3 ms·
I admire your optimism. Here are some reasons I don't want to see car makers selling software: 1. There is a huge power imbalance between a car company and a c
by insulanus 5y ago
I admire your optimism. Here are some reasons I don't want to see car makers selling software:
1. There is a huge power imbalance between a car company and a car "owner" (licensee?)
2. The incentives on the car company side are not aligned with the desires of the car owner.
3. The will be incented to lock you in, a la the google/apple store.
4. You now have sunk costs in a hardware platform. What if you want to change from Honda to Toyota?
5. Almost no one is good at making software, and that includes car companies. One year marketing driven turnarounds won't help with safety.
- gnicholas 5y agoI'm not an optimistic person! I just see there being different ways to innovate here. Right now, Tesla is pretty much the only one offering OTA updates, and they don't charge extra for it. It's just built into the price of the vehicle (as far as I understand). I think a healthy market would have more OTA offerings, which could be purchased outright (if you planned to have the car for many years) or paid year-to-year. Basically, there has been very little innovation/competition in this space, and Tesla is shaking things up. I see that as a good thing, since innovation and competition will make things better for customers on balance.