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Why does the automobile industry insist on keeping these things in-house when they are clearly terrible at them? I recall an interview with a Ford manager a few

Why does the automobile industry insist on keeping these things in-house when they are clearly terrible at them? I recall an interview with a Ford manager a few years back where they were asked something about adopting Car Play and the response was something like “we have people that can write software for us, so we won’t be using that.”

akira2501 4y ago
> The company is confident that this strategic approach to software and hardware development will be the basis for lifetime revenues as well as additional contributions. I think they're pretty blunt as to "why." What they seem to be hazy on is the "how."
gangstead 4y ago
It seems like they go through phases of we-can-do-this-in-house followed by let's-just-buy-something-that-works. MB seems to be in the in-house part of the cycle.
Bud 4y ago
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corbulo 4y ago
Money. Why give that up when the customer is really only going to use bluetooth audio anyway? Anyone who cares enough about navigation is gonna use an app on their phone. Native car navigation is a superficial value-feature not a use feature. The edge that Carplay gets is really minimal. I'm repulsed by the new car market, its many multiples over-connected anyway. When it comes to digital features my gut says only the safety ones drive sales.
- jagged-chisel 4y ago
  In that case, why even spend money trying? Just deliver cars with room for the customer to add what they want.
  - corbulo 4y ago
    Then you don't get to upsell on features and you're less competitive with everyone else.
- nanidin 4y ago
  > Native car navigation is a superficial value-feature not a use feature I thought the same thing until I owned an EV. Using the car's navigation is essential for road trips that involve charging along the way. Maybe some day Google Maps et al. will gain access to API's to read the car's current charge and enough information to accurately predict charge along the route, but for now I have completely changed away from using 3rd party nav and rely only on the native vehicle nav.
  - perryizgr8 4y ago
    > Using the car's navigation is essential for road trips that involve charging along the way. Sounds like a problem that will get solved automatically once charging stations are as common as fuel pumps.
izacus 4y ago
Maybe because we as customers don't really need a complete corporate consolidation and control of every product by a few software corporations?
throwtheacctawy 4y ago
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akira2501 4y ago

> The company is confident that this strategic approach to software and hardware development will be the basis for lifetime revenues as well as additional contributions. I think they're pretty blunt as to "why." What they seem to be hazy on is the "how."

gangstead 4y ago

It seems like they go through phases of we-can-do-this-in-house followed by let's-just-buy-something-that-works. MB seems to be in the in-house part of the cycle.

Bud 4y ago

[dead]

corbulo 4y ago

Money. Why give that up when the customer is really only going to use bluetooth audio anyway? Anyone who cares enough about navigation is gonna use an app on their phone. Native car navigation is a superficial value-feature not a use feature. The edge that Carplay gets is really minimal. I'm repulsed by the new car market, its many multiples over-connected anyway. When it comes to digital features my gut says only the safety ones drive sales.

jagged-chisel 4y ago
In that case, why even spend money trying? Just deliver cars with room for the customer to add what they want.
- corbulo 4y ago
  Then you don't get to upsell on features and you're less competitive with everyone else.
nanidin 4y ago
> Native car navigation is a superficial value-feature not a use feature I thought the same thing until I owned an EV. Using the car's navigation is essential for road trips that involve charging along the way. Maybe some day Google Maps et al. will gain access to API's to read the car's current charge and enough information to accurately predict charge along the route, but for now I have completely changed away from using 3rd party nav and rely only on the native vehicle nav.
- perryizgr8 4y ago
  > Using the car's navigation is essential for road trips that involve charging along the way. Sounds like a problem that will get solved automatically once charging stations are as common as fuel pumps.

izacus 4y ago

Maybe because we as customers don't really need a complete corporate consolidation and control of every product by a few software corporations?

throwtheacctawy 4y ago

[dead]