Here's a google Maps car driving down my street, recording me and my daughter coming home from school. That's the second or third time I've seen them driving my own street in the past five years. They aren't clearly marked; they tend to keep things as low-profile as they can these days. Contrary to popular opinion, their cars aren't ridiculously parti-colored with giant LIDAR domes on top - they're grayish and as low-profile as possible. At some point in the past five years Google figured out that its cars were antagonizing so they decided not to flaunt their presence quite as much. Apple, meawhile, notoriously shit the bed with maps. They have nowhere to go but up. Being in front of you makes you go "whoa! Apple is doing something with maps!" instead of "goddamn it Google you were just here a year ago fuck off with that shit."
