When Apple Maps first debuted last fall, it was epically filled with errors. So much so that Tim Cook issued an apology – something that rarely happens in Cupertino. The maps improved since then and now offer gorgeous 3D views of cities and even correct directions to your destination.
The errors in routing are never fun, but some of the computer glitches resulting from the merging of 2D maps and 3D satellite data result in images Dali would enjoy. Peder Norrby, founder of Trapcode, a Swedish graphics company, has complied many of the photographic glitches into a set on his Flickr account.
Ready for a trippy spin around the world? You’ll see incongruous images such as an Air Pacific plane stuck in the tarmac, trees that slide off a ridge in Iran, cabs melting into a shadow in Times Square, and trucking containers in Stockholm that abruptly turn upward toward the sky.
To be fair, this isn’t just an Apple problem. Google’s had its glitches, too. The errors will eventually be fixed with some good ol’ fashioned human intervention that verifies exactly what the area in question looks like. In fact, Apple even announced it was looking for “Ground Truth Managers” throughout the world. In the meantime, we don’t recommend boarding that plane attached to the tarmac.
View Norrby’s whole Flickr set of Apple Map glitches here.
Images via Peder Norrby’s Flickr.
