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Matches the same prediction for Tesla - the hardware companies ‘will catch up’ to the software ones. Yes cars and phones are hardware, but that’s relatively ea

Matches the same prediction for Tesla - the hardware companies ‘will catch up’ to the software ones. Yes cars and phones are hardware, but that’s relatively easy compared to the software. In cars people think software is just infotainment, but it’s really hundreds of controllers all networked and often each written by different vendors. Tesla has brought most of them in house, and made them updateable. Enabling features like watching your dog safe and live in your car as you eat at a restaurant. Or turning down the cabin fan so the noise doesn’t interfere with a phone call. It’s funny in like 15 years, everyone who has tried a phone OS has failed except Android.

zbrozek 3y ago
It's all just work, and different organizations are better at different flavors of work. Some have a broader range than others.
hn_throwaway_99 3y ago
I think the interesting thing with respect to Tesla, and which is why I disagree with your analysis, is that they are winning not because other car companies couldn't catch up to software, but because Tesla saw the writing on the wall early and caught up with hardware. Tesla has been slashing prices recently, and they can do that and still be profitable because, especially when it comes to batteries, they have some of the lowest production costs in the industry. This is the thing that is pretty shocking to me: Tesla has managed to build in a lower cost of hardware production, which everyone else said they were so bad at. In addition, Tesla was the only one with the foresight to build out their Supercharger network, and that is a huge competitive advantage for them. For disclosure, I despise Musk and will not by a Tesla, and I own a non-Tesla EV. I love my car, but most of the other charging networks (especially Electrify America) are downright dogshit compared to Superchargers - half the stations are randomly busted, their charging speeds max out at like 50 kW when they advertise 350 kW, etc. I think the thing that's instructive about both Tesla and Apple is they are winning because they control entire "ecosystems": software plus very-well integrated hardware. Despite all the complaints about Tesla's shitty QA (which seem totally valid IMO), this seems like a situation that should improve over time, while it will be really difficult for legacy car companies to match Tesla's costs when it comes to battery production.

zbrozek 3y ago

It's all just work, and different organizations are better at different flavors of work. Some have a broader range than others.

hn_throwaway_99 3y ago

I think the interesting thing with respect to Tesla, and which is why I disagree with your analysis, is that they are winning not because other car companies couldn't catch up to software, but because Tesla saw the writing on the wall early and caught up with hardware. Tesla has been slashing prices recently, and they can do that and still be profitable because, especially when it comes to batteries, they have some of the lowest production costs in the industry. This is the thing that is pretty shocking to me: Tesla has managed to build in a lower cost of hardware production, which everyone else said they were so bad at. In addition, Tesla was the only one with the foresight to build out their Supercharger network, and that is a huge competitive advantage for them. For disclosure, I despise Musk and will not by a Tesla, and I own a non-Tesla EV. I love my car, but most of the other charging networks (especially Electrify America) are downright dogshit compared to Superchargers - half the stations are randomly busted, their charging speeds max out at like 50 kW when they advertise 350 kW, etc. I think the thing that's instructive about both Tesla and Apple is they are winning because they control entire "ecosystems": software plus very-well integrated hardware. Despite all the complaints about Tesla's shitty QA (which seem totally valid IMO), this seems like a situation that should improve over time, while it will be really difficult for legacy car companies to match Tesla's costs when it comes to battery production.