Live data from Hacker News

Chevrolet to offer unlimited data plan with cars

bbc.com

91–100 of 128 posts

Re: Chevrolet to offer unlimited data plan with cars

#91
post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair, Blackberry (RIM) was not bigger than Apple on the day of the iPhone announcement. Also, RIM was kind of forced to build something like the iPhone by Verizon according to Losing the Signal by Jacquie McNish https://smile.amazon.com/Losing-Signal-Extraordinary-Spectac...

To be honest, there is some truth in the ideas behind the point though. RIM always liked to control everything, and at most give Enterprises control, but not end users. Apple targeted consumers, and relied on consumers to push into enterprise for them. IIRC, it was actually some time before iOS even supported basic enterprise features (like company control and reset for company devices, etc).

Yeah, I can see that, but GM and Tesla are so different in size that the comparison is a bit problematic.

RIM knew who their market was, and frankly should have been fine if there hadn't been a hype panic. Heck, their top market cap was a year after the iPhone.

I cannot help but think of a world where there was an actual "consumer" Blackberry device. I think the Bold form factor with the Passport keyboard UI and advances would have been a pretty nice machine. It was even thick enough for a really good camera and battery. I can even see the shooting video commercial tag line "Live Life in Widescreen" with snark about vertical video.

Re: Chevrolet to offer unlimited data plan with cars

#93
post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The picture in the article shows a Volt. If it's in your garage then it's plugged in.

That's what's in the picture but that's not the only type of vehicle Chevy makes and their electric offerings are not the only ones that are eligible. Unless there's an electric Silverado I don't know about?

There was, in fact, a hybrid Silverado for a few years[0]. They are not made right now, so this offer would not apply to them.

//Disclaimer: I work for GM, and I worked in the factory where Hybrid Escalades were made.

0. https://www.edmunds.com/chevrolet/silverado-1500-hybrid/

Re: Chevrolet to offer unlimited data plan with cars

#94
post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be honest, there is some truth in the ideas behind the point though. RIM always liked to control everything, and at most give Enterprises control, but not end users. Apple targeted consumers, and relied on consumers to push into enterprise for them. IIRC, it was actually some time before iOS even supported basic enterprise features (like company control and reset for company devices, etc).

Yeah, I can see that, but GM and Tesla are so different in size that the comparison is a bit problematic. RIM knew who their market was, and frankly should have been fine if there hadn't been a hype panic. Heck, their top market cap was a year after the iPhone. I cannot help but think of a world where there was an actual "consumer" Blackberry device. I think the Bold form factor with the Passport keyboard UI and adva…

> Yeah, I can see that, but GM and Tesla are so different in size that the comparison is a bit problematic.

Sure, that's why I said the truth was in the ideas, not the statement itself. :)

> Heck, their top market cap was a year after the iPhone.

Sure, Apple added exchange support in early-to-mid 2008[1]. Add to that incomplete coverage of features initially, and the fact that Enterprises don't move as quickly as consumers, and it makes sense. I remember there being some hope RIM could pull off a good touch phone, but it was too later (I judge this by the fact that when they finally delivered a touch phone nobody really cared enough to give it the time of day).

1: http://www.computerworld.com/article/2537517/apple-mac/apple...

Re: Chevrolet to offer unlimited data plan with cars

#95
post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Only the GPS time value has never had any leap seconds applied to it. So it's almost 20 seconds ahead of UTC. Which is probably "good enough" for a clock in a car.

GPS includes the offset between GPS time and UTC so that receivers can convert to UTC if they want to. This offset is limited to 255 seconds though. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Positioning_System#Leap...

> This offset is limited to 255 seconds though.

Given that leap seconds have been added at a rate of approximately 1 every 1.6 years, we are still good for another 376 years.

Re: Chevrolet to offer unlimited data plan with cars

#96
post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here's how Blackberry could beat Apple, along with why it won't happen. Blackberry could just take a look at what Apple is doing, and do all of the same things, then do certain key things better. From a sheer resources and capability standpoint, Blackberry could beat the pants off of Apple. I think Apple is counting on: 1) Blackberry and other big phone makers being too set in their ways and 2) GM and other big phone…

I'm not sure what point this find/replace is supposed to be making. That seems like a pretty accurate assessment of how Blackberry could have beaten Apple and why they didn't. Well, except it also needs a find/replace on "security" to something else like "UI."

The point is GM won't beat Tesla, for similar reasons to why BB and Nokia didn't beat Apple, despite having a number of advantages.

Re: Chevrolet to offer unlimited data plan with cars

#97
post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh brother, I know your pain. I too have a 6 character gmail address because I signed up in 2004 when it was in beta and I too get email for all sorts of people (both accidentally and because people just give out my email address as a fake when they sign up for something stupid). It can be fun too though, like when someone signs up for a dating site with your email and you can login to what is effectively your accoun…

WOW! I was also an early adopter of Gmail and have a six-letter gmail address as well that I got all sorts of emails that were from other people (but with the same name as mine). In inspecting the raw email content, the "To:" field is correctly spelled with my gmail address but the email content have been nothing to do with me: someone else's group invite, account registration that was clearly not me, flight confirma…

Yes. Heaven help you if you have an extremely common firstname.lastname combination where there are multiple spellings of the first name. Once you're in someone's address book, it's nearly impossible to get them to delete you if they're not tech-savvy. So every time someone intends to email Jon.Smith@gmail.com they send it to John.Smith instead.

There are companies that have been emailing me contracts for years now. I've gotten multiple divorce records, tax returns, all sorts of confidential information. I guess that's what all those legal disclaimers in the footer are for, because someone could do a ton of damage with the information I've gotten.

Re: Chevrolet to offer unlimited data plan with cars

#98
post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here's how Blackberry could beat Apple, along with why it won't happen. Blackberry could just take a look at what Apple is doing, and do all of the same things, then do certain key things better. From a sheer resources and capability standpoint, Blackberry could beat the pants off of Apple. I think Apple is counting on: 1) Blackberry and other big phone makers being too set in their ways and 2) GM and other big phone…

I'm not sure what point this find/replace is supposed to be making. That seems like a pretty accurate assessment of how Blackberry could have beaten Apple and why they didn't. Well, except it also needs a find/replace on "security" to something else like "UI."

I think the point is that anybody is theoretically capable of beating anybody else if you assume they can do a clearly better job in all respects. You could replace "GM" with any other entity without making it more or less true, because the statement is so firmly rooted outside of reality.

If there's a practical path to GM doing the same things Tesla is doing that's in line with GM's observed practices and capabilities, that would be much more interesting — but the fact that Bizarro World GM could beat Earth-1 Tesla doesn't tell us much of anything.

Re: Chevrolet to offer unlimited data plan with cars

#99

I recently picked up a Volt which includes this OnStar 4G setup and have to say I'm extremely concerned at how quickly this "my car is on the internet" feature set is spreading. Everything is managed by OnStar through their device that's factory installed into every new Chevy vehicle. They have had security breaches and had to fix white-hat reported vulnerabilities in the past[1]. This system isn't just "4G wifi as a…

Your concern is valid and it's not lost on manufacturers. I am familiar with one manufacturer whose vehicles will have a bus level firewall in some new vehicles released later this year. Of course, eventually all vehicles will have it. Vehicle development cycles are usually multiple years so it takes time to roll this stuff out. You might say an internet connected head unit should just be disconnected from the vehicl…

Do you know who makes the bus level firewall? Do you mind sharing the manufacturer's name?

Re: Chevrolet to offer unlimited data plan with cars

#100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

GPS includes the offset between GPS time and UTC so that receivers can convert to UTC if they want to. This offset is limited to 255 seconds though. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Positioning_System#Leap...

> This offset is limited to 255 seconds though. Given that leap seconds have been added at a rate of approximately 1 every 1.6 years, we are still good for another 376 years.

Don't forget that they can be negative leap seconds too! It hasn't happened yet but it is expected.
Post reply on HN