The Fruity Cargo Cult Apple has subbed its Canadian fanboys and followed Donald Trump in renaming a chunk of the nation’s geography.
For those who came in late, Trump threw his toys out of the pram when he was disrespected by the Ontario premier Doug Ford for slapping tariffs on Canada after insisting that they should stop speaking French and should not make trade agreements without the US’s blessing. His response was to rename Lake Ontario Lake America.
Normally, this would have been laughed off; however, Trump called in his tech-bro chums and demanded they obey his orders. Google was the first to change the map, and now, according to The Wall Street Journal, Jobs Mob made Lake America searchable for people in the US while keeping the Lake Ontario label above the Canadian border.
On Saturday, Trump posted an AI video of animated ducks with hair resembling his, holding machine guns and defending “Lake America.” He then posted another AI video showing him replacing a sign reading “Welcome to Lake Ontario” with one saying “Welcome to Lake America,” before dancing to “Y.M.C.A.”
Canadian leaders said the lake has been “Lake Ontario” for hundreds of years and will remain “Lake Ontario.” Ontario Premier Doug Ford said on Sunday that Trump’s decision to rename the lake is “something out of ‘Saturday Night Live.’”
Google and Job’s Mob claimed they update maps using the US Geographic Names Information System. The system changes its labels when the federal government changes place names.
It is somewhat strange that both companies have stared down governments in Europe and China for much less than changing geography, but appear ready to contaminate their products so easily. Android and Apple fanboys might want to start questioning how many similar changes have been snuck through but never got such media attention.
The naming stunt has handed rival mapping software a useful bump. According to People, MapQuest shot to the top of Job’s Mob’s App Store after refusing to change Lake Ontario’s name and saying, “We’re not changing it,” while MarketWatch reported that third-party services using Google Maps data were dragged into the mess as “Lake America” labels appeared where locals did not want them.
