Voltswagen of America • Hacker News Board

Re: Voltswagen of America

#331

Post by hinkley » Tue, Mar 30, 2021, 4:51 PM UTC

soperj wrote: post #307

greeneggs wrote: post #250

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Instead of posting uninformed speculation, you can just Google it… > In 2017, the U.S.-based VW executive Oliver Schmidt, who oversaw emissions issues, was sentenced to seven years in prison and fined $400,000, the maximum possible under a plea deal the German national made with prosecutors after admitting to charges of conspiring to mislead U.S regulators and violate clean-air laws. The US has charged nine people, a…

and what about the ones at literally every other company that produces diesels?

How about 'rolling coal'?

Re: Voltswagen of America

#332

Post by sillyquiet » Tue, Mar 30, 2021, 4:52 PM UTC

mixedCase wrote: post #291

sillyquiet wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To re-iterate my point, it's not about 'respect' (respect for whom, exactly and why?) it's about communication. If I were trying to say the word 'Volkswagen' to a German speaking person, I would do my best to pronounce it in a way they would understand. As most of the time I ever say the word 'Volkswagen' out loud it's to my fellow English speakers, pronouncing it in the expected English way seems way less pretentiou…

>seems way less pretentious Or you could help do your part in normalizing pronouncing things correctly instead of perpetuating the perception that it's somehow "pretentious".

The pronunciation is already normalized in English, and most people already pronounce it correctly in English for other English speakers.

Expecting non-German people to speak with German pronunciation is plain arrogant.

Re: Voltswagen of America

#333

Post by hinkley » Tue, Mar 30, 2021, 4:52 PM UTC

amelius wrote: post #102

interestica wrote: post #95

So we have car companies who can trace their names to Alessandro Volta and Nikola Tesla. Up for grabs: André-Marie Ampère? Faraday? Edison?

Maxwell https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxwell_automobile Interesting: > Maxwell was one of the first car companies to market specifically to women.

Maxwell should produce an electric motorcycle called the Demon.

Re: Voltswagen of America

#334

Post by DSingularity » Tue, Mar 30, 2021, 4:54 PM UTC

TeMPOraL wrote: post #293

takinola wrote: post #257

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When you are in an environment where all your other competitors are cheating, I used to think you had only two options - join in or quit. Now, it occurs to me that there is a third - blow the whistle. If VW, or any other manufacturer, had made a quick call to the authorities and told them exactly what to look for, they would have dealt a huge blow to their competitors and maybe even done a victory lap along the way.

... and make themselves the enemy of the entire industry. That's the reason almost nobody ever blows the whistle: the prisoner's dilemma variant here is the iterated one, and there are more than two players. If you defect, you get blacklisted. It doesn't matter if you're an individual abused by an employer, or a big company that, for a brief moment, grew some conscience. The only time when blowing a whistle makes sen…

You are letting them off too easy. It’s probably a game of stag hunting.

I don’t think this blacklisting applies either. You are ignoring the fact that whistleblowers can operate anonymously.

These companies chose to then a blind eye on themselves and each other.

Re: Voltswagen of America

#335

Post by kbenson » Tue, Mar 30, 2021, 4:55 PM UTC

greeneggs wrote: post #250

aidenn0 wrote: post #218

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My dad used to joke that if you wanted sneakers that were not made by child labor, your best bet was whichever manufacturer last got into trouble for it because of all the extra scrutiny. That this level of fatalism about immoral acts exists is a failure of society as a whole. I suspect that all of those who got rich either knowingly or being willfully ignorant about emissions cheating walked away completely unpunish…

Instead of posting uninformed speculation, you can just Google it… > In 2017, the U.S.-based VW executive Oliver Schmidt, who oversaw emissions issues, was sentenced to seven years in prison and fined $400,000, the maximum possible under a plea deal the German national made with prosecutors after admitting to charges of conspiring to mislead U.S regulators and violate clean-air laws. The US has charged nine people, a…

More recently, he has been released on parole after roughly half his term served.[1] Interestingly, the article says:

In Germany, inmates can be released after serving two thirds of their term. Parole after only half of the time is rare, but can be granted to first time offenders who demonstrated good behavior and are deemed unlikely to commit crimes in the future.

I don't doubt he exhibited good behavior. I'm not sure I believe he's unlikely to commit a crime in the future. I wonder if he thinks he was singled out for something everyone in the industry was doing, and thus it wasn't his fault. He wouldn't be wrong about the first thing, but he would about the second. It's admittedly speculation on my part though.

1: https://www.autonews.com/executives/ex-vw-manager-schmidt-ge...

Re: Voltswagen of America

#336

Post by ralmidani » Tue, Mar 30, 2021, 4:58 PM UTC

unethical_ban wrote: post #319

ralmidani wrote: post #304

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to say I would never buy a phone without a physical keyboard. My last phone with a physical keyboard was the original Moto Droid, which I lost in 2012.

Understood, but I think the ability to adjust things tactile is more important in a driving scenario. Also, The UI lag on some of these infotainment systems feels like a 2010 iphone running iOS 13. If only one could update the processor in their infotainment the way one does a phone, instead of having to buy a new car.

You raise a valid concern. At least in the Outback, a lot of things can be done with voice commands. It's not lightning-fast, but when driving, that's safer than both a touch-screen and physical buttons/switches.

Re: Voltswagen of America

#337

Post by elzbardico » Tue, Mar 30, 2021, 5:00 PM UTC

oblio wrote: post #2

This is funny, yet ridiculous :-)) Their brand is so tainted in the US that they're renaming it. I imagine it's going to be the only place they'll do it.

Hard to believe that most Americans care much about the Dieselgate. If they did, how do you explain the massive amount of SUVs and pickups carrying a single lonely driver that you can see everyday on America's streets and highways? Other than a highly educated and modernized young urban minority, I would bet that most Americans are not that worried about emissions.

Re: Voltswagen of America

#338

Post by hinkley » Tue, Mar 30, 2021, 5:01 PM UTC

sremani wrote: post #162

VoltsWagen will make sense if its similar to Ionic (Hyundi branding their EV, PHEV lineup). Anything else is Carnival barking.

Good opportunity for Hyundai to announce Alanis Morissette as the spokesperson for Ionic tomorrow...

Re: Voltswagen of America

#339

Post by DFHippie » Tue, Mar 30, 2021, 5:02 PM UTC

lumost wrote: post #240

aidenn0 wrote: post #218

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My dad used to joke that if you wanted sneakers that were not made by child labor, your best bet was whichever manufacturer last got into trouble for it because of all the extra scrutiny. That this level of fatalism about immoral acts exists is a failure of society as a whole. I suspect that all of those who got rich either knowingly or being willfully ignorant about emissions cheating walked away completely unpunish…

it's almost impossible to effectively regulate externalities in a global economy. Local regulators are not inclined to care about products sold overseas and all products compete with the lowest common regulatory framework. All it takes for child labor to enter into the supply chain is one bad regulator and a couple levels of outsourcing. The final "complete" product becomes nearly impossible to audit.

Perfection in this, as in all things, may be impossible, but here's a good faith effort to audit supply chains:

https://www.verite.org/

Re: Voltswagen of America

#340

Post by Aldipower » Tue, Mar 30, 2021, 5:03 PM UTC

certifiedloud wrote: post #221

Aldipower wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ei sink ju wud bi surpreist if Ei wud tok to ju leik sis. (I think you would be surprised, if I would talk to you like this.) German pronounced English. :)

The text exaggerates your point a little bit. "ju" would be pronounced the same as "you" when speaking. And "Ei" would be just the same as "I". "wud" = would "leik" = like "tok" = talk "bi" = be All of the above would sound exactly the same when spoken.

Sanx fo klarrifing. Truu!