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Things that make you go “Duh!” - The iPhone’s Maps icon

March 18, 2008 by Dr. Macenstein
Filed under: Apple Fanboyism, Awesomeness, Photos, Slow News Day, iPhone

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I was looking at the iPhone this morning, and started wondering about the Maps icon. Since there is a reason behind pretty much everything Apple’s designer’s do, I wondered if there was a reason Apple chose to show Interstate 280 on the icon. Assuming the answer was “yes”, I decided to try to find that location.

So in what I thought was a brilliant move (and brilliant waste of time), I typed “Interstate 280″ into Google Maps. I figured I would just zoom in, and begin a relaxing “drive” across the US, looking for a match between the distinctive roads shown on the icon, and the roads along Route 280. Not being overly familiar with Interstate 280, when I saw that the default result Google gave me was in CA, just outside San Mateo, about 12 dozen light bulbs went off in my brain, and the thunderous “SLAP!” of my hand hitting my forehead could be heard all the way to Cupertino. For that is when I suddenly had one of those “Duh!” moments you feel (almost) too embarrassed to even write about.

I guess the “Loopy” road should have been a clue…

The pin’s a little off (or Google is) but there is no doubt that is Apple’s HQ at 1 Infinite Loop we are seeing on the iPhone. I guess as an owner of a Garmin GPS unit that always wants me to start my trips from Garmin’s Kansas factory, I should have known better.

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Comments

14 Comments on Things that make you go “Duh!” - The iPhone’s Maps icon

Jonro on Tue, 18th Mar 2008 11:20 am

Look what you’ve done! Now I want to update the icon to display *my* home.

kot on Tue, 18th Mar 2008 11:37 am

I realized that from day one. the first time I saw this icon…

Dr. Macenstein on Tue, 18th Mar 2008 11:39 am

Kot, congratulations. I’ll send you a cookie.

-the Doc

byronchurch on Tue, 18th Mar 2008 11:43 am

Good Job ,Good insight ,Good Website ! I have a Plethora of iPhone blogs that I check for tasty morsels of my new obsession and have been getting un-briliantly smug in my disapproval of re-headlined week old news . Good to find you . Thanks !

UNIX Master on Tue, 18th Mar 2008 11:50 am

Um, those of us in the area already knew that.

Scott on Tue, 18th Mar 2008 1:01 pm

Good that you poked fun at yourself — feeling embarrassed to write about it, etc., etc., but this is about as commonly known as the spelling of dog.

cs on Tue, 18th Mar 2008 2:43 pm

I recall this mentioned many times on a variety of blogs prior to the release when all we had were screen shots.

Yet if you didn’t know, you didn’t know.

Dr. Macenstein on Tue, 18th Mar 2008 2:49 pm

OK OK, I get it! Everyone got the memo but me!!
Sheesh.
On a side note, anyone else notice the “Safari icon” looks almost exactly like the Safari icon in OS X?

-The Doc

D9 on Tue, 18th Mar 2008 2:59 pm

OK, here’s one for you iPhone trivia buffs:

Whose stock during what period is shown on the “Stocks” icon??

Ethan on Tue, 18th Mar 2008 3:39 pm

For the record, I had no idea.

Marcus on Tue, 18th Mar 2008 4:29 pm

It never even occurred to me that the icon might have some relevance. How rock & roll is that eh?

What do I win?

monoclast on Tue, 18th Mar 2008 7:49 pm

Actually, the pin is on the mark. Both of those side street entrances (Inifinite Loop and Mariani Ave.) are exclusive Apple campus entrances with Apple campus signs posts right there on N de Anza Blvd. It appears Apple just put the pin between both entrances. ; ) Here’s a snapshot of one of them I took recently:

http://img229.imageshack.us/img229/7719/pc167816qs7.jpg

Partners in Grime on Wed, 19th Mar 2008 1:18 am

Same icon on the iPod Touch. Seems like a conspiracy.

imajoebob on Wed, 19th Mar 2008 2:13 am

I was really impressed that my then-new PowerBook took the date I activated my software and made it the date on the iCal icon. Well, at least I was until a few weeks later I saw someone else’s Mac and it used July 17 on his icon too.

Duh…

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