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TomTom to cut 10% of jobs due to improved automation

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Re: TomTom to cut 10% of jobs due to improved automation

#211

Post by pkulak »

kube-system wrote: post #180
pkulak wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm the total opposite. I love my in-car nav. I have a shortcut on the steering wheel that brings up a list of recent destinations, so starting it takes literally seconds. I don't have to plug in my phone, or even look at it. I get turn by turn in the binnacle AND the heads-up display. And on top of that, it _doesn't_ do all the silly stuff that Google does to make people think it's so great, like routing me through…

> I don't have to plug in my phone, or even look at it. I get turn by turn in the binnacle AND the heads-up display. And on top of that, it _doesn't_ do all the silly stuff that Google does to make people think it's so great, like routing me through some residential neighborhood to save 45 seconds. Apple CarPlay + Apple Maps checks all of those boxes in my car.

I don't get it. You don't have to look at your phone and you get turn-by-turn in your HUD by using Apple Maps?

Re: TomTom to cut 10% of jobs due to improved automation

#212

Post by nsonha »

gh02t wrote: post #207
cgriswald wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have an older in-car system and my experience is the opposite. First, the car doesn't download map data. I'm stuck with what was on the car when I bought it unless I want to pay an unreasonable amount to update it. Second, it does download traffic data, but it's so slow that it's useless. I took its advice once and it cost me over an hour, because the alternate route had already filled up and had the disadvantage o…

Don't forget the best part -- if you do want to update the maps they want to charge you 300+ dollars every year!

Is that an exorbitant amount of money for maintaining a (global?) digital map? Google messes up our sense of value with their ad money.

Re: TomTom to cut 10% of jobs due to improved automation

#213

Post by scotty79 »

serial_dev wrote: post #184
cjblomqvist wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is an alternative to "wasting" money to give a second gold vein. You can just do the cash cow thing and then die. That's a totally reasonable. If TomTom don't think they can use the money better than other investment alternatives (that their investors have), then they shouldn't. Of course, politics and personal interests. But sometimes it's just better to allocate resources to something where they're better uti…

When I was reading the comment, I thought the same: why don't companies just accept that they have one good project, focus on it 100%, stay good at it, and when the market dies, the company could die with it. There is no shame in milking one product for 20 years, providing a living to hundreds/thousands, then just scale back to maintenance and eventually close things down. It doesn't really happen in practice, becaus…

> why don't companies just accept that they have one good project, focus on it 100%, stay good at it, and when the market dies, the company could die with it.

Because corporations are organisations (that develop some bureaucracy) and the main existential purpose of every bureaucratic organisation is to survive and grow. No corporation will just voluntarily die I think. First it will be sold, reorganized, reimagined, reinvented, downscaled, pivoted and all that good stuff.

Re: TomTom to cut 10% of jobs due to improved automation

#214

Post by m463 »

scotty79 wrote: post #85

I used to work for TomTom maybe 10 years ago. I was there when Google started offering turn by turn navigation for free. Other issue was live traffic information. As you might imagine all this caused some concern among employees because that was, I think, the main source of revenue for the company. They were already doing some other stuff like fitness wearables but they didn't seem to be leaning into it. Main idea fo…

I think there's a place for offline maps, both in terms of connection reliability and privacy.

Re: TomTom to cut 10% of jobs due to improved automation

#216

Post by jollybean »

scotty79 wrote: post #85

I used to work for TomTom maybe 10 years ago. I was there when Google started offering turn by turn navigation for free. Other issue was live traffic information. As you might imagine all this caused some concern among employees because that was, I think, the main source of revenue for the company. They were already doing some other stuff like fitness wearables but they didn't seem to be leaning into it. Main idea fo…

I think this is a naive take, the glib view of a worker with no practical insight into company operations and decision making.

It's doubtful that TomTom's foray into mobile was 'accidental' and it's also hard to understand how much money is being spent, and the risks involved in finding other revenue streams.

When mega corps come in and suddenly make a major part of your business unworkable, yes, companies go into reactionary mode. That's normal.

Re: TomTom to cut 10% of jobs due to improved automation

#217

Post by jjtheblunt »

amelius wrote: post #131
agloeregrets wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google bought their other Gold. Youtube, Android, Google Search on iOS, ChromeOS. All of it is a moat to protect the first.

If the gold vein is advertising, then there is no other gold vein for Google.

GCP loses money? (edit: I see a comment landed elsewhere that they lose money, and might get shutdown)

Re: TomTom to cut 10% of jobs due to improved automation

#218

Post by sophacles »

andiareso wrote: post #151
chrisseaton wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My car's built-in navigation can do things Apple CarPlay can't, like HUD, dashboard mapping, dead-reckoning navigation in tunnels, fuel management, etc.

...until feature parity. Soon Apple/Google will be able to integrate with those features too. Aside from "dead-zones", I'm sure they will eventually have more integrations with car interfaces. Even so, both Google and Apple seem to predict your location when signal drops. Somehow I still get decent navigation when I am in the middle of nowhere Iowa and have no cell service. Obviously the maps are cached, but somehow…

GPS has nothing to do with cell signal. GPS is it's own signal from satellites that your phone has no problem receiving in a place like Iowa. In fact Iowa has a lot of things going for it to enhance GPS receivership - it's flat so you can see most of the sky, it's open - there's just not a lot of vegetation to absorb the signal coming from overhead (e.g. trees), its in the middle of the US which means there's always going to be 4 or 5 satellites with a line of sight to your phone.

Re: TomTom to cut 10% of jobs due to improved automation

#219

Post by scotty79 »

chrisseaton wrote: post #161
mrtranscendence wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, a corporation is a specific type of business arrangement. For example, you can have a limited liability company (LLC) that is wholly owned by an individual.

I don't think TomTom changed what type of company it was.

TomTom started as a small software company named "Palmtop Software" and was doing exactly that. Random software for palmtops. I'm not sure, but I think they might have changed their formal business structure along with the name once they discovered that they created killer app for palmtops that makes customers buy palmtops as fast as they were made so they can use just their app on them.

Re: TomTom to cut 10% of jobs due to improved automation

#220

Post by m463 »

nradov wrote: post #168
cerol wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a marathon runner, I know TomTom mainly for its sports watches. But I feel they've been fading away slowly. Garmin is still the champion in that area, but both must be taking a hit with all the cheap chinese knock offs. At the end of the day, you don't even need a high end sports watch unless you're a high end athlete. Reliable location tracking and good battery life is all you need, every other information can be…

Garmin is vulnerable to disruption by cheap Chinese competitors at the low end of the market. They're now trying to move beyond selling individual devices to build an ecosystem with multiple types of devices connected to online services. And their latest devices are starting to provide something like a little AI fitness coach on your wrist, which is valuable even to ordinary people not into extreme activities. So far…

I've wondered if garmin is vulnerable to the apple watch.

That said, I love my garmin watch - it's and offline device that is useful without selling all your data.

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