We all remember where we were when we found out the Apple logo had been urinated on by the Android robot. Well, actually, this breaking news passed me ten years ago, so I don't. But I'm sure it's seared indelibly onto the minds, nay, souls, of all who bore witness to the saga in April 2015.
Yes, it's been a decade since the Apple was defiled by the robot on Google Maps, with an era of terrain in Pakistan edited to depict, quite clearly, the robot relieving itself onto the poor, defenceless fruit. The whole thing led to much merriment online, and a swift apology from Google (because peeing on one of the best logos of all time is never a good look).
"We're sorry for this inappropriate user-created content; we're working to remove it quickly," Google announced in a statement at the time. "We also learn from these issues, and we're constantly improving how we detect, prevent, and handle bad edits."
Indeed, it turned out the offending image was created by a user of the now defunct Google Map Maker. Google temporarily shut down the tool in response to the peeing robot debacle, and it was permanently shuttered. Google did switch to a model in which it moderated user-generated edits, but this quickly proved too time-consuming for the company.
And eventually the Google Map Maker user responsible for the edit was identified. According to Digital Journal, online sleuths traced them back to a user named Nitricboy, whose profile even showed a log of the various edits involved in the construction of the, er, artwork.
So there we have it, while the rivalry between Apple and Google continues through official channels, this is certainly one of the most irreverent takes we've ever seen on it. But hidden messages in maps aren't as uncommon as you think – never forget that the world is a cat.
