Type “Apple Store Chestnut Hill” on your iPhone in Boston, and you get the map on the left. Follow the directions and you end up on a back alley — about a mile from the Apple Store in Chestnut Hill. Frustrated. And cold. And no longer in the holiday spirit.
I had the same thing happen to me a few weeks (months?) ago, but I fortunately was 90% sure of the way to get to Chestnut Hill and was just verifying the route on my iPhone.. Seeing it’s route I knew it was wonky, so I was able to avoid some of the frustration you found…
Perhaps those Linux/Apache servers like to have a little fun occasionally.
Google maps once directed me to some random location on Google’s own campus… when I was looking for the Chipotle about half a mile away.
I had the exact same experience at night courtesy of a GPS. I never did find the Apple store that night and counted myself fortunate to make it back to my hotel in one piece. Boston seemed to have a lot of one way streets and streets with tracks on them. That was the only bad experience I’ve ever had that relates in any way to an Apple store. I hope the Holiday Spirit has returned or is on its way. Keep the faith.
I often find myself cold, frustrated and no longer in the holiday spirit when in suburban boston. my sympathies.
I wouldn’t blame Google Maps too much- that part of Chestnut Hill/Boylston St confusing even for natives.
If you go to the Google Maps web site and search for [apple store chestnut hill ma] you can click on the Apple Store, click “Edit”, and move the marker to the real life location, helping future people avoid your holiday experience.
I used to work at that Apple Store, right after the iPhone debuted. We couldn’t type in our street address as “Chestnut Hill, MA” because that borough isn’t recognized by Google (depending on the cut, it’s either in Brookline or Newton). Lead to some funny sales pitches.
Well, at least it gave you the right Chestnut Hill. (Though perhaps if the Chestnut Hill I live by, in Philadelphia, had an Apple store too, it might not have.)
I’ve occasionally had Google Maps pick the wrong town when I’ve asked for directions. Sometimes this is partly the fault of local geography– there are, for instance two distinct Springfields within 20 miles of each other here (and yes, they’re in the same state). But sometimes it picks the wrong one when the address only makes sense in the other one– or in rural areas, interpolates a street number on a road way outside of town instead of picking the exact street address right in town. Now, this doesn’t happen very often– Google Maps gets it right much more often than it gets it wrong– but I still find it useful to double-check unfamiliar addresses before I jump in the car if I can.
What a great place to live!
Google maps once cost me 500 miles on the last leg of a ‘quick’ trip from NYC to Robert Scoble’s mother’s house in Montana. Google said to ‘zig’ and I ‘zigged’. Should have ‘zagged’. Ouch. Only learned of the mistake when I saw the sign for South Dakota.
Check. Check and double-check Google map directions is my new mantra.
MapQuest > Google Maps. Why?
Sites of interest we have a link to