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Apple Gears Up to Challenge Tesla in Electric Cars

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31–40 of 174 posts

Re: Apple Gears Up to Challenge Tesla in Electric Cars

#31
post #24
post #13

I would say apple has no domain expertise and they should focus on what they focus on. This is positive news for the "future" no matter how it is seen. It might very well be the largest mistake Apple has ever done and seal its demise or the smartest move and they will be a global dominant company even more so than today...

Of course at one point they had no domain expertise with phones...

[deleted]

Re: Apple Gears Up to Challenge Tesla in Electric Cars

#35
I think eventually minivans will be a quite popular format for autonomous vehicles. Full size buses are inconvenient for suburban streets, while vehicles for single occupants may be priced out in on-demand situations for many trips.

Already, minivans are very popular in unofficial public transport systems in many less-developed countries. In Morocco, grand taxis are old Mercedes sedans that leave when full - they're cramped and reckless, and I bet minivans would be preferred if they were more readily available.

I think we'll see many people commuting in the near future by shared transport decided by efficiency algorithms and based on demand and prediction. Minivans could get 5-10 people into the CBD quite effectively in peak hour rather than the 1-2 people/car we see now, and without waiting for a bus or walking 3-5 blocks to the stop.

A minivan with swappable internal components could easy convert to sleep four people (a family on a roadtrip), or have bench seats facing a card table (like a train), or have four reclining seats (like a plane, watching movies on VR headseats).

Re: Apple Gears Up to Challenge Tesla in Electric Cars

#36
post #24
post #13

I would say apple has no domain expertise and they should focus on what they focus on. This is positive news for the "future" no matter how it is seen. It might very well be the largest mistake Apple has ever done and seal its demise or the smartest move and they will be a global dominant company even more so than today...

Of course at one point they had no domain expertise with phones...

They're really good at rectangular screens!

Re: Apple Gears Up to Challenge Tesla in Electric Cars

#37
Apple, I think, has seen the incoming wave of transformation for the transport industry and decided it would be worth getting prepared for it. The upcoming increase in automation on both passenger and commercial cars will open up new perspectives on what's valuable on a car. When you longer can appeal to a consumer about the pleasure or ease of driving, what else is there? Comfort, security, style and design. If Apple already has a good grasp on how many people create, manage and consume information and media, if they are making a move to shine new light on fitness and health, and on managing a smarter home, the missing link would be transportation.

Re: Apple Gears Up to Challenge Tesla in Electric Cars

#38
post #13

I would say apple has no domain expertise and they should focus on what they focus on. This is positive news for the "future" no matter how it is seen. It might very well be the largest mistake Apple has ever done and seal its demise or the smartest move and they will be a global dominant company even more so than today...

The only domain expertise they had on phones was the itunes phone with motorola. And then they launched the iphone. Same goes for the ipod. Only thing they had expertise in was computers. And with computers becoming extremely important for cars, they might just have a chance. Just as much as google, and they don't have any particular domain knowledge either (ie. they have never sold a car before).

Computers aren't important for cars, software is.

And sadly, much as I am invested in the Apple ecosystem, Apple's software QC has gone downhill.

Yosemite and iOS 8 both suffer many glaring, obvious bugs that have been present since the beta/DPs with no sign of fixes.

That leads to recalls and lawsuits with cars.

Re: Apple Gears Up to Challenge Tesla in Electric Cars

#39
post #4

DMCA - the law to protect platforms - has very interesting implication of silo-ization of the tech. Any tech, like in "tech"nology civilization. Marching into the brave new world of silos, a car is an easy addition to Apple platform, while GM would need to build a platform to add to their cars.

I think you are deluding yourself, if you believe that an average person would choose their car based on the entertainment system.

I'm sure many would.

In modern cars where nearly everything is computer-controlled and un-serviceable by the end user, safety is pretty much guaranteed, and fuel economy is average.. what other choices are there? It's just as plausible that someone would choose a car based on built-in entertainment options as that they'd do so based on color scheme.

Re: Apple Gears Up to Challenge Tesla in Electric Cars

#40
post #35

I think eventually minivans will be a quite popular format for autonomous vehicles. Full size buses are inconvenient for suburban streets, while vehicles for single occupants may be priced out in on-demand situations for many trips. Already, minivans are very popular in unofficial public transport systems in many less-developed countries. In Morocco, grand taxis are old Mercedes sedans that leave when full - they're…

I like your point about in-car leisure. As autonomous driving unlocks it in a new way, I would expect our for forays into autonomous vehicles to attempt to highlight the luxury of this. It certainly seems more appealing than tightly gripping the arm rests while you observe how the robot is doing.

I would add that interchangeable parts are probably not going to be a focus. The auto industries are pretty efficient at managing large supply chains to service several different models. If convergence was economically important it would happen more often.

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