Apple's risky bet on CarPlay • Hacker News Board

Re: Apple's risky bet on CarPlay

#531

Post by joshstrange » Thu, Apr 25, 2024, 9:36 AM UTC

MBCook wrote: post #208

dagmx wrote: post #204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No problem. It’s a really common misunderstanding because Google purposefully like to name things to reduce distinction.

I agree it’s a mess. But Apple isn’t doing itself any favors on CarPlay branding now that it sort of means multiple things. And don’t get me started on the Apple TV naming mess.

I’m sorry, I’m not clear on what you are talking about. Apple TV, the device? Apple TV, the app? Or Apple TV+, the streaming service? :)

It makes for great sentences like: The other day I was using Apple TV on my Apple TV to watch a show on Apple TV+. Which just rolls of the tongue and is sure to cause no confusion. /s

It’s a mess for sure.

Re: Apple's risky bet on CarPlay

#532

Post by eropple » Thu, Apr 25, 2024, 12:45 PM UTC

lokar wrote: post #284

eropple wrote: post #253

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe for you. If it doesn't exactly mirror the stuff on my phone, though, it's distinctly worse than using my phone. If it doesn't start playing music from my phone when I turn the car on, it's distinctly worse than using my phone. If it doesn't act like my phone does today , it's distinctly worse than using my phone. For me, there is no room for GM to become a player here. I have friends' addresses, etc. in my iPho…

I would never consider buying GM. I was, in the past, a UAW shop steward.

That's fair! I've looked long and hard at the Chevy Bolt in the past, but I think other car models have surpassed it.

Re: Apple's risky bet on CarPlay

#533

Post by Tagbert » Thu, Apr 25, 2024, 2:26 PM UTC

devmor wrote: post #458

Tagbert wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If find the Bluetooth interface too limited because it requires interacting with the touchscreen on the phone. I want to use the large screen on the car with an interface that is optimized to work while in the car not small controls on a small phone.

There is absolutely nothing on the phone I need or want to interact with while driving that is not covered by bluetooth audio controls. Perhaps you should reconsider your driving needs vs safety?

I'll think about that while I'm sitting at a stop light and skip a chapter in a podcast.

Re: Apple's risky bet on CarPlay

#534

Post by fransje26 » Thu, Apr 25, 2024, 2:36 PM UTC

tssva wrote: post #472

fransje26 wrote: post #392

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Both support changing the car settings through the 3rd party headhunt, integrate with the steering wheel controls, factory backup camera and the factory installed amplifiers (Bose and Harmon Kardon) Wow, I'm impressed. I wouldn't have thought manufacturers nowadays would be forthcoming enough to allow that. Do you know if it is something specific to (some?) Japanese manufacturers, or is it a form of info-display st…

I know the iDatalink Maestro works with some European and US cars also. I don't know that there is any kind of standard. I suspect the unit has reversed engineered the canbus messages for the different manufacturers. Before installing the unit you have to program it via usb. They provide software for Windows and Mac. You select your vehicle, wiring harness model and head unit model and it programs it appropriately. I…

Thank you for your insightful reply. I'll start searching from there.

Re: Apple's risky bet on CarPlay

#535

Post by JohnFen » Thu, Apr 25, 2024, 4:43 PM UTC

netsharc wrote: post #511

Jtsummers wrote: post #76

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> Let's turn the question around: why would car makers want to spend millions of dollars a year rolling their own infotainment system? So they can make incremental revenue selling ads and user data? So they have control? Control over what, exactly? There's an interesting (and apparently often misunderstood) article called "IT Doesn't Matter" [0]. In it, Carr is largely arguing that IT, as a business differentiator, w…

It's a bit aggravating that a slice of money I pay when buying a car goes to paying for development of the infotainment, which can be shoddy. It's like paying the Windows tax when buying a laptop with it pre-installed. Imagine if car manufacturers started offering cars with no infotainment OS, and as users having a choice of open source OS distros to install on them..

Personally, the existence of a car infotainment system is a disincentive for me to buy the car. I certainly won't use it, and would prefer not to pay for it.

If that system is required in order to control a car's functionality (windshield wipers, etc.), then its existence is not just a disincentive, but a dealbreaker.

Re: Apple's risky bet on CarPlay

#536

Post by JohnFen » Thu, Apr 25, 2024, 4:45 PM UTC

throw0101c wrote: post #172

numpad0 wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder how much of those frustrations has to do with Japanese market share of car industry; I think the touchscreen infotainment is not there because car manufacturers value it as integral and central part of car experience but simply because otherwise their product loses against one of Japanese brands. Japanese road network is a disorganized weighted node graph and absolutely not a grid, and a bulletproof navigati…

> That doesn't have to be a touchscreen but usually are […] With back up cameras being mandated in the US (and other jurisdictions?): * https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/02/backup-cameras-now-required-... There needs to be a screen: I'm not sure what the incremental cost is of it being touch-sensitive. And I think a lot of designers (or cost cutters) may have figured that since they have to have software anyway , it may e…

Sure, there needs to be a screen, but it doesn't have to do anything more than be the monitor for the backup camera.

Re: Apple's risky bet on CarPlay

#537

Post by dzhiurgis » Fri, Apr 26, 2024, 6:56 AM UTC

elzbardico wrote: post #450

dzhiurgis wrote: post #269

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> Mercedes decided to emulate Tesla Except Tesla is doing it right. Mercedes software is a mess. It's hard to explain why, but use it for a few days and it's just obvious.

I am not even talking about the software, because I think it is a matter of habit and expectations, but this horrible trend of refusing to have a proper dashboard and instead just slapping what looks like a bunch of tablets in front of you, and of course, the death of physical buttons. I absolutely abhor this.

Do you miss floppy disk too?