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Transportation

'The Pros and Cons of Software Running Your Car' (apnews.com) 107

This week the automotive site Edmunds discussed "the pros and cons of software running your car." One advantage is that software "allows for the introduction of features that wouldn't have been possible in the past. Genesis, Hyundai's luxury arm, is using facial recognition and fingerprint scanning with its new all-electric GV60 crossover. The physical key is required to set up both functions, but after that the owner can basically operate the car as easily as a smartphone.

Established companies are jumping in as well. Last summer, Ford used software to enable its BlueCruise hands-free driving system in tens of thousands of F-150s and Mustang Mach-Es. The vehicles had the hardware for the system already installed; the over-the-air update made it complete. It applied to the cars wirelessly, without the need for a dealer visit. Maintenance is another potential advantage. These highly digital vehicles can monitor preventive and predictive maintenance and even diagnose problems from afar. It takes the guesswork out of what could go wrong and what needs to be adjusted without a visit to a mechanic shop or dealership....

The downside of this new tech.... Issues that PC users are all too familiar with can crop up in cars. It might be a touchscreen that goes blank and is inoperable while driving, glitchy operation of certain controls, or advanced driver assist features that aren't as fully vetted as they should be before being added to vehicles. The risks of software crashes and privacy breaches are real issues. It's not outside the realm of possibility for someone with malicious intentions to take over the operation of a car and cause damage. Also, some experts are both applauding the technology and advising caution as it relates to personal data privacy: the more data collected from drivers, the more potential for hacking.

Their conclusion? "Software will continue to evolve to change the vehicle ownership experience....

"But technology-averse shoppers will likely prefer a vehicle with a more traditional design, which might include buying used."
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'The Pros and Cons of Software Running Your Car'

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  • by 93 Escort Wagon ( 326346 ) on Saturday January 28, 2023 @02:45PM (#63247285)

    Yeah, no thanks. They pretend this is a "benefit", but it doesn't exist to help the customer - it's yet another intrusive attempt to get you to spend money at the dealership. They're not gonna be offering to help you make an appointment with your preferred independent repair shop.

    • That includes the maintenance monitoring.

    • Small upsides and big downsides. Brilliant.

    • It could be a benefit if implemented correctly. E.g. oil change, coolant flush, Trans flush, etc... only when needed vs. on a schedule that is not based on how the vehicle is used.
      • by ls671 ( 1122017 )

        I still doubt it, schedule maintenance for oil change, coolant flush, Trans flush, etc... usually specify a time period OR so much mileage done with the car.

        You know, those products also lose their properties over time even if the car isn't used at all. It's not like if they were still in the can they were delivered in and even in the can, they still lose their properties over time but slower than if in a car. Even gasoline will go stale if not used, even if it's kept a big gasoline tank at the station and

        • Today most cars do this based on a combination of calendar and run time. Some actually take into account how you run the engine. But the good commercial systems have multiple sensors in the fluid and measure relevant attributes, contamination, combined with pressure drop across the filter, etc. to determine when it is time for a change. This is the type of thing that would be helpful, but it adds complexity and cost.
      • My 2008 Audi already does this with no need for a cloud connection. Variable service interval depending on usage pattern as monitored by the ECU, the dash notifies you when it's time for a service.

    • Right, cars only need only enough software to run electronic fuel injection and spark!

      • by ceoyoyo ( 59147 )

        No way man. Carburetors were so reliable. Nothing ever went wrong with them. And distributor caps. Bulletproof. Literally.

        • No way man. Carburetors were so reliable. Nothing ever went wrong with them. And distributor caps. Bulletproof. Literally.

          Given my past experiences with both... I suspect (and hope!) you're being facetious there.

          • by ceoyoyo ( 59147 )

            I admit to never having actually shot a distributor cap, although I almost witnessed such a thing when a friend's classic VW bug kept shaking its cap off while driving.

        • Car now 23 years old. No carburetor problems. No distributor cap issues.

          What was your point?
          • by ceoyoyo ( 59147 )

            You know it's reliable when someone pops up and tells you an anecdote about how their lawnmower or vintage motorbike uses one and has never had a problem.

            You should switch that thing over to burning water though. That's the real reason big engine suppressed the carb.

        • Did you say literally? I've used some old cars for target practice. Plastic distributor caps and aluminum carbs didn't fare so well.
  • A vehicle from this well known American car brand refused to move by failing [or refusing] to disengage the brake because "software " determined the driver had not pressed the brake pedal!

    Needless to say, I will avoid such vehicles for as long as I can.

    • Do you mean disengage the electronic emergency brake actuator? Break pedal sensors are common and have served whatever function the car maker has desired for a while

    • by dbialac ( 320955 ) on Saturday January 28, 2023 @07:34PM (#63247747)
      There's a bigger problem: the car nanny and similar features. I don't need a built-in nanny to turn the radio volume down when I start the car. I'm capable of doing that myself if I so desire, which I never desire. Now I'm doing something I never had to do before. I don't need a nanny to tell me it's cold outside when I just turned the car on. I already know it's cold out because I was just outside or in my cold garage. It surprised me that the built-in nanny doesn't know I was just outside the car. I don't need your company to save a few bucks by putting in a touch screen instead of buttons so I can risk death. Cell phones are banned in a lot of places because the same technology is a serious hazard. My dream car was totaled because a woman thought her cell phone was more important than my car. I don't need my car turning off the engine at stop lights. I shift manually and I average better gas mileage than the car manufacturer publishes. I'm sure I will be dealing with other BS as car manufacturers come up with other stupid bright ideas. IMO, car tech peaked in the early 2010s and has proceeded to get worse. I don't see any new features that compel me to go out and buy one for the features. Instead, they compel me to avoid them. Given the current automotive trends, I don't see myself buying a new car anytime soon.
  • by geekmux ( 1040042 ) on Saturday January 28, 2023 @02:49PM (#63247295)

    "...the owner can basically operate the car as easily as a smartphone."

    When a smartphone can last 10 years or more, then perhaps we can start logically comparing smartphones and cars.

    Until then, good luck selling that $40K rolling smartphone to whomever the hell you assume can afford all that "technology" you have to offer that no one is asking for, as if "technology" ever makes anything cheaper. They can hardly sell the overpriced shit they're making now. Now they've got parking lots full of outdated old-and-busted $35K Boomermobiles that still come with keys and handles.

    Not surprised auto makers are going this way regardless of the reality. Doubling down on stupidity is now a fashion statement, and fitting for a society too offended to see it any other way.

    • Combine that with all the components that used to made of metal that are now plastic. Oil pans, intake manifolds, and even valve covers are plastic now. That shit is not going to last.

      • I'm involved in local stock car racing, Occasionally have driving duties but mostly handle turning wrenches and the electronic side of things. One of the popular classes is for FWD econoboxes mostly Cavaliers, neons, escorts, etc from the mid 2000's. They already had a lot of plastic engine components by this point. Some of the cars we've started with had well over 200K on them. I have never seen one where the plastic engine component is what took it off the road and made it available cheaply so we can have
        • Friend used to religiously buy Ford. One car started having transmission problems within the first year; went in, covered under warranty, service manager tells him "It's a little plastic impeller piece, eventually they all deform under heat and pressure. The replacement is exactly the same. BTW I hear that you can get a metal replacement - I can't, but you can." So my friend finds the metal replacement, brings the car in for the service appointment with the replacement on the seat. Gets the car back wi
    • by Falos ( 2905315 ) on Saturday January 28, 2023 @05:48PM (#63247569)

      I'd like to ask about the universe where turning a key isn't "as easy as operating a smartphone".

      The phrase "turnkey" itself being a term for idiot-operable. An act made easy for simpletons. The kind dazzled by buzzword bingo and smartphones!.

      • I'd like to ask about the universe where turning a key isn't "as easy as operating a smartphone".

        In our universe full of voice-activated light switches, I'd like to know why you're questioning the multi-trillion dollar global market we call Fucking Lazy.

        Light switches are pretty damn easy to operate too. GenZZZ has a solution for that "problem". No one under 30 knows what a "turnkey' is, because we've generally made everything "idiot-operable", to include simpleton-proof UIs a toddler can easily operate.

        Ironically, even making a car turnkey isn't quite that simple anymore. Just ask thousands of (fo

    • "...the owner can basically operate the car as easily as a smartphone."

      When a smartphone can last 10 years or more, then perhaps we can start logically comparing smartphones and cars.

      Until then, good luck selling that $40K rolling smartphone to whomever the hell you assume can afford all that "technology" you have to offer that no one is asking for, as if "technology" ever makes anything cheaper. They can hardly sell the overpriced shit they're making now. Now they've got parking lots full of outdated old-and-busted $35K Boomermobiles that still come with keys and handles.

      Not surprised auto makers are going this way regardless of the reality. Doubling down on stupidity is now a fashion statement, and fitting for a society too offended to see it any other way.

      A car with actual handles that can work when the battery is dead is not a Boomermobile, but thank you for you ageist and jerky comment.

    • Are you really so angry? Why?

      If you donâ(TM)t like it, donâ(TM)t buy it. I, on the other hand, enjoy the tech the german manufactures are putting in their cars (though in some ways I wish theyâ(TM)d learn a bit from Tesla) and I certainly am asking for more of it - paying for it, too. So âoeno oneâ is at least a wee bit exaggerated.

  • by ickleberry ( 864871 ) <web@pineapple.vg> on Saturday January 28, 2023 @02:49PM (#63247299) Homepage
    Partially as a protectionist measure to prevent Chinese car manufacturers coming in but also the usual safety & Orwellian reasons. I think it would be great if cars like the Ariel Nomad were more popular here. The EU has pretty much killed off the kit car scene throughout Europe. They want us all to drive connected cars that they'll eventually have full control over.
  • Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Saturday January 28, 2023 @02:51PM (#63247303)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • Re:Full of ads (Score:4, Insightful)

      by VeryFluffyBunny ( 5037285 ) on Saturday January 28, 2023 @05:23PM (#63247535)
      Yep, this, & the other thing that car manufacturers have started doing; locking you out of features in the car that they sold you unless you pay them a monthly fee to unlock them. Basically, you own the car, have all the liabilities but they control it & charge you to use it. Welcome to the future. You don't have a choice.
  • by sinij ( 911942 ) on Saturday January 28, 2023 @02:56PM (#63247309)
    While I like cool new technology, in this case it is transparent effort to move to subscription based and privacy violating data harvesting revenue model. Personally, I would rather deal with a barn door lock on my car then have my biometrics harvested and monetized by an auto manufacturer.
    • Go and tune 4 carbs then report back

      • So you admit it isn't for the consumer but the manufacturer/dealer.

        Breaking down, cleaning, reassembling and adjusting a carburetor is not difficult. And you can do it at home with parts from an auto store.
        • Personally, I'd rather have a computer monitoring the crankshaft and cam positions, the timing of the spark, and the pulse width of the injectors and the concentrations of oxygen in the exhaust then having to ever touch a carb again!

          I don't think having a set of microcontrollers doing engine functions is really what we're on about though, but rather invasive decision making

          The code for even simple automotive systems is just massive. I can't imagine being a developer on those.

          • Same here. I'm an old car guy, worked on lots of carb vehicles back in the day but if I ever purchase something with a carb again the first order of action will be to convert it to EFI one way or another. Provided the vehicle did not have some collector value in its original form but can't see myself in that market any time soon.

            Funny, been on a tear cleaning up the shop lately, getting rid of old stuff we'll never use. Found an old OEM aluminum intake for a carb for a SBC. Had it up on FB Marketplace for

        • By the way, your/our definition of not difficult is not the standard definition. I just watched 3 people pull up to a gas station to put air in their tires and all but one deflated their tire because they never realized you had to push the button to turn the air pump on.

  • Euphemisms galore (Score:5, Insightful)

    by RightwingNutjob ( 1302813 ) on Saturday January 28, 2023 @02:58PM (#63247315)

    The downside of this new tech.... Issues that PC users are all too familiar with can crop up in cars. It might be a touchscreen that goes blank and is inoperable while driving, glitchy operation of certain controls, or advanced driver assist features that aren't as fully vetted...

    To those of us in the business of writing computer programs, this is a poorly executed attempt to dance around the following underlying truth: consumer grade software is written by low quality code monkeys who are paid a pittance and have little of the training in the non-coding disciplines like formal mathematics, dynamical systems, mechanical or electronics engineering, etc, that are necessary to write *correct* computer programs for operating moving machinery in safety-critical contexts.

    In many jurisdictions, you need to be a PE to program a PLC if that PLC happens to be running an elevator or traffic light. Is the same level of rigor required for *every* possible execution path in your car's computer?

    I'll wait while y'all explain to me why I'm wrong even though I'm right.

    • by dargaud ( 518470 )
      I'm sure they'll claim the car OS is different from the entertainment OS... But there'll be plenty of bridges between the two for viruses to go through.
    • by Alumoi ( 1321661 )

      Ah, no worries, we'll fix it up with the next update. Right?!?

    • I think you are even understating the underlying truth. Even when software is designed and built by experienced and high quality people, it's still very very difficult to produce software without any bugs. And for something like controlling a car, a bug can have significant negative consequences.
      • Yes and no. Are there any bugs in the elevator control system at my workplace? Not too likely because the logic is simple enough to not require anything too extravegant to run on. Are there any bugs in my car's ecu? Again unlikely because while it is certainly more complex, it also has much more heritage and time to have identified anything relevant.

        But when you glom extra "stuff" that touches the critical bits and have it written by people who've never touched or understood the way to approach embedded stu

    • by 0xG ( 712423 )

      formal mathematics, dynamical systems,

      I think you meant to say "dynamic systemicals"?

  • by Glasswire ( 302197 ) on Saturday January 28, 2023 @03:05PM (#63247323) Homepage

    Well basically none of your semiconductor parts would work without it. Pretty dumb question

    • by Potor ( 658520 )

      In the headline, "running" clearly means "driving" your car, as opposed to "running in" your car.

      So no, not a dumb question.

    • by PPH ( 736903 )

      Well basically none of your semiconductor parts would work without it.

      My old truck has solid state controlled emissions systems. All discrete components (maybe a few op-amps). It works just fine.

  • by RogueWarrior65 ( 678876 ) on Saturday January 28, 2023 @03:20PM (#63247361)

    The con list is missing a key component. (My choice of the word "con" is also ironic). It won't be very long before every feature in your car will be subscription-based including the ability to drive at certain times of the day or to certain locations or via certain routes. Plenty of people will be ok with that particularly those who have to pay tolls but more disturbingly those who are willing to pay to use a special lane like in southern California.

  • Just wait (Score:5, Insightful)

    by quonset ( 4839537 ) on Saturday January 28, 2023 @03:36PM (#63247373)

    At some point the car manufacturer will require you to have certain "features" enabled so they can monitor and track everything you do and sell it. If you attempt to disable these "features" the car won't work.

    Guaranteed.

    But here's the question no one answers. What happens when the software doesn't work? The above blurb about using facial recognition or a thumb print to get into and operate the car you bought. What happens when, not if, it doesn't do what it's been programmed to do? Do you call the company and tell them to send someone out to get it fixed at their expense? Do they try to "update" the software while you wait? What happens if they tell you your car is bricked because some piece, or pieces, of software are in a state which won't allow the car to work? Do they give you a new car? Replace some components? How much will that cost you because they screwed up?

    As I said in another thread about Mercedes, good for them if they want to burden their drivers with this crap, but I'm not going to "use" any of it. Give me a stick shift which I know will work each time, every time, and that's all I need (to drive). Get your dirty sticking software off me.

    • At some point the car manufacturer will require you to have certain "features" enabled so they can monitor and track everything you do and sell it. If you attempt to disable these "features" the car won't work.

      Guaranteed.

      And yet the only real "guarantee" that is required to ensure yours happens, is a society stupid enough to accept and pay an obscene price for that bullshit wholesale.

      If you thought we should be worried about the impact of a braindead society full of of tech addicts, it's far too late for those concerns now. Guaranteed.

    • by dryeo ( 100693 )

      Probably under warranty, bring it to the dealer and eventually they'll fix it. Might be a year and the cat might go missing, the battery is dead, which costs to reprogram and isn't covered by the warranty and those brakes that you abused by not using also will need replacing, maybe the tires too. But they will fix the car lock eventually.
      Note, those are based on headlines here in Canada, seems the dealer is not responsible for your vehicle while sitting in their lot and no, they aren't going to start and mo

  • by quantaman ( 517394 ) on Saturday January 28, 2023 @03:40PM (#63247385)

    The advantage of going to a garage for updates is they're really hard to exploit en mass.

    I'm sure the car companies will try really hard to secure their 'over the air' update system, but that's a damn juicy target embedded in a non-tech company.

    What happens if the GRU or a ransomware gang manages to push out a malicious (breaks don't work 10% of the time) update to one of these system? How much damage does that cause?

    I do suspect the risk is lower than it sounds since every OS, including Windows, Apple, Android, iOS, every Linux distro would have this same problem and I haven't heard of someone managing to push out a malicious update yet. I suspect there's some fairly simple multiple key & air gaped server safeguards that practically eliminate the risk, but still, I hope they're being suitably paranoid.

    • Windows and Linux can break a computer by normal system update, no need to be malicious. For PCs it is usually just a matter of fail to boot plus some wait for rolling the update back. But if a car can update "over the air", a car that suddenly malfunction will be life threatening.
  • by jacks smirking reven ( 909048 ) on Saturday January 28, 2023 @04:04PM (#63247415)

    It's the quality or the reputation and perception of that software's quality. Many of us interface with equipment that costs a lot more than a car and features these same concepts of updates, feature additions, maintenence reminders and all the things that are mentioned can all be good, the concept of these things themselves is not as issue. The immediate thought however is the perception that these things will be used to scam, exploit and be of general loq quality (and considering the software and interafaces designed by car companies in particular this is hardly unfounded or unjustified).

    I think we get caught up in an ironically luddite type response of "I don't want this stuff in my car" when really if it was done well I probably would like it in my car. Say what you want about Tesla but they have a model of doing this that seems pretty good and customers seem to get added value over time from the updates.

    People made similar arguments about the move from carberators to electronic fuel injection ("I have to use a computer to adjust my fuel trims?!"). If a car has a scummy model of selling and the software seems shit, don't buy it, same way I would buy a Toyota over a BMW because the BMW is going to be leaking form every pore in 100k.

    • We would have never made it to the moon if the software quality was as terrible as what is dumped into cars these days.

      Give me tactile buttons I can feel for the common stuff like volume, station, air conditioning, etc, so I can keep my eyes on the road. Make it easier to dim the touchscreen so it isn’t blinding my night vision. Maybe make it possible to reset the oil change alert without googling a youtube video.

      I am steadily turning into a luddite as the rate of change for the sake of change make

  • by mspohr ( 589790 ) on Saturday January 28, 2023 @04:13PM (#63247427)

    Lots of Luddite comments here.
    The fact of the matter is that everything is run by software today... from your toaster to your car. You can't go back to the 50s as much as you would like to.
    The issue is the quality of the software.
    Unfortunately, most auto manufacturers suck at software. They mostly have been farming it out to an array of subcontractors of dubious quality and, of course, there is no high level integration. They have belatedly realized that software is important and are trying to bring it in house. Mostly they are not successful. VW just had a disaster with their software development efforts and had to abandon a multi-billion dollar investment and start over.
    Tesla seems to be the only company to be getting it right. Perhaps because they started as a tech software focused company and not a traditional auto maker farming things out. I've had Teslas for over 8 years. They get regular over the air updates (never a problem with the update process) which add functionality. Never a charge for software updates. The cars keep getting better every year... even the old ones. It's basically a simple electric motor and battery plus lots of sensors driven by computers. There might be a screw up someday but it hasn't happened yet.
    (BTW, I've spent $0 on maintenance in 8 years.)

  • "I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that."

    • by CAIMLAS ( 41445 )

      As a mutual Old, I agree with you.

      It's not just about the software functionality, it's about the fact that they can turn it off remotely.

      We've seen that happen dozens of times in the last 2 years where people's power, gas, etc. is being shut off remotely "for the greater good" during inclement weather and depending on unreliable green grid power.

      They don't want people to be independent, they want people to be dependent, trackable and controllable.

      • Mutual old as well but a little more optimistic. How many times throughout our lives have we heard great pessimism over future tech? We're all still here and doing better than ever in that regard. It reminds me of my boomer dad complaining how when he was young he just had to keep 3 sets of points in his car (Ford, GM, Chrysler) and he could get most people going again when they broke down. My explanation to him that the hall effect systems which replaced points were mostly good for the life of the car and
  • My answer to the last sentence is to retrofit a Bosch motor drive system to my older ute.
    Best of both worlds, fully manual, minimal computer / modern efficient electric vehicle.

  • by fahrbot-bot ( 874524 ) on Saturday January 28, 2023 @04:34PM (#63247479)

    Genesis, Hyundai's luxury arm, is using facial recognition and fingerprint scanning with its new all-electric GV60 crossover. The physical key is required to set up both functions, but after that the owner can basically operate the car as easily as a smartphone.

    I don't use facial recognition or fingerprint scanning to unlock my cell phone and certainly wouldn't with my car -- or want to pay for the ability.

    The downside of this new tech.... It might be a touchscreen that goes blank and is inoperable while driving, ...

    Which could be a HUGE issue depending on what that touchscreen controls.

  • While it's true that software can crash, and this can be a serious problem, it's not necessarily worse or "different" from bugs or glitches in old-school controls.

    Consider the air conditioning system's "mix door" which controls the proportion of hot and cold air that is sent to the vents. Old-school physical controls often fail for this mix door, resulting in the system being unable to properly heat or cool the car. While it's not a crash, it's a real glitch that can cause the same inconvenience as a crash.

  • ... while we rob you blind...

    Speaking of software on cars and robbery .... did they use co-op students to write the software for the high end Korean cars, 'cause there are some great how-to's going around. Stealing high end cars has never been easier... for techies and teenagers.... software sucks badly these days.
  • Every time I get in a plane I have a moment of realization that someone like me wrote the code that helps fly it. Then I order a stiff drink. I assume it will be the same with cars soon.

  • The car is just too good a tool for information harvesting for it not to be abused. On your phone, you can turn these things off (facial recognition, finger print, location, internet). On a car, the manufacturer does not give you the option - it seems modern cars REQUIRE by design to be connected. The user has no choice. Once the user has no choice, it's easy to force certain information to be collected. Put a EULA in place (by using this car you agree to xyz...) and companies can do whatever the hell they
  • by schwit1 ( 797399 ) on Saturday January 28, 2023 @11:48PM (#63248025)

    The right to disable features?

    Easy factory reset.
    Turn off GPS, phone home, internal cameras and microphones? Surveillance devices.

  • by CAIMLAS ( 41445 ) on Sunday January 29, 2023 @01:08AM (#63248073)

    I've had about 30 vehicles in my life at this point, including bikes. I've almost always sold them for more than I bought them for (usually because I'm silly and put a lot of money into my vehicles, and/or find some really good deals). The vehicles I've had over the past decade or so:

    * 1984 Chevy K5 Blazer (diesel). Simple to fix, simple to operate. Very, very little to go wrong. (Sold it because it had cold start issues and I had no garage.)
    * 2005 Yukon. Fun vehicle, had quadsteer and fit the need. Sluggish and slow, and I spent a lot of time driving on winding roads to my house, so I sold it and...
    * 2010 Land Rover Range Rover Sport. Fantastic vehicle, decent tech.... extremely expensive to maintain, and had lots of exotic systems I wasn't able to spend the time fixing myself. Got hailed out and...
    * 2016 GMC Sierra. Didn't like it, too modern and lots of little things going on... sold it at for a steep profit in 2020, and bought...
    * A 1990 K5 Blazer with a replacement LS swap. Very, very little to go wrong except for the normal vehicle wear and tear and can all (mostly) be fixed with wrenches and a welder.

    Long story short... I want something that's easy to fix and features be damned. I can put 12v to any stereo or an after market system for much, much less than the OEM head unit, and it'll be markedly newer and of a higher quality.

    Unfortunately, you can't just isolate the "full integrated" automotive software to the luxury vehicles. Yes, it's really, really nice to have all that if you spend hours a day in your car. But if you don't? It's a big expense. I don't know how people do it.
     

  • by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Sunday January 29, 2023 @02:36AM (#63248143)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • Never heard of the Engine controller? Transmission controller? Key components have been controlled by software going back to the 70s. What seems to be changing is the complexity and more control is being given over to a glorified "central" controller. Most car manufacturers explicitly went out of their way to prevent this sort of thing.... keeping specific control units with specific purposes (like microservices are used by enterprises today) on their own high speed bus to communicate between them where nee

  • I doubt I would be able to avoid software running any recently made vehicle, but I'd really like to be able to buy the hardware and software from separate companies. I doubt I'll see this, but I could see a Chinese company teaming up with an international software partner to sell cars that way. Then, they could lobby for "right to repair" laws to penalize their competition for not doing likewise.
  • by BrendaEM ( 871664 ) on Sunday January 29, 2023 @11:51AM (#63248909) Homepage
    I am strongly against anything that will hasten a car being crushed, creating more waste. Low resolution built in GPS: crush it! Replacement computer expensive: crush it. No software updates: crush it. Radio doesn't have XMS: crush it.
  • Software is inevitable, but I would like it, mainly, to be less evasive in the car than it will be, moreover I really hate subscription models. I own a hybrid elantra but I won't pay for bluelink, nor have I activated it for the trial period. It bothers me that startup, is only available through the bluelink "service" when it obviously doesn't require anything outside of my car/key to function. It's like when IBM used to sell their mainframes, that included extra processors, but they wouldn't be available u
  • Ever since electronic fuel injection was widely adopted, software has been running our cars.

    What is different now is that car companies can disable our cars. That is a totally different thing.

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