I just started using it, and I would say it's even snappier then G Maps. I was pretty skeptical at first, and it does have a few things I miss, like public transport live updates, but I can use the app of the local provider for that and in my experience G Maps can be quute inaccurate anyway. No way I'm going back now. You need some space to preload the maps though.
I work in customer services, and I do believe the whole thing is a joke, brought to life by the necessity to present accountability on part of the company and try to dodge it at the same time. We are literally paid to sit there and take it like a good soldier, explaining the same thing over and over, until the customer starts screaming down the line and calling us names. At this point I usually smirk, I can finally hang up.
At this point, my only role is literally to be a person that they can talk to, as I still can't do anything most of the time. I can ask questions from other departments and gave the answer to the customer. I'm just a relay between the "experts" and the customer, there to take the flak when they feel dissatisfied.
The company I work for is a contractor for a car company. I don't even have a license. I know nothing about cars. Some of my bosses don't have a license. They know nothing about cars. I was lucky enough to be in a training session with one of them, and they asked the coach responsible for the training, what is a clutch. These are the kind of people that these companies put on the frontline to "help" you. I have to say some of us are trying our best, but obviously we won't be using our free time to educate ourselves on this. We make minimum wage.
I believe it is the logical choice for these companies to just completely restrict customers from talking to anyone. If you talk to me on the phone for half an hour that costs like 20 bucks for the company. I'm not sure how much the tokens would cost if you handled the query by ChatGPT or something like that, but I guess you can't even compare. Who cares if the model was trained on stolen content using slave labor, if I lose my livelyhood, or if you can't talk to anyone? The company gave you an answer to your question now their job is done.
The truth is they don't want to have customer services, it is just an uncomfortable complication that comes with having customers. But they do care about their brand image, so I recommend posting and complaining on their socials, you are much more likely to get a reply. At my job, if a customer posts on social they get a case opened and an agent assigned almost immediately. This is not going to work for the big tech companies obviously. Tesla might even sue you lol.
The takeaway is that companies are not your friends and the people you can talk to are not put there to help you even if they have good intentions. The people responsible for these practices are chilling on their private islands not giving a shit, or sitting in the offices where you will not get into, because they have security. But at this poin, I'm pretty sure even they can't help you at this point. It is the system they exploit that is broken beyond repair, and they don't care to even try to fix it. They have bigger fish to fry, as they have to give a presentation at the end of the quarter on profits and growth.
Hiding behind the notion of leaving sexual education to the parents is the same old narrative that my country used to erase LGBTQ+ representation from media and ban sex ed from schools. Good job, Disney, you have the same morals as a right-wing dictator. Which is not surprising given the history of the brand.
At least they are consistent, Bobby boy said "he would quiet the noise" of the culture war back in 2023, so congrats, I guess?
To be honest, I'm not surprised and not disappointed, I just hope that more and more people realize that these companies are not our allies and never were. Under the veneer of being progressive their sole purpose is to make money for investors and they would throw anyone under the bus to make that happen. Today it's trans people, tomorrow some other marginalized group. Business as usual.