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Ask HN: As an IT person, what do you like and dislike about cars?

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Re: Ask HN: As an IT person, what do you like and dislike about cars?

#7
Off the top of my head:

Why doesn't every car:

- stop collecting and reporting my data to the manufacturer

- offer full diagnostic readouts of trouble codes

- come with one or more docking bays to mount and wireless charge phones

- come with a router for all occupants to share a powerful car based hotspot

- offer a manual transmission

- showcase my fuel efficiency rather than my rpms (who needs a giant rpm gauge anymore?)

- come with airplane style passenger monitors tied to individual phones

- support phone based entry and start

- support find my car

- include E-ZPass or equivalent

- stop micro-transactions

- allow self repair

The things I do like about my cars are:

- 5k or 15k miles between services

- backup cameras

- integrated mapping

- remembers my seat and mirror preferences

- AWD when I need/want it

Re: Ask HN: As an IT person, what do you like and dislike about cars?

#8
I drive an old pickup. When I rented a "modern" car for a long trip, I was appalled by the numbers of needless features. In motorcycle talk, it was a garbage wagon. My 30 year old Chevy pickup is simple and functional. It's a lot like the early Macintoshes: so simple that it's elegant.

Re: Ask HN: As an IT person, what do you like and dislike about cars?

#9
Monolithic software. Cars come bundled with an entire suite of specialized software interfaces, for all sorts of personal systems - from sound, to interior lighting, to window control, to hvac. You take what you get, and hope it's ok.

I wish there were software interfaces that let users enjoy the "soft"ness software can bring. I'd way rather be able to try out & maybe build my own apps for different car functions. I'd like control via other devices. I'd like to share control with other people & their devices when they're in the vehicle.

It was posed as a negative thing, but the "Jeep hack" of 2015 (affecting a much broader range of vehicles highlighted what a simple capable powerful bus underlies the car. It's just a DBus compatible interface for a huge range of the cars functions. Just exposing that would massively tip the balance back towards letting people have actual agency & control over their vehicles.

Ideally though we'd all get full root access to the Linux computer or computers running multi-seat In Vehicle Infotainment (IVI) to boot. So we can work these computers as we might. And ideally upgrade or replace the brains as we desire too.

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