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I wonder if the infotainment stuff is the same on their gas cars? I just don't know why traditional carmakers couldn't get together, make an open source standar

I wonder if the infotainment stuff is the same on their gas cars? I just don't know why traditional carmakers couldn't get together, make an open source standard that we could all build on. I hate this future where in automobiles where I'm completely helpless to fix my car myself.

AlotOfReading 3y ago
Even if we were to ignore the impossibility of OEMs agreeing on common interface standards, they don't want meaningful standardization of interfaces. It's a way to differentiate themselves from other automakers and do product segmentation without needing to change hardware. If you're just talking the platform level stuff, that's the automotive Linux initiative.
- MostlyStable 3y ago
  I've never understood the "differentiate themselves" argument, which I've most often seen in the Android os skin world. It seems like most consumers don't know enough to care and the ones who do see the skins/customization as a bad thing.
  - yurishimo 3y ago
    I don’t think that’s true. Most consumers know that Toyota is a reliable brand. They know Mercedes is luxurious and that Ferrari makes fast sports cars. This is the differentiation. The part that customers don’t care about is the stuff under the hood, but that’s not what consumers care about. They care about a set of features at a given price point and aesthetics that they largely don’t find repulsive.
    - MostlyStable 3y ago
      Brands are obviously differentiated. But not by their software tweaks. That was my point.
jm4 3y ago
I have a Silverado and the software is absolute shit. It’s like it has a virus. The media stuff is so wonky. It randomly plays Bluetooth stuff on my phone. It doesn’t even reliably play what I was actually listening to. Just random crap from my library or stuff from YouTube if I was using the app a week ago. I stop it and it keeps starting it again. I turn the system completely off. Later, I get a phone call and after I hang up it starts playing random Bluetooth stuff again. When it’s not doing that, it will insist on playing FM radio. You can’t turn it off. The best you can do is turn down the volume because it will keep turning the radio back on. It does this with multiple phones. GM has literally a worse infotainment system than the worst I could imagine. It’s not like I expect much. The usual boring, featureless, laggy, permanent XM radio and Pandora icons, 6 year old nav maps infotainment system would suit me just fine as long as Bluetooth works. GM can’t even deliver that. Meanwhile, the motor is great - V8, loads of torque - and this thing feels like it will run forever. It even gets good mileage - I can get 20-25 on the highway. They make solid trucks. But it’s like they used GitHub Copilot in a machine with bad RAM to make the infotainment.

AlotOfReading 3y ago

Even if we were to ignore the impossibility of OEMs agreeing on common interface standards, they don't want meaningful standardization of interfaces. It's a way to differentiate themselves from other automakers and do product segmentation without needing to change hardware. If you're just talking the platform level stuff, that's the automotive Linux initiative.

MostlyStable 3y ago
I've never understood the "differentiate themselves" argument, which I've most often seen in the Android os skin world. It seems like most consumers don't know enough to care and the ones who do see the skins/customization as a bad thing.
- yurishimo 3y ago
  I don’t think that’s true. Most consumers know that Toyota is a reliable brand. They know Mercedes is luxurious and that Ferrari makes fast sports cars. This is the differentiation. The part that customers don’t care about is the stuff under the hood, but that’s not what consumers care about. They care about a set of features at a given price point and aesthetics that they largely don’t find repulsive.
  - MostlyStable 3y ago
    Brands are obviously differentiated. But not by their software tweaks. That was my point.

jm4 3y ago

I have a Silverado and the software is absolute shit. It’s like it has a virus. The media stuff is so wonky. It randomly plays Bluetooth stuff on my phone. It doesn’t even reliably play what I was actually listening to. Just random crap from my library or stuff from YouTube if I was using the app a week ago. I stop it and it keeps starting it again. I turn the system completely off. Later, I get a phone call and after I hang up it starts playing random Bluetooth stuff again. When it’s not doing that, it will insist on playing FM radio. You can’t turn it off. The best you can do is turn down the volume because it will keep turning the radio back on. It does this with multiple phones. GM has literally a worse infotainment system than the worst I could imagine. It’s not like I expect much. The usual boring, featureless, laggy, permanent XM radio and Pandora icons, 6 year old nav maps infotainment system would suit me just fine as long as Bluetooth works. GM can’t even deliver that. Meanwhile, the motor is great - V8, loads of torque - and this thing feels like it will run forever. It even gets good mileage - I can get 20-25 on the highway. They make solid trucks. But it’s like they used GitHub Copilot in a machine with bad RAM to make the infotainment.