The Atlantic

Google Maps' Failed Attempt to Get People to Lose Weight

Not everyone wants to be reminded of calories when trying to get directions.
Source: Ruth Black / Radu Bercan / Shutterstock / The Atlantic

On Monday, the reporter Taylor Lorenz noticed that Google Maps had a new feature: Walking distances were delivered in terms of calories.

Instead of simply telling her that a walk would take 13 minutes, the app also converted that to an amount of energy, 59 calories. Then a click on that calorie count gave a further conversion, from calories to food.

Specifically, mini cupcakes with pink

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