'Lake America' makes one thing clear: We can't trust U.S. tech companies

davesque•41 minutes ago

And then he wanted New Mexico to be New America. Capitulation is not just about what they're asking for now, but also what they'll be emboldened to ask for in the future.

k310•about 1 hour ago

Google and Apple (soon) make foldable phones.

And why not? Their CEO's are foldable as well.

"Don't be Evil"

Folded.

So here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. Here’s to you.

Folded

ebbi•about 1 hour ago

I remember when tech news sites used to (rightfully) harp on about Chinese tech companies and how they should not be trusted given they satisfy every whim of the CCP.

But now large tech companies in America can't even challenge the naming of a Lake and just folded, meekly.

kashunstva•about 1 hour ago

As a Canadian living in Canada, I see “Lake Ontario.” in Apple Maps. All good. No idea what Google shows because I don’t knowingly use Google products. But I do see the ridiculous “Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America)” I don’t care what Apple shows inside of U.S. borders but dragging the rest of the world into the clown show is unnecessary.

Although I haven’t much thought through the details, I wonder if these disputed names could be subject to user preference. Basically, a pre-MAGA and MAGA setting.

al_borland•about 1 hour ago

I’m in the US, near the Canadian boarder, I see both names show up. Lake Ontario shows up larger and when zoomed out. Lake America shows up smaller as I zoom in. I suppose some of this could be a cacheing issue, hard to say.

At the end of the day a map provider has the responsibility to show the official names of places on a map. If it’s one name to the US and another name for the rest of the world, the pragmatic solution is to show the “right” name based on a user’s location.

This seems like a silly hill to die on, when whoever is in office next will likely revert the names of the lake and the Gulf of Mexico, unless they are deep in the Trump camp.

Messing with maps as a negotiation tactic seems rather boneheaded. It’s extremely disruptive, but blaming Google or Apple for any of this is a bad move, imo. There are much bigger fights to be had and they need to pick their battles. This isn’t it, and it will likely resolve itself in time, and should only impact those in the US, if done right.

vkou•43 minutes ago

> It’s extremely disruptive, but blaming Google or Apple for any of this is a bad move, imo

They have the capacity to push back, instead of pre-emptively rolling over for an autocrat.

jmclnx•41 minutes ago

Personally I believe you cannot trust the US Gov. since Citizens United. This seems not only to allow the rich to purchase politicians, but under Trump it allows the current administration to extort companies.

So, companies can easily pay Trump for favors with out any consequences, but they just need to keep the money train going and kowtow to Trump's insane whims.

tfwnopmt•about 1 hour ago

mapquest is from the US too

ModernMech•about 1 hour ago

Amazing how eager they were to do this, and not a week later he's talking about renaming the Strait of Hormuz, New Mexico, and claimed to own the Moon. I wonder if he renames the Moon to Trump, will Google rename Google Moon to Google Trump? Will they rename New Mexico to New America? Will Google rename Tuesday to Trumpday if Trump demands it? Probably yes, the consensus seems to be it's their duty to do so.

add-sub-mul-div•about 1 hour ago

Another way to look at it is that when adults are back in charge, we can trust tech companies will fall in line with them too.

toss1•about 1 hour ago

That is not helpful.

That makes them only useful as windsocks, and there are other far better ways to see which way the wind is blowing.

'Lake America' makes one thing clear: We can't trust U.S. tech companies

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