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Apple Car: Bad Idea After All

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Re: Apple Car: Bad Idea After All

#371
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 also wouldn't buy another car without CarPlay.

Re: Apple Car: Bad Idea After All

#372
post #248
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 think this is a fair take, and I've had similar thoughts too. However, one thing computer industry people don't seem to get is how much the idea of Apple owning the "dials" on the instrument cluster as shown in the keynote this year will likely go down like a cup of cold sick at most European auto makers. In many cases the designs or colors used in the dial faces have decades of brand history behind them. Regardles…

Agreed. The car manufacturers will lose control of the "car user interface" if they take on Apple's new CarPlay. My prediction tho is that some manufacturer will be desperate and take it and on then its a slow moving wave that crests over the industry as consumers ask for it.

Re: Apple Car: Bad Idea After All

#373

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right, give up all control over infotainment to Apple of all companies - that'll surely work well for them. At least with something open source they retain some control. Besides Toyota has already got you and me both because they're who they are - and part of that is they are actively involved with their suppliers and even own them in part.

Wouldn't having the largest fleet of cars in the world be great for Apple Maps? That would be an fantastic way to disrupt Google from that space.

If you want to you can already use Apple maps via carplay on Toyotas. What would be the benefit to Toyota for forcing Apple maps on their customers for the small portion of vehicles people now a days buy with separate navigation system?

Re: Apple Car: Bad Idea After All

#374

HN seems like the sort of audience who can tell me. This is a serious question: Why would anybody listen to Jean-Louis Gassée? What I see is a career of failures, at Apple, at Be, at Palm, JLG was dealt good hands and some bad hands but played each indifferently. Did I miss something important ?

This criticism doesn't seem like it fits for the actual content of the article. I read through it and didn't see much appeal to authority going on here, it's arguments mixed with opinion and justification/examples.

It wasn't really about this article in particular, I was wondering if I've just missed a reason why and the answer seems to be no.

Re: Apple Car: Bad Idea After All

#375

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wouldn't having the largest fleet of cars in the world be great for Apple Maps? That would be an fantastic way to disrupt Google from that space.

If you want to you can already use Apple maps via carplay on Toyotas. What would be the benefit to Toyota for forcing Apple maps on their customers for the small portion of vehicles people now a days buy with separate navigation system?

The benefit to Apple would be getting massive amounts of information about roads and traffic conditions for their maps so that they would be better than they are now. The benefit to Toyota would be getting world-class mapping software and great usability design.

Re: Apple Car: Bad Idea After All

#376

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't really care about electric vehicles either -- I think Toyota has its head on straight in this regard. Hybrids are fantastic. Electric vehicles are an important subset of the market, but Toyota makes vehicles that people rely on in the remotest and roughest parts of the world. If you're running drugs in the mountains of El Salvador or running from rebels in the Congo then you want a Toyota, not a Tesla.

I saw my share of Toyota Prius's and light trucks when I was working in Central Asia/Siberia, but I'm not sure it's relevant to the apple car discussion. It's generally thought that project titan is an electric vehicle (and my limited knowledge of the project from their various efforts to recruit me supports this), nor are ruggedized products Apple's traditional market. Offroad capabilities also don't make much sense…

The self-driving thing is still 20 years away.

Re: Apple Car: Bad Idea After All

#377

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I switched over to the dark side (Apple) specifically after I explained to my mom how to pair AirPods. Idk what pairing in android is like now to be fair

With samsung and the galaxy buds, you open the buds charging case. Then a pop up comes up on your phone, you tap connect and it installs the control panel for your buds and that's it. It seems to be the same on ios.

Ahh apple forced them to improve this experience after all eh? I remember Bluetooth pairing quite a bit slower and cumbersome on Android pre-airpods era.

Re: Apple Car: Bad Idea After All

#378

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It doesn't suck as much. OEM car UIs are terrible.

My wife's car isn't that old (2017 model) but using the navigation is a painful experience. Inputting an address takes multiple minutes and can only be done by turning a knob one letter at a time. First, state. Then city. (There is no defaulting to current location, so this must be done every time). Then street name and finally numerical address. If any of these items aren't in the database, you get to go back and st…

Yeah, exactly. Those built-in GPSes are just atrocious. I only use mine for the radio and have a car mount for my phone for all the rest of it.

Re: Apple Car: Bad Idea After All

#379
post #273

What if Apple moved sideways and got into the electric motor scooter market instead and displacing the likes of Vespa? If they keep the power low enough (no freeway driving here!) then most states wouldn't require a special endorsement to ride it. It would be the ultimate cafe runner! Hipsters, college students, high school students, and suburban folks needing to drive everywhere would love it - and it would be reduc…

The market for that (in terms of $$) would be a rounding error when compared to what they make on the AppleTV.

You may be right but I wonder how such a market would compare to MacBooks? I wonder what the margins are? I think it's a big market and I don't see the so-called Big Four motorcycle manufacturers as being able to garner the public sentiment needed to tackle it. Apple could make it an extension of their environmental programs. Just a thought.

Re: Apple Car: Bad Idea After All

#380

Does anyone really think Apple is building a car? I don't and I never did. It makes no sense. It's not an industry one can just "switch into." The capital requirements for owning a car factory are ridiculous and it's not something you can outsource. There is zero crossover between consumer entertainment devices and the car business, as evidenced by the poor state of tech in cars! This is not something Apple can fix b…

> There is zero crossover between consumer entertainment devices and the car business, as evidenced by the poor state of tech in cars! That looks similar to the state of MP3 players before the iPod, or smartphones before the iPhone. I think a self-driving car with a car-width display and hifi stereo (or better) could be a huge success, even if the self-driving only works on highways, as with the latest Mercedes. > It…

The reason that Apple is able to sell iPads and iPhones is that they are small computers, something which Apple has made and sold from day 1. This is not true of cars. Apple's entire business model has been predicated on proprietary computer hardware that's smaller and more capable with each iteration. When it became possible to play music, watch videos, and make phone calls on these small computers, Apple started selling them for that. The only new business Apple has ever gotten into is media, and that rides on the back of their hardware.

None of this is true for cars! Apple's production, design, marketing, etc. have no overlap with how cars are made or sold -- and no amount of wishing or money will give them that overlap. It's not that it's a new business for Apple, cars are completely unrelated to anything Apple has ever made or done. No business in history has ever pulled off a switch like that. It's the reason that railroads never became airlines, for example.

Even with unlimited capital, Apple lacks the mindset to produce and market a car out of thin air -- a task which is difficult even for those entrenched in the industry.

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