APPLE Maps has come in for a lot of criticism. It's been called 'glitchy' and 'gimmicky' and 'simply unfit for purpose'.
In September 2012 Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook issued an apology to Apple customers saying he was 'extremely sorry' - he probably did this from his guitar-shaped swimming pool in the Californian hills floating on a lilo shaped like a 100 dollar bill while flicking caviare fish feed at rare koi carp.
He was right to apologise.
It's all about Mancniscience - (pronounced like omniscience) a word we've just made up meaning comprehensive knowledge of all things Manchester.
Look at the 3d App - if you have an iPhone of course - for our neighbour cities of Leeds and Liverpool and you can understand why people were disappointed. They just don't work right. The 3d maps for those cities are as flattened and not right as the nose on a Pekingese mutt.
Pug-Nosed Apple 3D Satmap For Liverpool And Leeds Represented By A Dog
Manchester's 3d map however works a treat.
Of course things get a bit blurry when you get in close, but generally the 3d features work extremely well. Why we should be thus privileged is hard to say - although Birmingham among provincial cities in the UK is equally well-provided.
So to mark this, every week we're going to set a fun little challenge over Manchester geography using the stunning, if slightly spooky and intrusive, 3d Apple Satmap.
The questions might be about buildings that have vanished subsequent to the maps being made, they might be about history, about hidden little features and landscape eccentricities. It's all about Mancniscience - (pronounced like omniscience) a word we've just made up meaning comprehensive knowledge of all things Manchester.
There's no prize for answering the question, it's just a chance to be filled with an enormous sense of well-being as you guess correctly. The answer will be posted 24 hours after the question is posed. Some questions will be fairly easy and some will be damned hard.
Challenge Number One
Name the 'ghost' building on this picture?
Spot the 'ghost' building
