TomTom to cut 10% of jobs due to improved automation • Hacker News Board

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

#241

Post by ratww » Wed, Jun 01, 2022, 9:45 PM UTC

alaricus wrote: post #237

ratww wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For most customers, it seems they just went and bought about 2 thousand randomly-named domains and serve third-party scripts. However I've seen a couple places where Admiral was not blocked, because it was being served from a subdomain. I wish I had written down where it was to add to the EasyList or something. :(

https://github.com/jkrejcha/AdmiraList/blob/master/AdmiraLis...

That's a good list.

This one seems more up to date, apparently the owner is scraping from somewhere: https://github.com/dotspencer/block-admiral

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

#242

Post by mynameishere » Wed, Jun 01, 2022, 9:45 PM UTC

chrisseaton wrote: post #209

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…

> Third, it can't navigate a path without connecting to the satellite How else would it work? Just sense which way the wheels are pointing and track the speedometer?

That, of course, is called dead reckoning and some GPSes have it, but I wouldn't trust it for very long. [1] I'm not sure what cgriswald is on about. Maybe he just lives in a tunnel or some dead zone, because I've never lost satellite connections. Maybe cellphones can triangulate via cell towers? But how is he getting cell data in his tunnel?

[1] Pre-GPS systems used this https://ndrive.com/brief-history-gps-car-navigation/

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

#243

Post by rsimmons » Wed, Jun 01, 2022, 9:47 PM UTC

I thought TomTom was just another Kodak, Blockbuster, or RIM. Didn’t realise they were still trying to make things, surely Google and Apple own the car market now?

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

#244

Post by mason55 » Wed, Jun 01, 2022, 9:54 PM UTC

enkid wrote: post #155

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…

Has a CEO ever been hired to do this? I just don't see a business ever saying don't invest in us because there are better alternatives.

That's how companies used to work. You get some people & capital together to accomplish something and once you've accomplished it you shut down and distribute the company assets.

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

#245

Post by beachy » Wed, Jun 01, 2022, 9:55 PM UTC

hvjackson wrote: post #48

Maybe this is just my consumer perspective but I feel like TomTom really missed on a pivot to other GPS-related products that Garmin has successfully nailed. 10-15 years ago both companies were known mainly for car sat-nav systems but Garmin now has an incredibly diverse product line with well-liked fitness watches, bike computers, exploring/off-grid satellite communicators, marine charts, aviation, etc. Whereas TomT…

Garmin seems to be nailing it. I've recently got more into golf & snorkeling and Garmin have attractive devices for both those random activities that I could definitely see buying at some stage.

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

#246

Post by hef19898 » Wed, Jun 01, 2022, 9:57 PM UTC

jopsen wrote: post #16

ben_w wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I remember hearing much the same words (cf. “My job is to make myself redundant”) in 2004. I’m fairly sure this was the goal at least as far back as when ship builders switched from high-skilled artisans to carve each pulley for the sails individually and by hand, to using jigs so that low-skilled carpenters could make a lot that were almost as good for a fraction of the price.

> when ship builders switched from high-skilled artisans to carve each pulley for the sails individually and by hand, to using jigs so that low-skilled carpenters could make a lot... Sounds like an interesting story, do you have a link :D

I can recommend the book "Better, faster, cheaper - history of manufavturing" which covers this topic among basically manufacturing going to the, literally, stone age.

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

#247

Post by moonchrome » Wed, Jun 01, 2022, 10:02 PM UTC

nsonha wrote: post #212

gh02t wrote: post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

>Is that an exorbitant amount of money for maintaining a (global?) digital map?

Absolutely - Google is just one player, Apple Maps, Bing Maps, OSM.

Charging consumers 300$/year for map updates would never work even if free offerings didn't exist - they are just targeting a small niche and optimizing (ie. even if they made the price 30$/year most people would still use phone maps so they might as well milk the market that wants to pay for their solution as high as they can). If there were no free competitors someone would drive the mass market price down way lower than 300$.

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

#248

Post by cgriswald » Wed, Jun 01, 2022, 10:18 PM UTC

mynameishere wrote: post #242

chrisseaton wrote: post #209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Third, it can't navigate a path without connecting to the satellite How else would it work? Just sense which way the wheels are pointing and track the speedometer?

That, of course, is called dead reckoning and some GPSes have it, but I wouldn't trust it for very long. [1] I'm not sure what cgriswald is on about. Maybe he just lives in a tunnel or some dead zone, because I've never lost satellite connections. Maybe cellphones can triangulate via cell towers? But how is he getting cell data in his tunnel? [1] Pre-GPS systems used this https://ndrive.com/brief-history-gps-car-navi…

When I lose navigation I just do without. I haven't replaced it with Google or any other cell-based app. The satellite radio often also drops out in these moments despite having a buffer.

Edit: Ah, I see, I meant something sort of other than that read. I've certainly had the experience of not being able to download maps, but mostly on hikes in the middle of nowhere. When I use navigation on foot in the city, hadn't had the problems I have with in-car nav.

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

#249

Post by Nullabillity » Wed, Jun 01, 2022, 10:44 PM UTC

Bud wrote: post #206

Nullabillity wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anecdotally, people just use phone holders. I have never seen anyone use either the built-in GPS or CarPlay/AA.

False. People greatly prefer CarPlay if they are iPhone users, and already people are refusing to buy any car that doesn't support it. Phone holders are over. Even as early as 2017, the majority of car buyers already wanted CarPlay in a new vehicle and one-quarter of buyers said it was a "must have". That was five years ago. I'm sure the numbers are much higher now. https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/29/apple-carplay-massi…

Is that a US thing?

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

#250

Post by mardifoufs » Wed, Jun 01, 2022, 10:48 PM UTC

DonHopkins wrote: post #42

ghshephard wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Small Nit - Netscape was broken up into pieces and sold to Sun Microsystems and AOL in 1999 for $10B. Thank Mike Homer for the great timing and resolve to get out while the getting was still good.

Selling Netscape's server group to AOL was just sadistic punishment.

For who? Genuinely curious, I didnt even know Netscape has a server division. Was it punishment for the team working there because it broke their potential, or was it that AOL got ripped of because Netscape server tech was horrible?

Late 1990s/early 2000s acquisitions just always sound so wild to me! Insanely wasteful, or just even bizarre. Tons of old/traditional corporations trying to merge/buy their way into completely unrelated markets, oe in this case cash rich new megacorps like AOL that had immense potential just squandering insane amounts of capital with almost 0 RoI. Crazy times!