By Steve Pak, | March 26, 2016
Google Maps
Google Maps has been blamed for a Texas house being accidentally torn down on March 22, Tuesday. The demolition crew destroyed a Rowlett duplex that had been damaged in a tornado instead of the correct house around the block. Apple Maps has the correct listing for the house that was scheduled to be hit with a wrecking ball but Google Maps shows the same location for two different addresses.
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Homeowner Lindsey Diaz shared with KERA News that she had recently applied for a builder's permit required to fix and rebuild her home, according to Engadget. Then she got a call from her neighbor that the demolition company had torn down her home.
Alan Cutter is the other owner of the duplex that was badly damaged by a Texas tornado that hit on December 26 last year. Both owners had been waiting for financial assistance from their insurance companies and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to help cover the repair costs, according to RT.
An employee of Billy L. Nabors Demolition sent a screenshot with the wrong Google Maps data. However, the company has not issued an apology for destroying the wrong house.
In fact, Nabors CEO George Gomez claimed that the wrecking crew believed they were knocking down the right home and told WFAA that the mistake was not a "big deal."
Google Maps has been developed for years and received crowd-sourced editing, but still sometimes includes gaffes. This can sometimes result in more serious results than delivery guys and gals getting lost after driving around the same block several times.
However, the demolition company could have double-checked the address after the natural disaster blew away many house numbers and street signs.
In related news Google Maps recently added non-Uber ride-sharing services to its iOS app one week after they were added to Android devices. Maps now compares different car services based on the app users' destinations. Most of the services are outside the United States although one taxi service is in New York City.
Google's Maps web-mapping service started as C++ desktop software that the tech giant purchased in 2004 and converted into a web-based application.
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