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Apple receives permit in California to test self-driving cars

uk.reuters.com

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Re: Apple receives permit in California to test self-driving cars

#141

Post by Steko »

datguacdoh wrote: post #55
abritinthebay wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

AppleTV a loser? The only device significantly ahead of it in sales is the Roku (Amazon and Google's sticks are ~the same number of sales as Apple TV). But the market is pretty evenly split in sales and Apple still maintains one of the larger overall install bases for any of them (not the outsized winner it used to be there though of course). "Not being a de-facto monopoly" is hardly a loss.

Articles like http://www.recode.net/platform/amp/2016/6/10/11904942/google... seem to point to Apple TV being easily outsold by Amazon and Google.

While accurate is seems disingenuous to lump $35 devices in with $150-$200 devices and then pretend total units shipped is the only thing that matters (as if Mercedes was a failure for selling fewer cars than Yugo in 1987). Apple could easily make a media stick if they wanted to, but they don't. They used to sell Apple TV's at $100, marked it down to $70 while they phased the cheaper models out and now only sell them at $150 and $200.

Roku had $400 million in revenue in 2016[1] which includes content share while Apple TV produced a billion dollars of revenue back in in 2013 [2]. And Apple's margins are way higher than Roku's. Apple TV, while a self described 'hobby' by Apple (presumably when compared to iOS/Mac), was and still is a very successful product in a category it basically invented.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roku,_Inc.

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_TV#3rd_generation

Re: Apple receives permit in California to test self-driving cars

#142

Post by astrodust »

phodo wrote: post #93
11thEarlOfMar wrote: post #39

In some markets, it is more about getting it right than getting in at the right time. We've seen many carcasses of products that were ahead of their time, not because they were bad ideas but because they were not formulated for mass adoption. Apple's own Newton is one example. It took the iPhone formulation to make the product features successful in the market. A more recent example is the telepresence robot. Many en…

> "There aren't many really big tech markets left" I've heard this repeatedly over the years. There are ALWAYS new markets. You just have to look in the right places, or wait for new pareto frontiers to open up.

Imagine going back to the early 1980s and seeing people argue that the personal computer market was too crowded, and there was no way anyone was ever going to make any money in it. The whole thing had played out. Big companies owned the software market. Big companies owned the games. Big companies owned the peripherals. What could possibly be left?

Wait, what's a laptop? What's a workgroup server? What's email? None of those things had really happened, they were all markets just over the horizon about to explode onto the scene.

Re: Apple receives permit in California to test self-driving cars

#144

Post by smaddox »

mark_edward wrote: post #115
bdamm wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your main point is valid in the contemporary sense, but don't forget that the Silicon Valley is called Silicon because it used to be the global fab hotspot. While manufacturing chips, boards, accessories, computers, hard drives, card readers, and mainframe racks isn't quite the same as cars, there's plenty of manufacturing know-how in the Silicon Valley. Does Apple have that kind of know-how, and does it make sense f…

But almost all of that left SV decades ago.

And yet, the companies that still exist from that time still have major (typically non-manufacturing) presence in SV.

Re: Apple receives permit in California to test self-driving cars

#145

Post by MBCook »

peregrine wrote: post #126
weaksauce wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

to be fair, the apple tv remote is fantastic and it's better than any other remote i have used for the common features. (i do wish it had a tv power button though since it can actuate the volume but i guess they wanted to go with the standard that shuts down the tv when you shut off the apple tv if your tv supports it)

I've got just the apple support document for you! https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT205225 If your TV supports HDMI features you will only ever need one remote.

Sadly there's no way to disable having it power the TV off without also disabling the ability to control the TVs volume.

Re: Apple receives permit in California to test self-driving cars

#147

Post by btgeekboy »

uptown wrote: post #146

I'm guessing if and when Apple enters the market, they won't be selling cars. They'll be selling the service of transportation.

I agree that it won't be cars. But I wouldn't be surprised if they sold the onboard entertainment and autopilot systems.

Re: Apple receives permit in California to test self-driving cars

#148

Post by throwaway144265 »

chrismealy wrote: post #138
legolas2412 wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been parroting this on every self driving thread. I finally found one person who agrees with my thinking that driving is as hard as general AI. Why is this idea so opposed by everyone?

At least we have each other. Honestly, I am completely baffled that people who write software think self-driving cars are just around the corner. At this point I think it's basically a futurist cult.

There are some of us lurkers who agree with you wholeheartedly.

This the general consensus in the academy too.

Re: Apple receives permit in California to test self-driving cars

#149

Post by jaredklewis »

11thEarlOfMar wrote: post #39

In some markets, it is more about getting it right than getting in at the right time. We've seen many carcasses of products that were ahead of their time, not because they were bad ideas but because they were not formulated for mass adoption. Apple's own Newton is one example. It took the iPhone formulation to make the product features successful in the market. A more recent example is the telepresence robot. Many en…

I think it's always good to include iTunes Ping in any list of bad apple products.

Re: Apple receives permit in California to test self-driving cars

#150

Post by driverdan »

jaredklewis wrote: post #149
11thEarlOfMar wrote: post #39

In some markets, it is more about getting it right than getting in at the right time. We've seen many carcasses of products that were ahead of their time, not because they were bad ideas but because they were not formulated for mass adoption. Apple's own Newton is one example. It took the iPhone formulation to make the product features successful in the market. A more recent example is the telepresence robot. Many en…

I think it's always good to include iTunes Ping in any list of bad apple products.

iTunes itself is a bad Apple product. Ping was just one bad part.
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