Apple Car: Bad Idea After All • Hacker News Board

Re: Apple Car: Bad Idea After All

#341

Post by hn_throwaway_99 » Wed, Sep 28, 2022, 4:02 AM UTC

BluSyn wrote: post #336

tobyjsullivan wrote: post #92

I think people focus too much on the actual car in this speculation. What about the service? Apple is really, really good at finding industries full of bullshit (computers in the 80's, mobile phones in the early 2000's) and saying, "okay, here's a slightly better looking product, with fewer features, and no more bullshit." The vehicle market is full of bullshit. Tesla took the same tactic and has knocked it down cons…

It's amazing to me how short-sighted many views on Apple Car are. Service is key. Apple won't be following the model of the existing car makers. They WILL NOT sell cars direct to consumer. That's the key insight. They will not have showrooms, sales teams, or public service centers. You won't buy their cars directly at all. Instead, they are going for the end goal: Fully autonomous electric vehicles on-demand. This is…

You don't need to keep spamming your comment in multiple places.

It's not that we are all "short-sighted" when it comes to views on an Apple Car. It's that many of us have come to the realization that level 5 autonomy as you describe it will require something very close to AGI, and it ain't coming anytime soon.

Re: Apple Car: Bad Idea After All

#342

Post by bmitc » Wed, Sep 28, 2022, 4:04 AM UTC

> a company who’s sense of fit and finish, its attention to the user’s experience is second to none

Lol. At a minimum, I’d rephrase that as:

> a company who’s sense of fit and finish, its attention to the user’s experience is antagonistic

Re: Apple Car: Bad Idea After All

#343

Post by myrandomcomment » Wed, Sep 28, 2022, 4:19 AM UTC

Having owned both MB and Porsche I can say I would pay for having an Apple driven, configurable dial set. That being said, the trend to replace buttons that you can feel and learn and access without thinking (looking at you Tesla) I hope there is some sanity to the design. Screens for what they are good at, buttons for normal everyday stuff!

Re: Apple Car: Bad Idea After All

#344

Post by modeless » Wed, Sep 28, 2022, 4:25 AM UTC

als0 wrote: post #110

modeless wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

More than ever if I go by how often I see their cars on the road. Three yesterday.

What do they look like?

Like this: https://macreports.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/apple-car-...

I think new ones have more doodads around the fenders.

Re: Apple Car: Bad Idea After All

#345

Post by heartbreak » Wed, Sep 28, 2022, 4:28 AM UTC

KerrAvon wrote: post #299

smm11 wrote: post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Today I learned that people pick a car based on how well it integrates with a cell phone.

In the US, lack of CarPlay really only removes Tesla from consideration at this point. Everything else, from Ferrari to Kia, supports CarPlay. Is there another holdout I’m missing?

Millions upon millions of used vehicles don’t support CarPlay.

Re: Apple Car: Bad Idea After All

#346

Post by qaq » Wed, Sep 28, 2022, 4:32 AM UTC

scarface74 wrote: post #278

qaq wrote: post #255

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We will pretty much know in the next few years. If they deliver 2 mil in 2023 and 4mil in 2024 that would be a very good indicator.

And that will still be less than 1/4 the number of cars that Toyota sells and won’t justify its valuation by any realistic criteria.

Toyota sells 10 mil The idea was that would show that trend holds at a large volume.

Re: Apple Car: Bad Idea After All

#347

Post by bobsil1 » Wed, Sep 28, 2022, 4:33 AM UTC

giobox wrote: post #307

mr_toad wrote: post #281

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> auto-makers are in no rush to become just a dumb pipe for apple or google's driving software The cellphone carriers and manufacturers wanted control too. They both used to dictate what you did with your phone. Apple wouldn’t be the Apple we know today if it hadn’t up-ended that market. I can’t really see Apple producing something so good that it makes all other car manufacturers efforts look like crap, but then mos…

One thing that is different regarding cars is that car industry executives have the benefit of hindsight here. Apple was not a trillion dollar business in 2007, in 2022 everyone pays attention. Apple's business model is clear; they would hoover up any profits that might arise via new in car software business models. Apple's success in reducing cellular carriers to dumb pipes will be the cautionary tale every car CEO…

Carriers did that to themselves.

Re: Apple Car: Bad Idea After All

#348

Post by kalleboo » Wed, Sep 28, 2022, 4:33 AM UTC

nradov wrote: post #247

bombcar wrote: post #229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've often thought that we should use that massively huge A pillar for some simple gauges, such as speed

Gauges on the A-pillar would interfere with airbag deployment.

I wonder if you could do e-ink displays with a seam that can tear open

Re: Apple Car: Bad Idea After All

#349

Post by astrange » Wed, Sep 28, 2022, 4:34 AM UTC

alexyz12 wrote: post #133

Tiktaalik wrote: post #132

A mild problem that Apple has is that they seem to spend a lot of time solving the sort of problems that a highly paid VP from California would have. Being frustrated by the driving experience and trying to solve that problem is in that category, being focused on the sort of annoyances that people spending huge amounts of time driving to Cupertino would have. Meanwhile city governments around the US and the world are…

Theres no money in reducing the amount of cars on the road. There's no money in solving societies problems in general - who would pay for it?

Micromobility companies look like they’re doing okay to me.

Re: Apple Car: Bad Idea After All

#350

Post by kalleboo » Wed, Sep 28, 2022, 4:36 AM UTC

fdye wrote: post #26

So I've always wondered if Apple actually building a 'car' was ever really the goal. It seems like a skunkworks where they try crazy things and then incorporate into Carplay. Future seems to be ever expanding Carplay support. I use it and probably would not buy another car that did not have it integrated. I imagine car manufacturers are somewhat tired of always building HUDs and in vehicle control systems. So gradual…

I always assumed it was an employee retention project. Jony Ive seemed bored of re-designing yet another rounded rect with a black mirror and was ready to leave, to attract top AI people you need a self-driving project, etc. But I guess at this point it has gone too far for just that.