I don't think street view is what made google that much better than maps. It's the search that works, and detailed maps, which were around from before street view. But I do think you're partially right on the apple front, but they do stuff that pisses people off all the time, the difference is that it's usually taking out a feature (like Ethernet) that is only beginning to be phased out by the other tech companies. The big difference is that the maps change doesn't just bother geeks, but gets at their main user base, which they're usually pretty careful about.