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Software is eating the car

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Re: Software is eating the car

#81

Post by justaguy88 »

jonpurdy wrote: post #37
vannevar wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Glad to hear I'm not the only one who wants a dumb car. Unfortunately, the idea of electric cars has become bound up with the notion of software-driven cars. I want an electric car with analog controls, no touch screens or over-the-air updates, and minimal software. A car that I feel like I own, rather than one I'm getting a click-through license to use.

I recently bought a used 2016 Spark EV (having a baby and needed something other than my motorbike). It does have a touchscreen, but mostly for extraneous information and radio functions. Everything else has dedicated knobs and buttons. (The one dumb thing is that the fan speed updates on the screen, rather than just having ticks above the knob.) It is a California "compliance car", which means it was just a modified…

I'm guessing that all-touch is just cheaper these days, no QA testing for all the little mechanical bits

Re: Software is eating the car

#82

Post by temporallobe »

SavantIdiot wrote: post #3

Short answer to the lede: no, the industry cannot cope. Or rather, it will limp along with bloatware, bugs, and malware exactly the same way we see desktop OSes bloat, or the way we see routers and set-top boxes hacked to become botnets. In my 40+ years in the industry I've yet to see code get SMALLER. With the exception of Linux kernel 1.0 in the 90's which was a step backwards into smaller, more compact code, code…

Car guy here. Yeah, I’m with you. My favorite car was a ‘96 Tercel with mechanical steering and a 4-speed manual. It even had manual roll-up windows. It had less than 100 HP, but it was simple as hell to operate, very fun to drive, cheap to maintain, and extremely reliable up until I sold it with nearly 400k miles on the odo. I put an aftermarket stereo and speakers in it and I was set. Only reason I sold it was because my wife hated it and a friend needed a cheap reliable car for his idiot son who proceeded to neglect and destroy it quickly after taking possession.

Modern cars are absolutely terrible in the UX department, but they are a hell of a lot safer, so there’s that.

Re: Software is eating the car

#83

Post by jkepler »

quacked wrote: post #13
mthomasmw wrote: post #6

Serious question - what alternatives are left for those of us who want a dumb car? I've spent the last three months finding out I can't get solar panels installed without a high-fidelity power-monitor tap connected to the provider's cloud, logging every appliance I use and what it's doing. Same deal with cars - they are on the internet and they generate evidence used to convict, and geofencing is coming. Other than s…

I don't think there are any. If you got to the point where you somehow managed to source the labor, materials, and space to manufacture "dumb technology", you'd be sued into oblivion by competitors who wouldn't want you to eat into their profit margins. I think the market is huge. Imagine a company that suddenly started selling all-metal consumer appliances with minimal functionality, controlled by old-fashioned swit…

Won't t 3D-printing metal appliances be more and more widely feasible in coming years? And, at least here in the EU, right-to-repair [1] labeling gives consumers the ability to more efficiently vote with their wallets. Its also happening in the US [2]

[1] https://repair.eu/ [2] https://fr.ifixit.com/News/8748/right-to-repair

Re: Software is eating the car

#84

Post by myshoesareblue »

vannevar wrote: post #7
SavantIdiot wrote: post #3

Short answer to the lede: no, the industry cannot cope. Or rather, it will limp along with bloatware, bugs, and malware exactly the same way we see desktop OSes bloat, or the way we see routers and set-top boxes hacked to become botnets. In my 40+ years in the industry I've yet to see code get SMALLER. With the exception of Linux kernel 1.0 in the 90's which was a step backwards into smaller, more compact code, code…

Glad to hear I'm not the only one who wants a dumb car. Unfortunately, the idea of electric cars has become bound up with the notion of software-driven cars. I want an electric car with analog controls, no touch screens or over-the-air updates, and minimal software. A car that I feel like I own, rather than one I'm getting a click-through license to use.

You might like the VW e-up!/Skoda Citigo-e. Bare bones electric cars -- even the battery meter is an analog needle! Just has a plastic mount for your smartphone above the center console and a USB port. No giant touchscreens! Real knobs!

Re: Software is eating the car

#85

Post by rootusrootus »

mthomasmw wrote: post #6

Serious question - what alternatives are left for those of us who want a dumb car? I've spent the last three months finding out I can't get solar panels installed without a high-fidelity power-monitor tap connected to the provider's cloud, logging every appliance I use and what it's doing. Same deal with cars - they are on the internet and they generate evidence used to convict, and geofencing is coming. Other than s…

The vast, vast majority of all new cars sold today either don't have any kind of uplink to the cloud, or can have that capability easily removed (e.g. OnStar from GM). It's really only some of the EVs (the non-compliance ones like Tesla, really) that are software-heavy and blazing a new anti-privacy trail.

Re: Software is eating the car

#86

Post by xxpor »

fighterpilot wrote: post #54
andrewmcwatters wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah. It drives me nuts that in tech we pay more attention to processing power over things like response times and latency. Who cares if you have hardware that’s 15% more powerful than last year if nothing has moved meaningfully in my actual experience.

It's why I prefer desktop/local software whenever it's available and whenever it's something I need to be using often. Cloud software is usually noticeably slower. Latency should be a UX priority.

This is why edge computing + 5g is being pushed so heavily.

Re: Software is eating the car

#87

Post by bruce343434 »

MengerSponge wrote: post #16
BigTuna wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't mind complexity but what I can't stand is having to access that complexity through touchscreens. Without the tactile feedback of a knob or button I have to take my attention off the road to see where I need to press on the screen. That's a major step backwards in auto safety, IMO. And don't get me started on the lazy manufacturer design trend of bolting a tablet to the dashboard and calling it a day.

Mazda doesn't get nearly enough respect for their work identifying and correcting this issue. https://www.motorauthority.com/news/1121372_why-mazda-is-pur... Touchscreens/touch panels are shiny, futuristic, dangerous, dumb, and cheap. Manufacturers use them because they lower BOM costs, at the expense of usability and safety. Vote with your wallet folks.

Just looked at the mazda website and what are you talking about? They removed almost all the buttons from the interior to some sort of tablet.

Re: Software is eating the car

#88

Post by nogridbag »

carlosf wrote: post #8
SavantIdiot wrote: post #3

Short answer to the lede: no, the industry cannot cope. Or rather, it will limp along with bloatware, bugs, and malware exactly the same way we see desktop OSes bloat, or the way we see routers and set-top boxes hacked to become botnets. In my 40+ years in the industry I've yet to see code get SMALLER. With the exception of Linux kernel 1.0 in the 90's which was a step backwards into smaller, more compact code, code…

I used to have a car before moving closer to a metro area and going full Uber. It was a cheap Renault. Malfunctioned twice in ten years. Repair was trivial both times. Sometimes I think about having a car again, but the sort of stuff you described makes me super nervous.

I used to live in NYC and bought a disposable car. It was a used rental car that was rear ended, but otherwise brand new with less than 1000 miles on it. I owned it for 5 years with zero issues and I just traded it in for almost the same price I paid for it.

Re: Software is eating the car

#89

Post by rootusrootus »

brundolf wrote: post #61
quacked wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think there are any. If you got to the point where you somehow managed to source the labor, materials, and space to manufacture "dumb technology", you'd be sued into oblivion by competitors who wouldn't want you to eat into their profit margins. I think the market is huge. Imagine a company that suddenly started selling all-metal consumer appliances with minimal functionality, controlled by old-fashioned swit…

They'd be insanely popular in circles like HN . I think you have a warped perspective of what the typical buyer is enticed by.

> insanely popular in circles like HN

Heck, even then I expect it would just be popular with a very small, very loud niche within HN.

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