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Apple to wind down electric car effort after decadelong odyssey

bloomberg.com

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Re: Apple to wind down electric car effort after decadelong odyssey

#921

Post by fennecfoxy »

massysett wrote: post #653
ProfessorLayton wrote: post #168

To be honest, I'm not sure what Apple could've brought to the table in regards to making an electric car. Apple's hardware design philosophies[1] don't really align with what consumers want in a car. Apple being less minimalistic than a Tesla — which is already at an extreme — is a hard sell. [1] Examples of what I mean: - Cars use faux materials all the time for cost and weight purposes, or even just looks (i.e. fak…

If anything Apple has been bringing buttons back, or innovating on them. Touch Bar was reverted to buttons. The iPhone Pro replaced a switch with a haptic feedback button (many Android phones simply have no equivalent button or switch.) Vision Pro got the “Digital Crown” from the Watch, which has that and a button rather than just a touchscreen. My guess is an Apple Car would have nice buttons and switches rather tha…

The iPhone has no consistent "back" button/gesture.

Re: Apple to wind down electric car effort after decadelong odyssey

#922

Post by tim333 »

theturtletalks wrote: post #468
MBCook wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The phone made sense to me because by that point Apple had clearly proven themselves as a consumer electronics company. It’s wasn’t as big a jump and cell phone software was largely junk. The carrier thing was true, but they could have launched outside the US. Instead they found a carrier desperate enough. But they’ve never done safety critical stuff like a car. Of highly mechanical stuff like a car. Or things that n…

Apple is still waiting it out until most of the existing EV issues are resolved. Then, they can swoop in and leverage their walled garden to get buyers/users. They'll also be different than Ford, Mazda, Honda, etc since I don't think they will try to sell their cars. It'll be a subscription fee and Apple will own the car. All this news tells me is that Apple is putting EV in the back burner since users are still not…

Subscription would be odd. All my other Apple gear I've bought for cash.

Also it would be odd for a physical thing you can crash/scratch. I mean you can hire or lease cars but there is generally a heavy cost if you trash it to be picked either by you or your insurance company.

Re: Apple to wind down electric car effort after decadelong odyssey

#923

Post by steelframe »

kats wrote: post #849
steelframe wrote: post #782

After having gone through decades of adopting the "latest and greatest" tech, I've gotten to the point where what I really want is the least-complex thing I can find that does the essential job I want done. For a computer, I want something with SeaBIOS, a stripped-down kernel, and a handful of packages from the Debian Stable repository. I want it hackable and repairable -- something like a Framework. Nothing like a M…

Sorry, do you mind if I ask what model of car and laptop do you usually use at the moment.

It seems like a lifelong journey to find and customize your stuff to be exactly what you'd like it to be. Realistically I'll never get "there" without making some pretty big compromises, but the hacker in me enjoys trying.

My phone is a Pixel 7a running GrapheneOS. My laptop is a Thinkpad T80s running Debian Stable, and I'm waiting for my Framework 16 to ship. My vehicle for out-of-town trips is a GR Corolla, but for around-town stuff I use a custom steel frame e-bike.

When I have the time and energy I try to protect my privacy. For the GR Corolla I followed some steps* that might have done the job, but I can't say for sure. This summer I hope I have time to play with the hardware, up to and including replacing the headunit with something OSS-based.

* https://www.grcorollaforum.com/threads/sos-call-disable.2357...

Re: Apple to wind down electric car effort after decadelong odyssey

#924

Post by MandieD »

pjc50 wrote: post #891
I_AM_A_SMURF wrote: post #859

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's funny that of all things Apple's watches are square and Android watches are round. It feels like it should be the other way around.

Historically, men's wristwatches were round and ladies' watches were square. I'm not sure why other than that humans will gender-code anything.

Do not get me started on the gender coding of children’s clothes and accessories. Judging by pictures of me and my little brother in the 80s, and comparing that to the clothes for sale now, manufacturers spent the past 40 years learning how to avoid making anything that would be purchased for a girl being suitable to be handed down to her little brother.

Re: Apple to wind down electric car effort after decadelong odyssey

#925

Post by tambourine_man »

vineyardmike wrote: post #848
tambourine_man wrote: post #256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Link? I didn’t know YC had a podcast and Google didn't help.

https://www.youtube.com/@ycombinator/videos

Most recent episode?

Tangentially, it's funny to me that people link to YouTube for podcasts these days.

Re: Apple to wind down electric car effort after decadelong odyssey

#926

Post by sieabahlpark »

pjc50 wrote: post #891
I_AM_A_SMURF wrote: post #859

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's funny that of all things Apple's watches are square and Android watches are round. It feels like it should be the other way around.

Historically, men's wristwatches were round and ladies' watches were square. I'm not sure why other than that humans will gender-code anything.

[dead]

Re: Apple to wind down electric car effort after decadelong odyssey

#927

Post by theluketaylor »

ActorNightly wrote: post #222
MBCook wrote: post #19

I was always rather puzzled by the car. I can’t see them ever competing even with the small makers like Jaguar or Polestar or Lamborghini. They’re certainly not going to take on Ford or Mazda or Honda. The idea of making the infotainment guts is interesting but I can’t see any carmaker giving up that much control. If they don’t like CarPlay they’d never like full Apple infotainment. Sure Apple could do ADAS stuff, bu…

There are generally 3types of car buyers today. 1. People who are into cars as status items (which encompasses car enthusiasts, because lets be real, very few of those people who are into "performance" even touch 50% of the cars capability on public roads). This is your BMW/Porsche and other buyers. 2. People who want cheap modes of transportation. This is your cheapest level sedan buyers. 3. People who want specific…

Your categories are largely correct, but #1 is way bigger than you think and not just about performance (unless it's the performance of being seen owning the car). For example, most pickup trucks are status symbols and lifestyle choices, not purely for function. If they were purely for function most of them would be transit vans.

Apple car would have absolutely been a pickup truck-like status symbol for highly urban people.

Re: Apple to wind down electric car effort after decadelong odyssey

#928

Post by ori_b »

dagmx wrote: post #788
steelframe wrote: post #782

After having gone through decades of adopting the "latest and greatest" tech, I've gotten to the point where what I really want is the least-complex thing I can find that does the essential job I want done. For a computer, I want something with SeaBIOS, a stripped-down kernel, and a handful of packages from the Debian Stable repository. I want it hackable and repairable -- something like a Framework. Nothing like a M…

A lot of people want (as you describe) the “least-complex thing I can find that does the essential job I want done” But what you then go on to describe is the antithesis of other people’s definitions. People want an experience that works out of the box. That they don’t have to think about package managers or maintenance. That’s low complexity for the vast majority of people. That’s why people are going for Apple and…

> People want an experience that works out of the box. That they don’t have to think about package managers or maintenance.

I still have to think about them on the new shinies. It's just harder to understand them.

Re: Apple to wind down electric car effort after decadelong odyssey

#929

Post by solardev »

ProfessorLayton wrote: post #168

To be honest, I'm not sure what Apple could've brought to the table in regards to making an electric car. Apple's hardware design philosophies[1] don't really align with what consumers want in a car. Apple being less minimalistic than a Tesla — which is already at an extreme — is a hard sell. [1] Examples of what I mean: - Cars use faux materials all the time for cost and weight purposes, or even just looks (i.e. fak…

You don't like their mice? My Magic Mouse is the single most comfortable mouse I've ever had, and the only one that doesn't give me wrist or finger pain after a day's work. I've tried dozens from Logitech and Microsoft and SteelSeries and Razer, including ergo ones and track balls and track pads, but keep coming back to the Magic Mouse for its simple comforts.

Similarly, the Airpod Pros are so incredibly comfortable it's hard to imagine going back to anything else. (Even though I have an Android and it doesn't support all the features, just basic Bluetooth.)

It's not always that great though, of course. My M2 MacBook Pro is so much heavier than my old ThinkPad, and its keyboard is much much worse. The touchpad has terrible palm rejection and keeps jumping the cursor around. Overall I still love the machine but mostly use it docked.

I do miss the old iMacs, but the new ones are gorgeous and elegant in their own way. It was the first time I was tempted by a desktop in a looooong while.

Re: Apple to wind down electric car effort after decadelong odyssey

#930

Post by lostemptations5 »

theturtletalks wrote: post #616
concinds wrote: post #591

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's more "fuzzy thinking" than fanboy cope. Despite all the glittery rhetoric that "a car is just a computer on wheels", this always seemed like a bizarre move for Apple and I've never seen anyone explain what the strategic vision was supposed to be. Even with full lv5 autonomy, what's Apple's unique twist? Big monitors for watching TV+ in the car? That wouldn't have been remotely enough. I wish we could read the in…

I think it’s a lot more simple than that. They’ll probably buy an existing EV company when they’re serious about entering the market. That’ll give them a head start and they won’t be reinventing the wheel. The acquihire will help bring in talent as well. Before they released the AirPods, they bought Beats. It would along the same lines but with a way more complex machine.

This is how the iPod got "invented" :)
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