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Cars are about to be a software platform, subscriptions and all

bloomberg.com

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Re: Cars are about to be a software platform, subscriptions and all

#51

Post by MrMember »

Hammershaft wrote: post #45
obviouslynotme wrote: post #2

I don't want my car to be a software platform. I want it to be like my microwave. It might have software, but software is only incidental to its operation. I do not want to tweet from my microwave. I do not want ads in traffic. This is non-negotiable for safety reasons alone. I don't care what I have to do to attain that. If that means replacing the radio. I will do it. If you brick my car if I don't have a Manufactu…

Its interesting that we have created a world where the people who build software are often the most skeptical of and aviodant of the software industry.

I feel like a luddite sometimes. I want to limit as much as possible how many devices I own that have access to the internet. My computer(s), HTPC, phone, game consoles, and that's it. There's no reason anything else ever needs internet access.

Re: Cars are about to be a software platform, subscriptions and all

#52

Post by cblconfederate »

okareaman wrote: post #42

People buy apps and pay for upgrades to extend the capabilities of their phones. I don't see how this is different. Maybe they should just call them apps for cars.

> buy apps and pay for upgrades

updates are usually shoved in with no alternative, and they often lead to the need for further purchases down the line

Re: Cars are about to be a software platform, subscriptions and all

#54

Post by bozzcl »

MrMember wrote: post #51
Hammershaft wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its interesting that we have created a world where the people who build software are often the most skeptical of and aviodant of the software industry.

I feel like a luddite sometimes. I want to limit as much as possible how many devices I own that have access to the internet. My computer(s), HTPC, phone, game consoles, and that's it. There's no reason anything else ever needs internet access.

You’re far from alone. I recently outright blocked all DNS traffic, including known DoH providers, on my network firewall for all my devices except my Pi-Hole.

Then, I blocklisted all Google and Facebook domains on my Pi-Hole… except for YouTube’s content servers so I can use Invidious.

In fact, I might follow your example and add an outbound allowlist to my firewall. Seems like the next logical step.

Re: Cars are about to be a software platform, subscriptions and all

#55

Post by MrDresden »

Hammershaft wrote: post #45
obviouslynotme wrote: post #2

I don't want my car to be a software platform. I want it to be like my microwave. It might have software, but software is only incidental to its operation. I do not want to tweet from my microwave. I do not want ads in traffic. This is non-negotiable for safety reasons alone. I don't care what I have to do to attain that. If that means replacing the radio. I will do it. If you brick my car if I don't have a Manufactu…

Its interesting that we have created a world where the people who build software are often the most skeptical of and aviodant of the software industry.

It is because we know how the sausage is made.

Re: Cars are about to be a software platform, subscriptions and all

#56

Post by fmntf »

thesuperbigfrog wrote: post #4

It is only a matter of time before there are jailbreaks and free / open source car operating systems. For related 'food for thought', see Cory Doctorow's "Car Wars" which combines car software hacking with self-driving vehicles for a unique near-future sci-fi story. Edit: downvotes? Instead, you could respond with why you disagree and we can have a discussion. Do you think there will not be jailbreaks? It has been ha…

That's unrealistic. A car contains several ECUs. Each ECU has one or more MCU/CPU. Every core runs its software, 99% of the time documentation is available only under NDA. Reimplementing the software for just one MCU/CPU is challenging even for who is part of the industry.

Re: Cars are about to be a software platform, subscriptions and all

#57

Post by detaro »

fmntf wrote: post #56
thesuperbigfrog wrote: post #4

It is only a matter of time before there are jailbreaks and free / open source car operating systems. For related 'food for thought', see Cory Doctorow's "Car Wars" which combines car software hacking with self-driving vehicles for a unique near-future sci-fi story. Edit: downvotes? Instead, you could respond with why you disagree and we can have a discussion. Do you think there will not be jailbreaks? It has been ha…

That's unrealistic. A car contains several ECUs. Each ECU has one or more MCU/CPU. Every core runs its software, 99% of the time documentation is available only under NDA. Reimplementing the software for just one MCU/CPU is challenging even for who is part of the industry.

If you wanted to go for "replace everything", sure. But that's not what you need for unlocking features and maybe some UI stuff. (I still suspect it won't be that common, but I'd assume it to be much more in line with other jailbreaking projects)

Re: Cars are about to be a software platform, subscriptions and all

#58

Post by bozzcl »

fouric wrote: post #6

This is very, very bad. Music and TV subscriptions? Not great (I want to buy something once and own it), but at least those are luxury purchases. Cars? Not ok - that's critical for me (and many others) to get to my job (bad public transit in the area), groceries, etc. > “You can easily see a major backlash to all this,” said Gartner analyst Michael Ramsay. I wonder how one can maximize that potential backlash, so as…

You gotta start small. Boycott. Do not buy cars from companies that do this. Even if they allow you to opt out or they have offerings without these “features”.

Then tell your friends and family about it. Hopefully, at least one or two of them will understand or agree. Even if nobody follows your example, you’ve planted the idea in their heads.

If you have a blog or social media, write about this. Again, it’s unlikely people will change their minds only because of you, but this will plant the seed of doubt.

Over time, this might become big enough to be a political issue. If it affects the driver’s privacy an the car’s safety it definitely can. Then it’s time to call your representatives.

Re: Cars are about to be a software platform, subscriptions and all

#60

Post by fooblat »

bombela wrote: post #35
sz4kerto wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I want it to be like my microwave. Yes. Plus: I want it to be like a simple microwave that does what I need: heats for a certain amount of time at a certain power level. 2 physical knobs.

Yes. Definitively not like my microwave. My microwave has not only the worst interface. But it also lags. The polling rate of the capacitive touche buttons is too low. And any action also takes a second to validate. It's horrendous. Give me back my late grandma microwave. Two knobs. Nothing more.

After much research I purchased a Samsung MWF300G[0] a modern microwave with only 2 dials. Used daily for 5 years and I love it.

0. https://www.samsung.com/levant/microwave-ovens/solo/mwf300g-...

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