Google morning. How many times have you written that before? I hope you had a lovely final weekend before Labor Day. This morning, I’m reading about tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of pristine Duck Hunt cartridges found in a box in Wisconsin, vigorously nodding my head along to John Oliver’s takedown of subscription bloat (but remember to subscribe to 9to5Google Pro anyway!), and wishing I had a 3D printer to create my dream storage and organization system.
Inbox is written by Daniel Bader. Read previous issues here, and then catch up with Ben Schoon’s excellent Weekender column published every Sunday.
I think it’s safe to say that Google’s decision over the weekend to change the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America has been met with a bit of pushback.
In a blog post, Google says that it generally abides by the Geographic Names Information System when it comes to how it presents names on maps, and since Executive Order 14420 “directs the Board on Geographic Names (‘BGN’) to immediately rename Lake Ontario to Lake America and to update the Geographic Names Information System to appropriately reflect the change,” it was merely following its own protocols. Google went through the same rigmarole when it renamed Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America in February 2025.
One beneficiary of the drama has been MapQuest, the company whose rise and subsequent fall can be directly traced to Google Maps’ ascent over the past two decades. In social media posts on Friday, the company showed a cropped map of Lake Ontario with the caption, “We’re not changing it,” inspiring widespread support alongside understandable questions of “MapQuest still exists?!”
Over the weekend, the company’s Android and iOS downloads shot up 128%, bringing it to the top of their respective “maps & navigation apps” categories on both platforms, and app usage was up 50x, according to owner System1.
As of writing, Apple has yet to make the same change to its Maps app, but it’ll likely happen any day now, particularly because the President is applying pressure, according to reports.
Though the name change itself amounts to a minor scuffle within the larger trade war between the US and Canada, Google Maps’ enormous reach — and companies’ reliance on its APIs — means that long after the heat has died down, its effects will be felt indefinitely.
Welcome to a new project I’m calling Cc, where I ask interesting people in the community about what’s making them happy both inside and outside the world of tech. First up, my friend and long-time mobile journalist, David Imel.
Who are you?My name is David Imel.What do you do for work?I’m a technology journalist for the Waveform Podcast, The Verge, and my own work on my blog and YouTube channel.
What do you do for fun?For fun I do landscape photography, host community events, hike, travel, play music and spend time with my friends. My most common hobby is walking. I love walking.
What is your relationship like with technology these days?My relationship with technology is weird these days. I’ve been trying to do more things off-screen, like reading books and going to movies. I like hiking and walking because they get me off the internet. I feel that social media has been co-opted by oligarchs to make us hate each other; the more time I spend on social media, the worse I feel. Because of this, I’m trying to spend more time without any headphones in and without looking at screens, and it’s making me feel happier. I also do a lot of analog stuff like film photography and listening to records with my friends, because they feel more tangible.
What are three apps you can’t live without and why?
What is a gadget that you love right now?I’m loving the Fitbit Air. It’s nice to be able to use my analog watches but still get info about my health, especially since I’ve been taking my health more seriously this year.
What’s a recent book you loved?I recently read both East of Eden and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.
What’s a recent movie you loved?Project Hail Mary because it was so lovely, especially in IMAX, but I also loved The Drama because of how divided it made people. And the performances were fantastic.
What’s something offline you do every day that brings you joy?I go on very long walks every day. I usually average about 15,000 steps. I’ve also been bringing my guitar to the park almost every day and practicing it. But the #1 thing I’ve done every day since college is going to the local coffee shop every morning, catching up with the regulars and sipping some good coffee. I wake up early – usually around 7am, so it’s a really great little reprieve before the day starts.
Thank you, David, for being my guinea pig for this experiment.
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Due to rising component costs, we are adjusting the U.S. pricing of select Google Nest cameras, doorbells and Google TV streamer 4K, effective August 31. We remain committed to providing our customers with industry-leading smart home security and continuous feature updates.
– Google, on justifying its up to 50% increase in Google Nest products this week
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Daniel is a writer, editor, podcaster and analyst covering the big stories, small milestones, and amazing people behind tech’s biggest moments. He was previously editor-in-chief of MobileSyrup, Android Central, and Android Police, and has been a content director of tech publications since 2010.
