3 ms·

Disclaimer: If it wasn't clear from the username, this is a throwaway. I don't want to endanger my business by associating my rant with my >7 year old HN accoun

Disclaimer: If it wasn't clear from the username, this is a throwaway. I don't want to endanger my business by associating my rant with my >7 year old HN account :-( There is a 0% chance that I would ever purchase a car from Apple with their self driving functionality in it. We recently had issues with a whole bunch of rejections of our app for reasons that are not clearly defined in their guidelines (allegedly they were "new terms" [not documented]... they pointed me to official documents that didn't match what they were telling me). The functionality that they were rejecting our app for initially wasn't new, followed by several rejections for functionality that had been in the app for nearly 2 1/2 years and had approved numerous times over that span. I've been waiting almost a month for a phone call that they promised me "within 3 business days" to discuss the App Review issues, and have yet to receive it. While I think that Apple creates some great hardware, and their end user support is likely better than their B2B support (which is IMHO atrocious, unless you're buying more hardware from them), there is no chance I would put my life in the hands of their product or expect them to provide me with safe travel.

ianamartin 9y ago
You . . . argue that you wouldn't trust an apple car on the basis that they make good hardware, but you have a software dispute with apple? I'm sure you are very frustrated, but this comment really doesn't make sense to me. I would tend to think of an apple car as hardware, which you admit is good. And it's probably being driven by apple software, which is sometimes iffy and buggy and downright crappy. I can't imagine a world where your argument makes sense because 3rd party/app story complaints really have nothing to do with this. It feels like a total non sequitur to me. I'm not going to flag you, but I am going to downvote.
- APPLthrowaway99 9y ago
  While looking back at it, my comment was a rather vague as to the target... Apple's customer support is spotty if you factor in their B2B (?assuming being an app developer puts you in that position?). I don't want to trust my mode of transportation to them as a result of my experiences. In this situation, a self driving car is a combination of hardware and software. As you said: > it's probably being driven by apple software, which is sometimes iffy and buggy and downright crappy Whether it rolls well is one thing, but I question the consistency of the software from them, as well as their consistency on policies (app rejections)
  - millstone 9y ago
    Apple's software would be a huge improvement over what traditional automakers produce. See Toyota's pile of spaghetti topped with 10,000 global variables, Jeep's "remotely disable brakes through the entertainment unit", etc. Meanwhile iOS, while not perfect, still has the best security architecture of any mobile platform. It sounds like you have a beef with Apple, but frankly, I want my automaker to be overly cautious with 3rd party apps. Can you imagine the Android model applied to self driving cars?
- marklubi 9y ago
  It looks like the comment you were replying to was trying to equate dealing with oil changes/maintenance to poor customer support in an ongoing relationship. I don't know that I can fault them for feeling frustrated with Apple's support. The number of times that things have been made obsolete by Apple after just a couple of years doesn't lend a lot of confidence to the thought of a vehicle purchase that you may wish to own for 10+ years.

ianamartin 9y ago

You . . . argue that you wouldn't trust an apple car on the basis that they make good hardware, but you have a software dispute with apple? I'm sure you are very frustrated, but this comment really doesn't make sense to me. I would tend to think of an apple car as hardware, which you admit is good. And it's probably being driven by apple software, which is sometimes iffy and buggy and downright crappy. I can't imagine a world where your argument makes sense because 3rd party/app story complaints really have nothing to do with this. It feels like a total non sequitur to me. I'm not going to flag you, but I am going to downvote.

APPLthrowaway99 9y ago
While looking back at it, my comment was a rather vague as to the target... Apple's customer support is spotty if you factor in their B2B (?assuming being an app developer puts you in that position?). I don't want to trust my mode of transportation to them as a result of my experiences. In this situation, a self driving car is a combination of hardware and software. As you said: > it's probably being driven by apple software, which is sometimes iffy and buggy and downright crappy Whether it rolls well is one thing, but I question the consistency of the software from them, as well as their consistency on policies (app rejections)
- millstone 9y ago
  Apple's software would be a huge improvement over what traditional automakers produce. See Toyota's pile of spaghetti topped with 10,000 global variables, Jeep's "remotely disable brakes through the entertainment unit", etc. Meanwhile iOS, while not perfect, still has the best security architecture of any mobile platform. It sounds like you have a beef with Apple, but frankly, I want my automaker to be overly cautious with 3rd party apps. Can you imagine the Android model applied to self driving cars?
marklubi 9y ago
It looks like the comment you were replying to was trying to equate dealing with oil changes/maintenance to poor customer support in an ongoing relationship. I don't know that I can fault them for feeling frustrated with Apple's support. The number of times that things have been made obsolete by Apple after just a couple of years doesn't lend a lot of confidence to the thought of a vehicle purchase that you may wish to own for 10+ years.