We assumed Apple Maps ‘wouldn’t be that good’ – April 16, 2013
Tim Cook takes full control of Apple: John Browett and Scott Forstall out; Jony Ive, Bob Mansfield, Eddy Cue and Craig Federighi get expanded responsibilities – October 29, 2012
Tim Cook open letter: We fell short with new Maps app; we are extremely sorry – September 28, 2012