Apple R&D Reveals a Pivot Is Coming • Hacker News Board

Re: Apple R&D Reveals a Pivot Is Coming

#111

Post by jernfrost » Thu, May 12, 2016, 8:46 AM UTC

abalone wrote: post #62

It's a car and it's not a "pivot". The Mac, iPod, iPhone, iPad, Apple TV and Watch are all about apply the same philosophy to new product categories and then tightly integrating them. At the core of it is fundamentally rethinking the interface between user and machine. With cars it makes perfect sense as long as you do one thing first: throw out everything you've read about fully autonomous cars being right around th…

Agree, Apple is not going to get into cars unless they can do something fundamentally different. But I do think it is a problem that the car industry already has a sort of Apple Company, Tesla. A lot of what you could have done different has already been done by Tesla. A lot of guys at Tesla are from Apple so that is perhaps not odd.

However do think there are some fundamental differences between Tesla and Apple. Tesla is far more into performance than it is likely Apple ever will be. I think the sporty aspect will not be present with an Apple car. The seating arrangment for kids in the trunk in the model S, is more in line with stuff Apple would have done.

I think Apple will spend a lot of time investigating the current method of controlling and interacting with a car and looking at a way of improving that.

I think Apple will try to make a very pretty car but I can't imagine them going for the almost sports car look of Tesla.

Re: Apple R&D Reveals a Pivot Is Coming

#112

Post by Corrado » Thu, May 12, 2016, 8:49 AM UTC

I think I would be more excited if Apple were researching ways to remove the cell phone completely, at least in a physical sense. Think about it, with the rise of things like AR/VR for output and Viv for input, what need do we have of a handheld device? Everybody is concentrating on the next iPhone, but what if it is a set of contact lenses and headphones? I think that would truly blow people's socks off.

Sure, Apple could be (and probably is) working on an automobile of some sort, but that seems like it would be difficult to really make a 10x improvement on. Especially with all the rules and regulations about what can be considered a car; it must have mirrors, steering wheel, pedals, etc. The prospect is so limiting. Besides, I think Tesla is rocking the automotive world and Apple would probably be better teaming up with them than going alone.

Just my $.02 worth.

Re: Apple R&D Reveals a Pivot Is Coming

#113

Post by collyw » Thu, May 12, 2016, 8:53 AM UTC

Corrado wrote: post #112

I think I would be more excited if Apple were researching ways to remove the cell phone completely, at least in a physical sense. Think about it, with the rise of things like AR/VR for output and Viv for input, what need do we have of a handheld device? Everybody is concentrating on the next iPhone, but what if it is a set of contact lenses and headphones? I think that would truly blow people's socks off. Sure, Apple…

Google glass seemed to be the first step in that direction, but it hasn't proven so popular.

Re: Apple R&D Reveals a Pivot Is Coming

#114

Post by raverbashing » Thu, May 12, 2016, 9:00 AM UTC

No what I think is happening is this:

- Apple is investing more in ancillary services (iCloud, Siri, Maps, new Arm processors, etc)

- More investment into manufacturers to get the latest tech (retina, etc)

- Some of it is lacking focus and spending a lot of "R&D" money in irrelevant stuff (like most big companies do)

Re: Apple R&D Reveals a Pivot Is Coming

#115

Post by dba7dba » Thu, May 12, 2016, 9:03 AM UTC

Inconel wrote: post #38

I’ve read a number of articles about the prospect of an Apple car but most have still left me with more questions than answers. My main questions regarding an Apple car are the following: 1. Apple seems reluctant to chase market share at the expense of profit. The automotive industry is very well established and from my understanding operates on razor thin margins. Apple seems to be a master of the supply chain but m…

Apple might be viewed as a premium brand compared to Samsung/Moto/Lenovo/HP

Samsung is in #2 spot in global brand valuation. Google, Microsoft, and Verizon round out top 5.

http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/apple-is-the-most-valuab...

EDIT: Upon a bit more research I find different valuations but still Samsung is up there.

Re: Apple R&D Reveals a Pivot Is Coming

#116

Post by dba7dba » Thu, May 12, 2016, 9:05 AM UTC

petra wrote: post #65

heifetz wrote: post #14

Apple needs a visionary. Google, Amazon and Facebook all have founders who are visionaries and drive the focus of the company. Tim Cook could be a great CEO, but he is not a visionary and does not drive products. Who is driving the vision at Apple? It's not Jony, I have no idea who is doing that. That is also something you can't do by committee. Apple seems to be really floundering and does not have any great visions…

Apple can find visionaries as it did in the past, when fadell outside of Apple started pitching the idea of the iPod and Apple recruited him and let him manage that division.

And even the idea of allowing 3rd party apps on iPhone was pretty much forced upon Apple by popular demand from what I recall.

Re: Apple R&D Reveals a Pivot Is Coming

#117

Post by iSnow » Thu, May 12, 2016, 9:10 AM UTC

bendbro wrote: post #70

abalone wrote: post #62

It's a car and it's not a "pivot". The Mac, iPod, iPhone, iPad, Apple TV and Watch are all about apply the same philosophy to new product categories and then tightly integrating them. At the core of it is fundamentally rethinking the interface between user and machine. With cars it makes perfect sense as long as you do one thing first: throw out everything you've read about fully autonomous cars being right around th…

I know people have said this before and been very wrong for it, but I just don't think there's much in those constraints to innovate (read Blackberry). Unless you change the only fundamental aspects of owning a car (driving, parking, and maintenance), all you're doing is polishing a turd. If Apple is just building the car, and fully autonomous transport is out of the picture, then all they can hope to do is make it e…

>Unless you change the only fundamental aspects of owning a car (driving, parking, and maintenance), all you're doing is polishing a turd.

I guess the real disruption in the automotive sector would be a focus on mobility instead of owning a car. Have a smartphone app where you could call a shared car from wherever you are whenever you wanted. It appears 10m later, takes you to your destination and then goes back into the pool.

At least in the big cities, a whole lot of people would forgo car ownership if such a service was available.

Re: Apple R&D Reveals a Pivot Is Coming

#118

Post by hackaflocka » Thu, May 12, 2016, 9:14 AM UTC

beloch wrote: post #37

According to this chart, Apple spent $6B in 2014 and is projected to spend just over $10B in 2016. For comparison, in 2014 Volkswagen spent $13.5B, Samsung spent $13.4B, and Microsoft spent $10.4B. [1] Apple has, historically, not been a big spender when it comes to research, tending to favor short-term, tightly focused research over long-term, curiosity driven research. Over the last few years their research budget…

Elon Musk launched a space program with less than a hundredth of Apple's cash.

Re: Apple R&D Reveals a Pivot Is Coming

#119

Post by paulftw » Thu, May 12, 2016, 9:14 AM UTC

I think median Software Engineer Salary also followed hockey stick graph over last couple of years, as well as CA real estate prices, so it isn't that clear that Apple grew headcount at all. When iPhone came out there was no app store nor 3rd party apps; when apps arrived they had no push notifications; icloud didn't exist and so on. Products become exponentially more complex, requiring proportional growth in R&D. There may even be tax incentives to maximize R&D spending.

Smart home / smart appliances would be a much more logical step for Apple as it'd be much closer to their area of expertise in electronics. Unlike with iPod and iPhone, there's at least one company that is already doing all the right and hard things around cars - Tesla.

TVs, kitchen appliances, even lights are much better understood and researched. Technology is there, safety/regulatory barriers are lower than with cars, consumer demand is pretty obvious. Yet existing manufacturers releasing product after product with laughable design and usability. Just like used to be the case with Nokia and Windows smartphones.

Re: Apple R&D Reveals a Pivot Is Coming

#120

Post by petepete » Thu, May 12, 2016, 9:15 AM UTC

tcannon wrote: post #106

VonGuard wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As with most Apple-related rumors, the truth is probably something a lot less exciting in the end. If Apple is working on a "Car" you can bet it's just s creep of it's current offerings, so, a car that includes iOS and links to your iPhone, has navigation info in the dash provided by Apple Maps, and has iTunes integration in the dashboard. A self driving car is not just going to magically appear from Apple. It'll tak…

CarPlay? We have that already.

The next step for CarPlay might be more than just an iPad-sized screen, it could be the entire dashboard and Apple might have a thing to say about the interior design of cars.

I think a company going from zero to massively produced and heavily scrutinised car in one step is too big a jump without acquiring someone along the way or signing up a existing player.