Apple Maps Become A Dangerous Nuisance, Instead of Just A Normal Nuisance

By Nick Venable | Updated

This article is more than 2 years old

Cell phones have done much to enrich our lives in many ways, from widespread communication to sub-infinite ways in which to waste time. While apps like UrbanSpoon may advise you on the best places to stop your heart through gastronomy, the doom-saying Apple Maps is back in the headlights for, and I say this without a shred of overstating, actively trying to get you tortured and murdered in the Australian Outback. Well, maybe not actively. And maybe not you personally. But there is a definite bloodthirst in the air.

As reported by Victoria Police in south-east Australia, warnings should be heeded when trying to use the iOS6 system on your iPhone to map your way to the rural city of Mildura. Recent weeks have seen a number of motorists become stranded when their Apple Map has led them straight into the middle of Murray-Sunset National Park. In the below screen capture, the purple dot is the actual location, and the red dot is Apple’s Death Trap.

Admittedly, there is an element of stupidity involved with turning completely off the beaten path to go into dark and forbidding territories. And it’s unfortunate that there are people unable to ignore the directional steps in order to just read the map in its most basic form. But if the globe-conquering behemoth that is Apple says something is so, many people will follow.

In case this seems like a nifty scenic route, authorities call it “one of the few remaining semi-arid regions in the world where the environment is relatively untouched.” If you’re unfamiliar with Australian films in the horror or survival genres, this is a frightening concept, even without hillbilly serial killers. Should one run of gas, there are obviously no gas stations nearby, but also no water supply, and temperatures are known to reach up to 115 degrees Fahrenheit. Police say some motorists stayed stranded up to 24 hours with no water or food, walking for hours through dangerous terrain in order to acquire a cell phone signal.

Police have contacted Apple in order to get this matter fixed. And we all know how quickly Apple gets around to fixing its buggy products, right?

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