6 ms·

Ford is not a tech company. > Most people in Europe don’t want to leave. I believe they're saying if European tech companies want to compete in business with

Ford is not a tech company. > Most people in Europe don’t want to leave. I believe they're saying if European tech companies want to compete in business with US tech companies they need to pay their engineers more money.

jbay808 4y ago
> Ford is not a tech company. By what standard?
- jonathankoren 4y ago
  Software is not their primary business.
  - chrisseaton 4y ago
    If you mean ‘software company’ then say that - software isn’t the only form of technology - drive trains are also technology.
  - jbay808 4y ago
    Is SpaceX a tech company?
speed_spread 4y ago
> Ford is not a tech company. By their CEO's own admission, Ford sees itself as a "data company": https://www.autoblog.com/2016/01/06/ceo-mark-fields-ford-data-company/ https://www.autoblog.com/2016/01/06/ceo-mark-fields-ford-dat... Their software chops are certainly dubious, but there is no questioning their intent when it comes to entering the surveillance economy.
- rkagerer 4y ago
  Ford sees itself as a "data company" What a disaster. I wish they would focus on simply making good cars.
  - speed_spread 4y ago
    Ironically, Ford stopped selling the Focus and all other passenger cars (except the Mach-E) in the USA after 2018.
  - colinmhayes 4y ago
    Margins for car companies are shit. Why would anyone invest in a race to the bottom high marginal cost company when differentiated zero marginal cost companies exist? And what if we just told everyone we were the latter?
    - hef19898 4y ago
      Worked for Tesla so far.
- IncRnd 4y ago
  > By their CEO's own admission, Ford sees itself as a "data company": The linked article quotes the CEO, "Overall, when you look at our business, we're not only a car manufacturing company. We are a technology company. As our vehicles become part of the Internet of things and as consumers give permission to us to collect that data, we'll also become an information company." That's marketing related to the IoT buzzword. Next week they might talk about using blockchain. The other part of the statement is that they are a "data company," because they can sell information about their customers. The words from the CEO are the same words from a data analyst, but they each mean something entirely different.
- jonathankoren 4y ago
  > By their CEO's own admission, Ford sees itself as a "data company" What does this even mean? They don’t sell access to data. Oh! They use data to make business decisions? Well, welcome to 2004.
  - rdtwo 4y ago
    lol silly why would you think they use data to make business choices. They make the choices then make data to justify said choices. That’s how legacy companies do it
  - speed_spread 4y ago
    It means they figured that monetizing the data they collect on people driving their cars will bring them more cash than selling the cars themselves. The same way electronics manufacturer have doubled their profits on "smart" TV sets over a few years by feeding advertisers knowledge about what you're watching, and when, so you can be targeted more precisely in future ad campaigns. Have you heard of those small companies called Google and Facebook? Care to compare their market cap with Ford's lately? Do you really think they're worth that much because of their quick web search and easy friend-finding?

jbay808 4y ago

> Ford is not a tech company. By what standard?

jonathankoren 4y ago
Software is not their primary business.
- chrisseaton 4y ago
  If you mean ‘software company’ then say that - software isn’t the only form of technology - drive trains are also technology.
- jbay808 4y ago
  Is SpaceX a tech company?

speed_spread 4y ago

> Ford is not a tech company. By their CEO's own admission, Ford sees itself as a "data company": https://www.autoblog.com/2016/01/06/ceo-mark-fields-ford-data-company/ https://www.autoblog.com/2016/01/06/ceo-mark-fields-ford-dat... Their software chops are certainly dubious, but there is no questioning their intent when it comes to entering the surveillance economy.

rkagerer 4y ago
Ford sees itself as a "data company" What a disaster. I wish they would focus on simply making good cars.
- speed_spread 4y ago
  Ironically, Ford stopped selling the Focus and all other passenger cars (except the Mach-E) in the USA after 2018.
- colinmhayes 4y ago
  Margins for car companies are shit. Why would anyone invest in a race to the bottom high marginal cost company when differentiated zero marginal cost companies exist? And what if we just told everyone we were the latter?
  - hef19898 4y ago
    Worked for Tesla so far.
IncRnd 4y ago
> By their CEO's own admission, Ford sees itself as a "data company": The linked article quotes the CEO, "Overall, when you look at our business, we're not only a car manufacturing company. We are a technology company. As our vehicles become part of the Internet of things and as consumers give permission to us to collect that data, we'll also become an information company." That's marketing related to the IoT buzzword. Next week they might talk about using blockchain. The other part of the statement is that they are a "data company," because they can sell information about their customers. The words from the CEO are the same words from a data analyst, but they each mean something entirely different.
jonathankoren 4y ago
> By their CEO's own admission, Ford sees itself as a "data company" What does this even mean? They don’t sell access to data. Oh! They use data to make business decisions? Well, welcome to 2004.
- rdtwo 4y ago
  lol silly why would you think they use data to make business choices. They make the choices then make data to justify said choices. That’s how legacy companies do it
- speed_spread 4y ago
  It means they figured that monetizing the data they collect on people driving their cars will bring them more cash than selling the cars themselves. The same way electronics manufacturer have doubled their profits on "smart" TV sets over a few years by feeding advertisers knowledge about what you're watching, and when, so you can be targeted more precisely in future ad campaigns. Have you heard of those small companies called Google and Facebook? Care to compare their market cap with Ford's lately? Do you really think they're worth that much because of their quick web search and easy friend-finding?