One of my former clients was a top 10 automaker. I had a digital consultancy so was very close to their ICE division. They were obsessed with owning the screen, mostly so they could charge subscriptions for it. We were doing all sorts of wild pilots, like AI-powered language tutors for people stuck in their commutes. I was happy to take their money, but of course if any sane person wanted an AI powered language tutor they'd just install an app on their phone and use the bluetooth to talk to it.
OEM margins aren't great and their C suites are desperate to unlock any new revenue streams they can. This is inevitable, and it's a shame the nice thing we had is going away. The baller move would be for Apple to go buy an OEM and roll out a vehicle, but that seems to have stalled. It doesn't have to be self driving!
There is just no way I would purchase a vehicle that doesn’t have CarPlay or android auto. I suspect many of these automakers are about to find out the hard way. Yes it’s just for music and navigation but those are big enough use cases.
Right there with you on this. These car companies would just be better served ripping out their telemetry stacks and just providing a screen that only supports a phone driving it. I pulled the jumper for the telemetry stacks in my last two cars and I’m going to do so in my next car. They don’t get to sell me a car that then tracks and reports my habits to my insurance without paying me to do so on an opt in only basis.
I'm entirely on board with this - and I'm driving a 2001-model car at least partly because of it (my other goal is that my state has antique tags that you buy once and never pay for again - when the car is 25 years old). But what can you buy in the US that doesn't cripple the car (well, at least the entertainment system) in the process?
One of my former clients was a top 10 automaker. I had a digital consultancy so was very close to their ICE division. They were obsessed with owning the screen, mostly so they could charge subscriptions for it. We were doing all sorts of wild pilots, like AI-powered language tutors for people stuck in their commutes. I was happy to take their money, but of course if any sane person wanted an AI powered language tutor they'd just install an app on their phone and use the bluetooth to talk to it.
OEM margins aren't great and their C suites are desperate to unlock any new revenue streams they can. This is inevitable, and it's a shame the nice thing we had is going away. The baller move would be for Apple to go buy an OEM and roll out a vehicle, but that seems to have stalled. It doesn't have to be self driving!
Why is it inevitable?
There is just no way I would purchase a vehicle that doesn’t have CarPlay or android auto. I suspect many of these automakers are about to find out the hard way. Yes it’s just for music and navigation but those are big enough use cases.
Right there with you on this. These car companies would just be better served ripping out their telemetry stacks and just providing a screen that only supports a phone driving it. I pulled the jumper for the telemetry stacks in my last two cars and I’m going to do so in my next car. They don’t get to sell me a car that then tracks and reports my habits to my insurance without paying me to do so on an opt in only basis.
I'm entirely on board with this - and I'm driving a 2001-model car at least partly because of it (my other goal is that my state has antique tags that you buy once and never pay for again - when the car is 25 years old). But what can you buy in the US that doesn't cripple the car (well, at least the entertainment system) in the process?
Earlier: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45800960
Previously:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45676304