6 ms·

In ten years, all auto makers will either be tech companies, or they will be out of business. I'm impressed that GM and Ford have the foresight to understand th

by pb 10y ago

In ten years, all auto makers will either be tech companies, or they will be out of business. I'm impressed that GM and Ford have the foresight to understand this.

mox1 10y ago
100% disagree. Manufacturing is hard, ask everyone who has done a physical product kick-starter. Giving X people mac books and asking them to write a "Clone of X Tech Startup" is not that hard, just potentially time consuming. Now, Ford may USE technology to improve their manufacturing and core product (a transportation device). They may become an ultra high-tech manufacturer (if they aren't already)..., but they will not magically become Google or Apple.
- pb 10y ago
  It's not like they are going to suddenly lose their ability to manufacture products. The key is that their differentiation and survival will depend more on software and soft systems (such as bus lines) than it does on manufacturing prowess (where they are all quite good at this point). It's also worth noting that Apple makes some impressively complex (and profitable!) hardware.
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
- discodave 10y ago
  Just because manufacturing is hard, doesn't mean you should stick to it. Cars are already a commodity, if Uber/Google/Apple manage to deprecate car ownership in favour of centralized fleets then being a car manufacturer will be a low margin cut-throat business. Think about how much of the machinery (and profits) of the car business would get eaten. No more annual model updates, no more advertising, much smaller luxury market and so on. In that world it makes sense to try and move up the stack to own your own destiny and capture profits.
- Apocryphon 10y ago
  Maybe they'll learn how to augment their current manufactured products by integrating in high-tech features. Imagine all of the negative reviews of something really basic: CarPlay-type UI between vehicles and smartphones. Most car manufacturers haven't even gotten that right, despite partnering with tech companies. If automakers learn the correct lessons from tech startups, maybe they'll be able to start getting those right.
treehau5 10y ago
Detroit will rise again in the next decade. They have pretty enticing offers for software engineers to move in. Right now you can get a stellar house for around ~150k which I am sure will triple in value in 20 years. Trying to convince my wife to move there from warmer climate, however... If anyone wants to help me there I am all ears, haha.
- curiouscat321 10y ago
  Don't look in Detroit just yet. The city isn't there (yet!). Look in Ann Arbor.
- pests 10y ago
  I live about 10 minutes from Downtown Detroit. It's nice. Feel free to hit me up if you have any questions I could answer.
  - bch 10y ago
    > Feel free to hit me up if you have any questions I could answer How?
  - treehau5 10y ago
    Hi, I am hitting you up. (Am I doing this right?)
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- untilHellbanned 10y ago
  Born in Ann Arbor, MI, being a UofM alum, and having half my family living in Michigan, this makes me really excited. It's so cool that transportation is the zeitgeist these days. It's a fascinating technological and societal issue and Michigan and Detroit could be a huge leader. Lots of strong, eager engineering talent in the Midwest (UIllinois,UMich,Purdue, etc.). No reason it couldn't be side-by-side with silicon valley as the leading tech sector in the world. Silicon valley created the computer. Detroit invented the car. Put them together you have magic. The virtual and physical machine.
jdavis703 10y ago
Automakers are tech companies who just decided to put their money into researching how many cupholders you can add to a vehicle. It's like Yahoo!, focusing on content and branding and what not, instead of building technology that people want to use.
- rifung 10y ago
  I think that's a little unfair to car companies no? Dual clutch transmissions are a fairly recent invention by car companies and improved dramatically on previous automatic transmissions. New engines are much more powerful and efficient than before as well. I'm sure improvements have been made to the suspension like using inner wheel braking for FWD cars although I'll admit I dont know too much about this. And of course the biggest improvement is probably safety..
mbesto 10y ago
Can you define precisely what you mean by "be a tech company"?
- pj_mukh 10y ago
  A company that can move fast (usually on the back of nimble software deployment), would be my guess. 5-10 years from now, it is a safe bet that car companies will look either like Tesla or Uber (or some mix thereof).

by pb 10y ago

In ten years, all auto makers will either be tech companies, or they will be out of business. I'm impressed that GM and Ford have the foresight to understand this.

mox1 10y ago

100% disagree. Manufacturing is hard, ask everyone who has done a physical product kick-starter. Giving X people mac books and asking them to write a "Clone of X Tech Startup" is not that hard, just potentially time consuming. Now, Ford may USE technology to improve their manufacturing and core product (a transportation device). They may become an ultra high-tech manufacturer (if they aren't already)..., but they will not magically become Google or Apple.

pb 10y ago
It's not like they are going to suddenly lose their ability to manufacture products. The key is that their differentiation and survival will depend more on software and soft systems (such as bus lines) than it does on manufacturing prowess (where they are all quite good at this point). It's also worth noting that Apple makes some impressively complex (and profitable!) hardware.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
discodave 10y ago
Just because manufacturing is hard, doesn't mean you should stick to it. Cars are already a commodity, if Uber/Google/Apple manage to deprecate car ownership in favour of centralized fleets then being a car manufacturer will be a low margin cut-throat business. Think about how much of the machinery (and profits) of the car business would get eaten. No more annual model updates, no more advertising, much smaller luxury market and so on. In that world it makes sense to try and move up the stack to own your own destiny and capture profits.
Apocryphon 10y ago
Maybe they'll learn how to augment their current manufactured products by integrating in high-tech features. Imagine all of the negative reviews of something really basic: CarPlay-type UI between vehicles and smartphones. Most car manufacturers haven't even gotten that right, despite partnering with tech companies. If automakers learn the correct lessons from tech startups, maybe they'll be able to start getting those right.

treehau5 10y ago

Detroit will rise again in the next decade. They have pretty enticing offers for software engineers to move in. Right now you can get a stellar house for around ~150k which I am sure will triple in value in 20 years. Trying to convince my wife to move there from warmer climate, however... If anyone wants to help me there I am all ears, haha.

curiouscat321 10y ago
Don't look in Detroit just yet. The city isn't there (yet!). Look in Ann Arbor.
pests 10y ago
I live about 10 minutes from Downtown Detroit. It's nice. Feel free to hit me up if you have any questions I could answer.
- bch 10y ago
  > Feel free to hit me up if you have any questions I could answer How?
- treehau5 10y ago
  Hi, I am hitting you up. (Am I doing this right?)
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
untilHellbanned 10y ago
Born in Ann Arbor, MI, being a UofM alum, and having half my family living in Michigan, this makes me really excited. It's so cool that transportation is the zeitgeist these days. It's a fascinating technological and societal issue and Michigan and Detroit could be a huge leader. Lots of strong, eager engineering talent in the Midwest (UIllinois,UMich,Purdue, etc.). No reason it couldn't be side-by-side with silicon valley as the leading tech sector in the world. Silicon valley created the computer. Detroit invented the car. Put them together you have magic. The virtual and physical machine.

jdavis703 10y ago

Automakers are tech companies who just decided to put their money into researching how many cupholders you can add to a vehicle. It's like Yahoo!, focusing on content and branding and what not, instead of building technology that people want to use.

rifung 10y ago
I think that's a little unfair to car companies no? Dual clutch transmissions are a fairly recent invention by car companies and improved dramatically on previous automatic transmissions. New engines are much more powerful and efficient than before as well. I'm sure improvements have been made to the suspension like using inner wheel braking for FWD cars although I'll admit I dont know too much about this. And of course the biggest improvement is probably safety..

mbesto 10y ago

Can you define precisely what you mean by "be a tech company"?

pj_mukh 10y ago
A company that can move fast (usually on the back of nimble software deployment), would be my guess. 5-10 years from now, it is a safe bet that car companies will look either like Tesla or Uber (or some mix thereof).