Concerns About Big Tech's Next Potential Monopoly: Connected Cars (politico.com) 102
Politico reports:
When Ford announced that starting in 2023 its cars and trucks would come with Google Maps, Assistant and Play Store preinstalled, CEO Jim Farley called the partnership between his iconic U.S. automaker and the search giant a chance to "reinvent" the automobile — making it an office-on-wheels, with more connectivity than any phone or laptop. "We were spending hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of millions every year, keeping up with basically a generic experience that was not competitive to your cellphone," Farley crowed on CNBC, announcing the six-year deal with the tech giant.... But many tech-industry watchdogs looked at the Ford-Google car of the future with different eyes. They fear that tech companies will soon be doing to cars what they did to phones: Tying their exclusive operating systems to specific products to force out competitors and dominate a huge swath of the global economy.
Indeed, the smartphone wars are over, and Google and Apple won. Now they — and Amazon — are battling to control how you operate within your car. All three see autos as the next great opportunity to reach American consumers, who spend more time in the driver's seat than anywhere outside their home or workplace. And automakers, after years of floundering to incorporate cutting-edge technologies into cars on their own, are increasingly eager for Silicon Valley's help — hoping to adopt both its tech and its lucrative business models where consumers pay monthly for ongoing services instead of shelling out for a product just once. Now, having missed the boat as the tech giants cornered the market on smartphones, some policymakers and regulators believe the battle over connected cars represents a chance to block potential monopolies before they form.
State attorneys general who sued Google in 2020 for monopolizing online search highlighted concerns about the company's move into autonomous cars in their federal antitrust complaint. Meanwhile, in Europe, the EU's competition authority has opened a probe into Google's contracts related to connected cars... While Silicon Valley and automakers are thrilled about the future of connected and autonomous cars, regulators and privacy advocates are less so. "These companies have an amount of data on us that they shouldn't have, and they have a history of not using it in responsible ways," said Katharine Trendacosta of the digital civil liberties group Electronic Frontier Foundation. "They have a history of going back on promises they have made about that data."
She cited Google's pledge during the DoubleClick acquisition in 2008 — which it later reneged on — not to combine data from its consumer products with that from its advertising services.
The article quotes Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery III, who last December complained that "When smartphones took off, Google made sure they controlled search on Apple's iPhone. They are doing the same thing on voice and connected cars. It's a similar playbook." And an executive at an automotive supplier that competes with Google tells Politico that Google is already "corralling everything through their system and controls what information is released downstream."
And Jim Heffner, a vice president at Cox Automotive Mobility, adds that "The ride is no longer the point. Data is the cornerstone. ... Apple and Google and others want to be at the epicenter of that."
Indeed, the smartphone wars are over, and Google and Apple won. Now they — and Amazon — are battling to control how you operate within your car. All three see autos as the next great opportunity to reach American consumers, who spend more time in the driver's seat than anywhere outside their home or workplace. And automakers, after years of floundering to incorporate cutting-edge technologies into cars on their own, are increasingly eager for Silicon Valley's help — hoping to adopt both its tech and its lucrative business models where consumers pay monthly for ongoing services instead of shelling out for a product just once. Now, having missed the boat as the tech giants cornered the market on smartphones, some policymakers and regulators believe the battle over connected cars represents a chance to block potential monopolies before they form.
State attorneys general who sued Google in 2020 for monopolizing online search highlighted concerns about the company's move into autonomous cars in their federal antitrust complaint. Meanwhile, in Europe, the EU's competition authority has opened a probe into Google's contracts related to connected cars... While Silicon Valley and automakers are thrilled about the future of connected and autonomous cars, regulators and privacy advocates are less so. "These companies have an amount of data on us that they shouldn't have, and they have a history of not using it in responsible ways," said Katharine Trendacosta of the digital civil liberties group Electronic Frontier Foundation. "They have a history of going back on promises they have made about that data."
She cited Google's pledge during the DoubleClick acquisition in 2008 — which it later reneged on — not to combine data from its consumer products with that from its advertising services.
The article quotes Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery III, who last December complained that "When smartphones took off, Google made sure they controlled search on Apple's iPhone. They are doing the same thing on voice and connected cars. It's a similar playbook." And an executive at an automotive supplier that competes with Google tells Politico that Google is already "corralling everything through their system and controls what information is released downstream."
And Jim Heffner, a vice president at Cox Automotive Mobility, adds that "The ride is no longer the point. Data is the cornerstone. ... Apple and Google and others want to be at the epicenter of that."
Meh (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Meh (Score:4, Informative)
Agreed - it sounds like there is a market opportunity brewing for a company to make cars that are just cars instead of advertising platforms with a car attached.
Car companies or potential investors, are you listening!?
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Agreed - it sounds like there is a market opportunity brewing for a company to make cars that are just cars instead of advertising platforms with a car attached.
Car companies or potential investors, are you listening!?
The same could be said for phones, but there are scant few true phones to choose from any more. The Flip Phone IV, what I have, is the closest to a phone, but even it has issues with its KaiOS and its design. The biggest issue, though small in the grand scheme of things, is if you press the volume button on the side while not on a call, it turns on vibrate rather than letting the phone ring. You may not realize this has been done and if the phone is somewhere else and you can't hear the vibration, you won'
Re:Meh (Score:5, Interesting)
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You're a bit behind the times (Score:2)
if you still believe big companies and "the government" are different things. They are quite well aligned, "the government" delivering citizen satisfaction on their behalf.
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With an iPhone, if you maximize your privacy settings, your targeted ads are not going to be very relevant. You can browse in private mode, spoof your MAC address to wifi in stores, disable your location data on a per app and website basis, and the OS itself has no advertising built in to it, except from as far as I can tell, in the App Store, and that is for Apps. Your Flip Phone IV does not spoof MAC addresses, and its' OS is made by a company who's primary product is you.
And yet, all I have to do is turn off all data usage on my phone so I never see an ad or use their product.There are only five things I use my phone for: checking the time, making/receiving calls, listening to voicemail, using the calculator, checking the calendar.
I can assure you, any tracking they're doing on me has shown them I'm not worth tracking.
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I can assure you, any tracking they're doing on me has shown them I'm not worth tracking.
Most people using a smartphone as you describe are in an older demographic. You're going to have better luck showing them an ad for financial products and life insurance than you are showing them ads for TikTok or Instagram. That's useful info to an advertiser.
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Agreed - it sounds like there is a market opportunity brewing for a company to make cars that are just cars instead of advertising platforms with a car attached.
Car companies or potential investors, are you listening!?
I doubt it. If there was any significant market for a stripped down car in markets where more advanced and expensive the big companies, or someone else, would make them. That they don’t indicates it is not a profitable niche, and given probably 90+ % of the car buying population doesn’t care about privacy but wants their maps and facebook i doubt one will emerge.
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There are already such cars. Some Nissan models don't have built in navigation or telematics, but do support Android Auto so you can use your phone for that if you want. Otherwise the screen only displays the media player and some stats for your car.
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Agreed - it sounds like there is a market opportunity brewing for a company to make cars that are just cars instead of advertising platforms with a car attached.
Car companies or potential investors, are you listening!?
What are you smoking?
Haven't you seen the population snapping up "smart speakers" and stuff?
No car manufacturer is going to make a separate line of cars without those things.
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Go right on with it. Soon some other low-cost car/truck without tons of subscribe-tech will come along (just like Honda of the 70s, KIA of the 90s) and worm their way into consumer driveways, displacing Ford's inevitably-overpriced line-up.
Forget low cost (there are already plenty being made by Nissan/Renault), there is a reason the Ford F series has never found any popularity outside of the Americas (even in South America, they are only popular because the US dumps their used ones there). The Toyota Hilux utterly dominates the pickup market in countries where you need a durable, capable pickup. However Ford keeps obscure laws in place to ensure Toyota can't sell the Hilux or it's other capable 4x4s in the US.
Top Gear literally tried to ki
Re: Meh (Score:2)
Re: Meh (Score:2)
Toyota can sell the Hilux here any time they want. Instead they have two different pickups for the NA market. One of them now shares all the important parts with the Hilux. You know fuck all.
And so (Score:2)
Microsoft moved heaven and earth 20 years ago to get in on navigation radios. Competition works.
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Microsoft moved heaven and earth 20 years ago to get in on navigation radios. Competition works.
Whining about monopolies is often targeted at companies that are already losing in the marketplace. Have you heard of IBM? It is a tiny tech company (5% the market-cap of Apple) that used to be a big tech company.
TFA complains about Google, Apple, and Amazon monopolizing autonomous cars, but fails to even mention the dominant company in that sector: Tesla.
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What are these things that car manufactuers are 5-10 years ahead of Tesla with?
Batteries are a possibility but there are no cars available today with Tesla beating batteries.
Charging - There is nobody ahead of Tesla on charging infrastructure.
In car UI - Tesla's UI works ok. Other EVs have UIs that usually seem more like ICE cars (like the one in my Leaf). Some have interesting UIs. But none seem like major competitive issues.
Motors - Tesla's motors seem to be as good as anyones.
Tesla in the US may be vulne
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Tesla is failing in the mass battery recall department.
GM is winning in that arena with every Bolt being recalled for a complete battery replacement.
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Actual car manufacturing. I've driven a number of different Teslas, and the build quality and finish is abysmal for a car retailing over $45k.
I really hope Tesla is able to use this momentum to get better products out, because i agree - it's not like their competition has been doing nothing lately.
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My n=3 experience is that Tesla's build quality is fine and in multiple ways, better than other manufacturers.
They certainly have had well documented issues (paint quality, panel gaps, poorly attached trim, low reliability model S door handles) that were all addressed and are no longer an issue. Ongoing competition is against the cars they make at the time of sale, not the cars they made 3 years ago.
So I'm not buying the argument that the other manufacturers are about to make compelling alternatives. They'v
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My very last Tesla experience was driving a brand new Model 3 Performance which had squeaky plastic interiors, seats that wobbled and really poor soundproofing.
This is a car is retailing at $58,000. In that price bracket, it is simply inexcusable.
Everyone clearly (Score:1)
What? We’re NOT all hungering to dump our smart devices? Whats the world coming to?
Smart cars will be the same. Better in every way. Th
Re:Everyone clearly (Score:5, Insightful)
A smartphone's purpose is to be a connected device. It is the magic box that I pull out of my pocket when I want to get information from me to somewhere else, or vice versa.
A car's purpose is to get me and my stuff from one place to another. I don't need or want it to be "connected", except in rare cases where that's helpful in getting me from here to there in ways that my phone isn't able to do.
It's not drivers who want "connected cars" -- it's the people who want to spam drivers with ads.
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However, to help you to get from point A to point B as good comfortable and stress-free as possible we appreciate a good GPS system, that takes current traffic into condition. Easy ways to enter data and get context sentitive so you can get routed to the right place. Access to music that goes beyond your radio station that plays ads nearly 50% of the time, you will want your favorite streaming service.
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It's not drivers who want "connected cars"
I drive a connected car. It is nice. I will never buy an unconnected dumb vehicle.
it's the people who want to spam drivers with ads.
Number of ads I have ever seen on my car's console: 0.
Re:Everyone clearly (Score:5, Insightful)
Because you have only been connected to the car company till now. That will change when you are forced to be connected to the advertising companies (e.g. Google).
Laws Limit Ads (Score:3)
Because you have only been connected to the car company till now.
Actually, it will have to remain largely the same regardless of whom it is connected to since there are strict laws in many countries against displaying video on a screen where the driver can see it. Even in countries without such laws, I suspect shortly after the first few accidents caused by a driver being distracted by an ad playing they will rapidly develop such laws.
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I worry about then pulling the rug with that. For example Volvo cars use Google for their screens, it's basically an automotive version of Android. It's great... But so was the Nvidia Shield with Android TV until they suddenly put ads on it a year ago.
Imagine paying 200 bucks for an ad free device, and then getting hit with ads. Now imagine paying 50,000 bucks for an ad free car, and getting hit with ads.
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For now. That can easily change. Look at smart TVs and how ads and telemetry have marched into those. And don't forget stuff becoming subscriber-only, that once was bundled with the vehicle... like remote locking and unlocking of doors.
Re:Everyone clearly (Score:5, Insightful)
I know that I'm the extreme minority but I actually wish I could find a way to not own a smart phone at all. I've been a "tecchie" all my life but never really jumped on the mobile bandwagon. I don't travel or get out much, and when I do travel I like to go to very remote locations and disconnect from technology and the modern world completely. I don't like things that make noise and interrupt me, the privacy implications are very bothersome and, with the odd exception of using maps if I'm driving in an unfamiliar city or something, I hardly ever use the thing.
Get off my lawn indeed. I REALLY don't like the idea of a car that's connected to the internet. Maybe it's because I write code for a living and see the terrifying quality of what gets shipped (and the people who defend that perpetual lowering of our standards), but the prospect of some coder's "if statement" being evaluated when I apply the brakes just doesn't sit well with me.
Not to mention we've already seen proof of concepts of cars getting hacked remotely and having the brakes the commandeered.
It's not a lot of inconvenience to use a separate device for navigation ... and it buys you a tremendous amount of peace of mind knowing that critical systems are kept isolated and air-gapped. The last thing we need are cars that are susceptible to malware.
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I actually wish I could find a way to not own a smart phone at all.
Here is how you do it:
1. Go to a store
2. Pick a dumb phone off the shelf (there are many to choose from).
3. Checkout.
Let us know if you need more detailed instructions.
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I actually wish I could find a way to not own a smart phone at all.
You can.
1) Throw your smart phone in the trash.
2) Buy a dumb phone to replace it.
Problem solved.
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Smart cars will be the same. Better in every way.
No, not even close. For one thing, all those people who blow through red lights and stop lights will be infuriated when smart cars stop at both. "You mean I can't stop it from doing that?" Most everyone else will be pissed they can't creep forward at red lights to intimidate the timing signal, or stop a car length or more back from the white line.
And if you think your insurance will go down because you have a "smart" car, think again. Guaranteed your cost
Re:Everyone clearly (Score:4, Interesting)
And if you think your insurance will go down because you have a "smart" car, think again. Guaranteed your cost will go up because of all the added "smartness". Technology is expensive to repair, replace, and update.
A vehicle console is basically a tablet. A 7-inch tablet costs $50 retail [amazon.com].
Insurance is high because of the medical cost of injuries. If smart cars reduce accidents, there will be big cost reductions.
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And if you think your insurance will go down because you have a "smart" car, think again. Guaranteed your cost will go up because of all the added "smartness". Technology is expensive to repair, replace, and update.
A vehicle console is basically a tablet. A 7-inch tablet costs $50 retail [amazon.com].
Insurance is high because of the medical cost of injuries. If smart cars reduce accidents, there will be big cost reductions.
They present additional distractions.
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They present additional distractions.
They also include a lot of collision avoidance technology.
My car drives itself 90% of the time. Even when I am driving, it will auto-brake to avoid a collision.
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And if you think your insurance will go down because you have a "smart" car, think again. Guaranteed your cost will go up because of all the added "smartness". Technology is expensive to repair, replace, and update.
A vehicle console is basically a tablet. A 7-inch tablet costs $50 retail [amazon.com].
Insurance is high because of the medical cost of injuries. If smart cars reduce accidents, there will be big cost reductions.
"If"
That's why my insurance keeps going up despite more "smart" cars on the road and another year of me having no claims.
It's a big "if".
Even if they are safer, which I doubt, you've got the problem of risk compensation. When we feel safer, we tend to take more risks. This was noted when we introduced seatbelts, people started driving faster and with less care but the seatbelt had such a profound effect on casualties from motor vehicle collisions that it reduced injuries and fatalities whilst colli
Re: Everyone clearly (Score:2)
What else would you realistically expect? (Score:2)
She cited Google's pledge during the DoubleClick acquisition in 2008 — which it later reneged on — not to combine data from its consumer products with that from its advertising services.
Privacy Rapists gonna rape.
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A corporate promise and 5 bucks will get you a coffee at Starbucks.
I am really starting to think there (Score:2)
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Thats pretty much what we had back in 1970. And yes I would love to go back to that. Disclaimer: pro industrial mechanic here. I can say a few things about engineering design. [elipsis looks like ascii art] and bean-counters. I've seen first-hand what works and what doesn't, what provides value and what doesn't. The problem with today's economy is that it provides value to everyone *but* the owner... as cars become less and less maintainable, more and more disposable, loaded with a zillion features nobody a
Re: (Score:2)
Short of more sensors, there is little difference mechanically between a 1970s malaise era car and a brand new one. Materials and tolerances have gotten infinitely better. Back then you scrapped a car at 100k mile if it ever made it that far. Today cars will achieve that with nothing more than oil changes.
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My experience differs: Most of mine made it at least 180k if not more. Just generic chevy V-8's. And there are *vast* design differences between then and now. Not necessarily improvements. Newer is not necessarily better.
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You act like that plastic engine cover is stopping you from doing basic maintenance. Engines still have timing chains and spark plugs, accessory belts, brakes, bearings, etc etc. Oh you might need some Torx bits but there is nothing stopping you from working on new cars. You're just old and think everything new is scary and different.
Re: (Score:2)
Indeed. I still can't believe my turbocharged car uses an intake manifold made out of plastic. Never mind the interior -- the amount of plastic on modern engines is ridiculous. Design tolerances and material quality don't mean much if they use the wrong material in certain places and parts literally just crumble apart over time.
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Sensors didn't make them better. Statistical Process Control did. But you probably think 6 sigma is a management thing like agile.
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I never said sensors made them better. I said materials and tolerances improved resulting in better reliability and longevity.
Re:I am really starting to think there (Score:4, Informative)
Thats pretty much what we had back in 1970. And yes I would love to go back to that.
Traffic fatalities per mile were three times as high in 1970 as today.
Motor vehicle fatality rate by year [wikipedia.org]
cars become less and less maintainable, more and more disposable
Cars today last twice as long as they did in 1970.
Vehicle longevity statistics [wikipedia.org]
The good ol' days were not so good.
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Traffic fatalities have nothing to do with being connected. I cannot fix my own car anymore. I used to be able to, it was not 'connected', and I had it for 20 years. I'd rather have a car like that. It did have a computer, but it wasn't to the point you could only take it to a dealership to fix.
Re:I am really starting to think there (Score:5, Interesting)
I cannot fix my own car anymore. I used to be able to, it was not 'connected', and I had it for 20 years. I'd rather have a car like that. It did have a computer, but it wasn't to the point you could only take it to a dealership to fix.
Please elaborate on what you were unable to fix, I'd love to hear it.
Spend $20 on an ODB2 scanner and throw away your timing light and vacuum gauge. Hell splurge and buy a $100 reader for the vendor specific codes if that's your problem. I had no issues reading air suspension codes on my Mercedes with a $100 ebay model. Same thing for the Volvo I used to own. The Chinese cloned the expensive Volvo reader and I could see details for every computer system from airbags to brakes. Quit being an old fart and use your brain.
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Well said. I, my wife and kids decided long ago that we liked nice cars but had no need for expensive, distracting, unreliable, spyware-ridden "connected" gadgets that were obsolete even before they left the showroom. So we buy older, depreciated luxury cars, I rip out anything we don't want, install generic NOT connected head units with offline GPS navigation and all the handsfree, music & big-screen video functionality you could ever want and...it still costs less than a new car. Yes, you have addi
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I cannot fix my own car anymore. I used to be able to, it was not 'connected', and I had it for 20 years. I'd rather have a car like that. It did have a computer, but it wasn't to the point you could only take it to a dealership to fix.
Please elaborate on what you were unable to fix, I'd love to hear it.
Spend $20 on an ODB2 scanner and throw away your timing light and vacuum gauge. Hell splurge and buy a $100 reader for the vendor specific codes if that's your problem. I had no issues reading air suspension codes on my Mercedes with a $100 ebay model. Same thing for the Volvo I used to own. The Chinese cloned the expensive Volvo reader and I could see details for every computer system from airbags to brakes. Quit being an old fart and use your brain.
As much as I agree with your sentiment, there is an element of truth hidden in the GP's "old man yelling at cloud" rant.
So many parts these days are not user serviceable. Much of it so so tightly integrated that you'd need a workshop and specialist knowledge to even have a chance at repairing it, so a lot of repairs are simply "remove entire part, order replacement". Take the turbochargers on modern cars, a lot of them are tightly integrated into the block or V to aid with heating and cooling (letting a
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With respect to your "specialty tool" - if you had had a good shop class, you would know how to fabricate that tool yourself. It may cost you more than 6 pounds of your time, but you could do it.
I have a degree in computer science and a certificate in automotive service tech. Because I know how to both pour aluminum, machine metal, and write embedded code, there is nothing - literally nothing - on a modern vehicle that I couldn't fix, given the time and a little money. In my experience, if you know ho
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California banned generators and other two stroke engines because they produce incredible amounts of pollution for the small amount of time they are in operation. Fuck clean air, am I right?
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Literally every small engine is a two stroke. I haven't seen any mowers with timing chains or pushrods.
Re: I am really starting to think there (Score:2)
I have a four stroke mower. It is a.Murray with a Briggs and Stratton. They make four stroke string trimmers too, I rented a Honda one once. You have no fucking clue.
Re: I am really starting to think there (Score:2)
Cars Connected (Score:2)
Cars Connected = forced software update fees? (Score:2)
Cars Connected = forced software update fees? an maybe at 5-8 years an forced CPU upgrade??
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Toyota is trying to charge you to use your remote starter [theverge.com]... in spite of it NOT using any connected services. Where will it end? My 2014 Ford already has some connected services that are obsolescent, and the entire MyFordTouch computer system has been buggy and hasn't seen a software update in 4 years. That kind of obsolescence, planned or otherwise,, coupled with a privacy policy that basically says "All your base are belong to us" makes me long for a 1970 VW Beetle.
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Maybe we'll see the traffic self-organize like this scene from Minority Report -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
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Maybe we'll see the traffic self-organize like this scene from Minority Report -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
It's more than likely (and also keeping with this article) that we'll see the advertising from Minority Report.
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I read the headline as connecting cars to nearby cars to optimize traffic flow. I got excited. I was sitting in stop and go traffic on the way to the airport last week, fantasizing about a system that would allow entire swarms of cars to suddenly just decide to speed up to highway speeds without crashing.
It wouldn't work. It might get 20% more throughput, or even double it. But then politicians would delay building new roads until they were already past capacity.
Solution... (Score:2)
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Snip the LTE antenna on your new car. Takes all of 5 minutes.
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Amen. A generic head unit with iGo offline navigation works for me; updated maps available from your usual torrent provider.
at least have free data with unlimed romaing (Score:2)
at least have free data with unlimited roaming or they can do stuff like your plan only covers USA and yes you can be roaming in canada while still in usa.
But they can go all out an force you to buy an data plan, an maps plan, onstar, an maintenance plan, and XM. If you want your selfdriveing car to work at all.
Im unskilled, but you can't either (Score:2)
Im unskilled and cannot write code. Instead of voting with my actions and writing code a better way which will win in the court of innovation if truly better, I will instead just complain about how others are acting.
Classy.
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Oh, great...another code monkey with an ego the size of the world and the ethical standards of a retarded weasel.
I'll leave it to others here to point out the many, many occasions when "truly better" never even got to your court of innovation because entrenched interests strangled it in the cradle.
Re: Im unskilled, but you can't either (Score:2)
If I dislike something a doctor does, I'd rather learn medicine and be the better doctor, then just complain while doing nothing.
This somehow means I have an ego.
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Spoken like somebody who doesn't have to earn a living in the real world. "Well, if I don't like my doctor, I'll just take myself off to medical school and become a better one." It also appears you're still blissfully unaware that whether a better alternative prevails depends on much more than its putative "betterness".
Updates for how long? (Score:2, Insightful)
Like distracted driving isn't a big enough problem (Score:2)
Great...so now your scumbag workaholic boss can bother you at work, at home and everywhere between. And while said scumbag is railing at you about meeting some impossible deadline while you try to deal with the psychotic brake checker in the passing lane, every slithering bastard in the advertising world will be reaching into your "rolling office" badgering you to buy, buy, buy.
You think road rage is bad now?
But why bother? (Score:2)
I hope they agree on a standard so (Score:2)
...that it's modular instead of tied to the car brand. Otherwise, we are stuck with suck.
For example, my 2017 General Motors vehicle has a shameful voice command system. It lacks many obvious commands, like "Turn off navigation assistant". It has that "designed by committee & marketers" feel all over it.
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There are two standards and zero of them will help you in any way. They are there for the automakers' benefit and not yours. The stated purpose is improving self-driving but they are also monetizing all of your activity.
Is Right to Repair a Monkey Wrench? (Score:2)
https://www.thetruthaboutcars.... [thetruthaboutcars.com]
Subaru of America will be canceling Starlink telematics subscriptions on all new 2022 vehicles sold in Massachusetts thanks to the state having an amended right-to-repair law that’s wildly unpopular with global automakers.
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Good. Fuck global automakers. They've had everything their way for too long.
Two points (Score:2)
The track we are on is to insanely cheap renewable power, ports underwater, coastal cities flooded, aquafer depletion, endemic disease, birth rate collapse, runaway desertification and ocean acidification .vs. next generation commuter car culture.
Jim Heffner succinctly hits the mark. "The ride is no longer the point”
get the basics right (Score:2)
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I don't want a 'connected car' (Score:2)
The difference between cars and phones (Score:2)
Cars have had 150 years to get to where they are now. The pace of innovation was pretty slow in comparison to phones. But cars have been arguably very good for the last 30 years or so. The only real changes have been largely cosmetic. Phones, however, have sucked until the smart phone became a thing and have been getting better every year or so. If you had to give up your current car for a version made 30 years ago, you probably wouldn't notice the difference. However, if you had to give up your phone
Chuck you, Farley (Score:1)
Have you learned from the flap over Toyota's key fob subscription?