You say there is 'literally no need'. How are you so confident in making such a claim for the rest of us?
I, as a consumer, would rather make that decision myself. If you don't want to use Google Maps that's up to you. I don't see why you'd force me to do the same.
As it stands, Maps falling under Google means that I and many others on this planet, from Africa to the Middle East to Asia and others, get to use it for free because it's subsidised by Google's search ads.
A standalone maps company would have to charge money to run the service. People around the world (along with businesses small and large) would be poorer if this were the case.
I defend your choice to dislike this state of affairs. But it's rather difficult to defend a proclivity to take choice away from the rest of us.
> A standalone maps company would have to charge money to run the service.
Yes. That is typically how businesses work. That cost is being subsidized by an uber-entity that is slurping private data of its more economically valuable customers at every turn. Why is it fair to do that?
> But it's rather difficult to defend a proclivity to take choice away from the rest of us.
Where is my choice to step out of this Big Brother ecosystem? If Maps was so awesome, why did Google acquire Waze? And why was it allowed to?
Are you assuming maps will be free forever? One possible future is that once the standalone map companies are out of business prices will begin to rise or ads will become so frequent that the experience of using maps will be severely degraded.
I, as a consumer, would rather make that decision myself. If you don't want to use Google Maps that's up to you. I don't see why you'd force me to do the same.
As it stands, Maps falling under Google means that I and many others on this planet, from Africa to the Middle East to Asia and others, get to use it for free because it's subsidised by Google's search ads.
A standalone maps company would have to charge money to run the service. People around the world (along with businesses small and large) would be poorer if this were the case.
I defend your choice to dislike this state of affairs. But it's rather difficult to defend a proclivity to take choice away from the rest of us.