Why Your New Car's Technology Is Four Years Old 455
Lucas123 writes "While you can buy a 1TB hard drive for your computer for less than $100, Ford today offers 10GB. Don't expect much more anytime soon. Apart from the obvious — a car's development process can be four years long — the automotive industry also tends to be behind the tech curve because of a lack of equipment standardization. And, while it's possible for the industry to build modular infotainment systems that could be upgraded over the life of the car, there are no plans to do so. Instead, car companies intend to offer software upgradable vehicles through 4G connectivity and data storage and entertainment streaming through the cloud, which means they have to worry less about onboard hardware reliability and standardization."
Reliability needs (Score:5, Interesting)
Or, it could be that older technology is more reliable, and that's needed for the service of the vehicle. Much like how SCSI drives have never been up to the same spec for capacity as their IDE counterparts because SCSI was using tried & true technology to maintain reliability. Imagine having a rash of failed 1TB HDs in vehicle infotainment systems. Backlash galore.
Flash will fill the gap eventually, if not already happening.
safety tech (Score:5, Interesting)
the tech I care about is safety related...I can't wait until all this stuff is standard equip
blindspot detection
lane departure
collision detection
adaptive cruise control
electronic brake distribution / ABS
navigation
Re:Reliability needs (Score:4, Interesting)
It is a common misconception from Techy Guys. They look at old technology with the blinding light of nostalgia. Often confusing equipment they bought 20 years ago that cost thousands of dollars and comparing them against their modern counterpart that cost a few hundred bucks.
Re:Not to mention... (Score:3, Interesting)
Yes they are. The local warehouses are unheated and they stack laptops in them all winter, for weeks at a time.
Yes they are - the four laptops baking in my car right now have been there for a month now. I fully expect them to work when I eventually pull them out - I know people who use generic, non-hardened laptops year-round in completely unconditioned environments. For at least 15 years now I have routinely subjected Dell, Micron and Thinkpad laptops to 120+ fahrenheit by leaving them in locked car over a weekend, never had a problem.
Yes they do - all the cops around here have plain-jain Dell laptops mounted on arms in their cars, which actually increases the vibration they endure.
OK, you got me on that one, but I don't really get your point - I keep both my cars and my laptops running longer than ten years, it's just a matter of good maintenance.
Comment removed (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Not to mention... (Score:4, Interesting)
Everything is becoming integrated... no modularity.
My Fiat 500 has a problem with the clock... it runs slow (a few minutes a month). This is a known problem and they are going to fix it.
However, in order to fix the clock, they have to replace the entire dashboard electronic unit (speedo, tach, all the computers, etc.). The real problem is the odometer. The dash unit has the odometer so they are replacing the odometer with one that has the same number of miles as the old odometer so it has to be specially ordered and programmed and then it has to be replaced at the exact right time.
Major hassle and expense for a lousy clock timer unit... they really shot themselves in the foot on this one.
Re:Not to mention... (Score:4, Interesting)
1) Control AC, including "remote start" feature that doesn't suck.
2) Get information about fuel economy, battery charge, temperature, heading, GPS coordinates.
3) Use my own hacked voice recognition system though bluetooth.
4) Send directions to the in-dash navigation system.
5) Use the forward collision alert sensor for crude (but useful) adaptive cruise control.
All of that simply by spying on GMLAN CAN bus and a bit of RE. Some parts can't be replaced easily - for example, rear parking assist camera is completely analog and wired directly to the video processor. But most of the car's computer functionality can be pretty easily replicated by a third-party.