Google Maps certainly wasn't the first GPS Map app (mobile or web app) there were multiple GPS apps before it and that came after it. However the other strides that Google made, mostly in their accuracy and in their satellite imagery, they eventually became the de facto standard, with hundreds and hundreds of apps using their API. It makes you wonder if there is even a point in creating an equal competitor to Google Maps. There are other apps, like Waze, that provided different functionality to the GPS function (road blocks, police traps, etc.) and ironically enough they got acquired by Google. Mapquest (which has the second highest marketshare) I would say is an old relic, and Apple Maps in functionality doesn't do anything different. It makes me wonder if some companies have designed their products for the "Long Wow" so well that they've effectively created enough barriers of entry so that they have a de facto monopolization of the market

I would hope that when mentioning the use of focus groups that the text would mention the uncertainty of using it to determine whether or not your product is good. Like it said, you could have an apathetic focus group, however I feel it's important to realize that if you're testing a product that has a functionality that is not already normalized, you might get negative feedback. However this doesn't mean your product is bad, but just that people aren't used to using your product in the way you intended it because nobody has used your kind of product for the purposes you designed it for. Looking at it from another perspective, however, a focus group having negative feedback to your product could also illuminate the problem that might not have been clear to you before. It's a well designed product and easy to use, but people are hesitant because it's not what they're used to. There is a good story of how P&G had a good product in Febreze but it wasn't selling at all until their finally realized that the issue wasn't with their product but with user/consumer behavior. You can read a little bit more about this here: http://geekrebel.com/2012/03/marketing-the-febreze-story-marketing-the-feb/