Apple is getting very bad press for its new Maps app, which is understandable due to a transition from an old technology to a new one, and from a mature database to an untested one. It was probably not possible for Apple to transition without glitches like it is now being lambasted for.

The question is, did Apple make a mistake going with its own mapping app? In my opinion: absolutely not. Apple learned that lesson with Microsoft and integral apps like browsers and office suites.

And it showed with maps. When I visited home a year ago, I used Google’s map app on my father’s Android phone, and was frankly startled at how much more advanced it was than the same app in iOS. It instantly became clear: Google was putting all its work into improving the app on their own mobile OS, allowing the iOS version to languish, thus giving iOS and Apple a black eye—and Android a selling point.

Apple would have been stupid to let that continue. And now Google has the gall to release a new, updated maps app to Apple, as if that had not been possible a year ago—upgrading their iOS app only when Apple itself competes. Even if Apple’s map app is a flop, at the very least it will have prompted Google to update their app on iOS (hopefully a decent update this time).

The point is, however, that Google seems to be becoming Microsoft—leveraging their position to screw other people over. So much for “not being evil.”