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Car companies are in a billion-dollar software war

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Re: Car companies are in a billion-dollar software war

#611

Post by stevoski »

gerdesj wrote: post #321
latchkey wrote: post #297

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh, I wish they would install tiny horn buttons on all the vehicles in Vietnam! In that country, the horn is a method of communication, much to the ire of literally everyone trying to exist.

Excessive horning (made up word) is not just a Vietnamese thing. Italy is probably Europe's worst offender, with Greece a close contender. I'm not so familiar with Asia, but I get the impression that the entirety of Indian and most of Chinese drivers feel the need to lean on the horn with gay abandon (fnarr). In Britain the horn is generally reserved for "fuck that was close: I think you are a bit of a tosser" or "yo…

Lebanon. Especially Beirut. The honking. Every taxi driver that passed me if I was walking down the street. Honking. Honking. So much noise. All the time.

Six months I was there. Six months of honking honking honking.

Re: Car companies are in a billion-dollar software war

#612

Post by Gareth321 »

DanielHB wrote: post #564
acheron9383 wrote: post #199

As someone who works professionally on embedded software devices that update over the internet, car companies are stuck not because they can't get software talent, but because they have no ability to actually build the electronics alongside the software, which is ultimately what constrains embedded software. Without the right hardware, the constraints are just insurmountable, you can not do X feature because board A…

Just to add one more thing to your point, if embedded devs work really hard and make the code work faster/better all reward you get is an _even_ more underpowered chip for the next version. Hardware procurement is cut-throat, sometimes they have mandates to reduce component costs and the procurement people WILL reach them. Often procurement > product in the power dynamics so no matter how bad the product gets those p…

Your account sounds accurate, but how fitting then that their cost cutting focus is losing them customers and potentially their entire company. VW is losing the EV war. Most manufacturers have already lost. Tesla and BYD are going to eat everyone's lunch. They either need to revolutionise their approach, or they're toast. I suspect they'll attempt to milk their existing supply chains into bankruptcy.

Re: Car companies are in a billion-dollar software war

#613

Post by cebert »

DanielHB wrote: post #564
acheron9383 wrote: post #199

As someone who works professionally on embedded software devices that update over the internet, car companies are stuck not because they can't get software talent, but because they have no ability to actually build the electronics alongside the software, which is ultimately what constrains embedded software. Without the right hardware, the constraints are just insurmountable, you can not do X feature because board A…

Just to add one more thing to your point, if embedded devs work really hard and make the code work faster/better all reward you get is an _even_ more underpowered chip for the next version. Hardware procurement is cut-throat, sometimes they have mandates to reduce component costs and the procurement people WILL reach them. Often procurement > product in the power dynamics so no matter how bad the product gets those p…

If the OEM stayed with the same chip for several years, wouldn’t the price go down over time?

Re: Car companies are in a billion-dollar software war

#614

Post by andy_ppp »

I would love a car platform that ran open source software, I think a lot of people would buy hardware they knew all the software was controlled by the owner. The way electronics plays into cars at this point is quite excessive, even seats and windows are running software.

Re: Car companies are in a billion-dollar software war

#615

Post by Gareth321 »

cameronh90 wrote: post #190
StopDisinfo910 wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I seem to remember Jeep saying manual window winders were actually more expensive once you factor in the costs of having them as an option given how cheap electric ones are when they dropped them for the new Wrangler. Might still be cheaper if you only manufacture with them and don’t offer electric but the price difference can’t be that high.

Is it about price or reliability? I never had a manual window winder fail to work, but electric window buttons breaking or the motor getting stuck (e.g. in icy conditions) has happened at some point in every car I've owned. The convenience factor hugely outweighs the rare failures for me, but I could see why someone buying a Wrangler for its intended purpose might actually prefer the manual option.

> I never had a manual window winder fail to work

I have. It jammed. When I tried to release it the glass fell out (into the door).

Re: Car companies are in a billion-dollar software war

#616

Post by aetherspawn »

Software isn’t super hard I suppose, but you still need a dozen “rockstar devs” and $1mil in licensed software to push out a car, so yeah probably it’s a minimum $5-10m exercise for basic software that can just drive around.

And if you start talking about razzle dazzle infotainment smart phone experiences, well that’s where you get the $1b price tag from.

My startup is actually aiming to disrupt the low end of this with a generic VCU that lets you design any vehicle you want and then tweak a few arguments to set how it should be controlled. The goal is to let you build a Slate-like car or truck (infotainment excluded / BYO) without writing software.

Re: Car companies are in a billion-dollar software war

#618

Post by 71bw »

ncruces wrote: post #182
BobaFloutist wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah all I want is something that holds the phone and gives it a USB-C port that charges it, lets me play media through it, and lets buttons on the wheel control the phone (volume, next/previous, and programmable go forward/back x seconds buttons). USB-C is so powerful, it can do everything Bluetooth does while charging, but for some reason that's just not an option in a lot of cars? Make it make sense.

Then you want the Dacia Media Control. It has a phone holder where other trim levels would place the screen, and USB power around there. Other than that, the car is mostly Bluetooth a speaker. They actually have an app that allows you to tune the FM radio, otherwise I don't think you can listen to radio broadcasts. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dacia.dngo

The issue is you're still driving a, somehow, even worse Renault.

Re: Car companies are in a billion-dollar software war

#619

Post by PopePompus »

brabel wrote: post #491
Thorrez wrote: post #451

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Huh, I drove in Italy for a week and a half and didn't notice excessive honking. I did notice tons and tons of tailgating.

Italy is really 2 countries, north and south are quite distinct.

Where ever you are in Italy, you will be told by locals that you can't trust anyone from a town south of that place.

Re: Car companies are in a billion-dollar software war

#620

Post by [deleted] »

b112 wrote: post #296
flax wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My 2017 Mazda cx5 refuses to not play the radio. There is no "off" for the audio, you have to choose a source. I use my phone, via bluetooth. But sometimes, for unknown reasons, the car does not connect with the phone. It then falls back to the last source chosen before BT, which is radio. Okay, so I created a flash drive with an mp3 of 30 seconds of silence, played that, then went back to bluetooth. This failback st…

Ah yes, Mazda. The car company which won't even give you a fuse box diagram, and instead says to contact the dealer if a fuse blows. https://www.cx90forum.com/threads/fuse-box-diagram.172/ Something foul and malign is afoot at Mazda these days.

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