Tim Cook's reign as an Apple CEO officially ended on September 1, and the new guy, John Ternus, took over. The first thing he did as Apple's chief executive was to rename a Canadian lake. It was not up to him, really.
Apple Maps renamed Lake Ontario to "Lake America"
Apple changed the name in Apple Maps on Wednesday. | Image by The Business Journal
Apple Maps now show Lake Ontario as "Lake America" to everyone in the United States, and the decision came straight from the White House.
According to Fox Business, President Donald Trump had “reached out to Apple directly” to request the change. Mark Gurman was the first to report the change for Bloomberg, but Apple declined to comment on the change and has said nothing official since.
Would you switch navigation apps over a name change?
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Donald Trump ordered the change himself
President Trump signed the executive order for the change on 27 August, a couple of days after trade talks with Canada reached a dead end. The Interior Department has to change the name in the Geographic Names Information System in 30 days, but the change doesn't bind private companies, other countries, and even individual states.
Even though the executive order legally binds federal agencies, tech companies started to abide by it. Google was the first to comply, saying it has a long-standing policy of following official government sources. Apple received the aforementioned call from the White House and also decided to rename the lake, no explanation given.
The reason behind this quite comical move is money. Trump slapped 50% duties on Canadian import goods, and Ottawa said it will retaliate "dollar-for-dollar."
The situation became even more bizarre after Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney installed a physical sign at the disputed lake reading, “Lake Ontario. Now and Always.” President Trump then posted an AI-generated video of himself kicking down the sign and replacing it.
One tech company said no, and now it's winning big time
MapQuest refused the change, and it's hitting big numbers now. | Image by MapQuest
A 30-year-old service called MapQuest refused to rename the lake. “We’re not changing it,” posted the company. MapQuest then offered people the chance to name the disputed lake themselves.
This resulted in a huge bump in popularity for MapQuest. More than 80,000 people downloaded the app on Sunday alone, while the daily average was sitting at 500 in August.
MapQuest also reached number one among free apps in both the Canadian and US App Stores. It's a funny situation — the app that refused to follow Apple's lead now sits at the top of Apple's App Store. The irony is not lost on this one.
Would you switch navigation apps over a name change?
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Mariyan, a tech enthusiast with a background in Nuclear Physics and Journalism, brings a unique perspective to PhoneArena. His childhood curiosity for gadgets evolved into a professional passion for technology, leading him to the role of Editor-in-Chief at PCWorld Bulgaria before joining PhoneArena. Mariyan's interests range from mainstream Android and iPhone debates to fringe technologies like graphene batteries and nanotechnology. Off-duty, he enjoys playing his electric guitar, practicing Japanese, and revisiting his love for video games and Haruki Murakami's works.
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