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It was very obvious the Apple car project was never going to happen. So obvious that it never even felt real when I read the headlines. Apple is not a car compa
by causi 3y ago
It was very obvious the Apple car project was never going to happen. So obvious that it never even felt real when I read the headlines. Apple is not a car company and Apple is not willing to transform itself into a car company.
- mrbgty 3y agoI'm not sure how obvious it was or that it still won't happen in the future. Cars have been becoming more and more like a computing device.
- pfdietz 3y agoThey're using more and more computing, but they are not changing into devices that are primarily for computing.
- mrbgty 3y agoCan you think of any applications for having servers primarily used for processing data on location that are distributed around the world in locations that normally can't have buildings sitting there or that might benefit from moving with traffic?
- JoeAltmaier 3y agoExcept for the wheels and seats and oil and grease. Just like.
- mrbgty 3y agoNot a very friendly comment and I didn't think electric vehicles needed oil. Vehicles are doing more and more processing - the work of servers. Distributing moving servers around the world to process data at that specific location is useful and becoming more and more so.
- JoeAltmaier 3y agoAnd still Apple has no idea how to make a car, because cars are extremely different than phones. Yes there are some incidental parts that Apple has skill at making. Perhaps they should provide touch-panels for the car controls? The interface would be better than what's out there. The most significant evidence that Apple isn't a car manufacturer is, that they have just thrown up their hands and cancelled the project, with essentially the defense that "We don't know how to do anything involved in making a car" e.g. distribution, manufacturing, certifications and on and on.
- mrbgty 3y agoFair enough and all points I agree with
- helsinkiandrew 3y ago> Cars have been becoming more and more like a computing device They contain computing devices, but so does my toothbrush and kettle - they are defined by the main thing they do like cars - which move people around in comfort and safety.
- dewey 3y ago„Apple is not a phone company“, „Apple is not a watch company“,…
- andsoitis 3y ago> „Apple is not a phone company“, „Apple is not a watch company“,… Fun quip, but it is the second part of the GP's sentence that's key: "... and Apple is not willing to transform itself into a car company."
- meragrin_ 3y agoApple is an electronics company. The iPhone was a "small" change from an iPod. The Apple watch is not really a watch. It is essentially a mini iPhone with a wrist strap. Now a car on the other hand, you can't just attach wheels to an iPhone or Mac and call it a car. There's an entire set of rules and regulations they've never dealt with. There's an entire industry of suppliers they've never dealt with. Apple is not a car company. Perhaps they thought doing some sort of EV was close enough to their competencies to make it work. In the end, they probably figured out they had to be a car company to make it work and they very much don't want to be a car company.
- kibwen 3y ago> Apple is an electronics company. Apple is an electronics company in the same sense that Louis Vuitton is a handbag manufacturer. Apple is a fashion company.
- Cacti 3y agoapple got into cars because other people got into cars. it’s that simple.
- neom 3y agoCould be, apple is very good at skating to the puck... but the car thing, I really never understood the car thing... it's like learning so much new stuff they don't really do, seem weird, but maybe if they want to make robots and stuff, learning how to build a robot car is a decent learning ground...? I dunno, it's weird, never sat right with me personally.
- Cacti 3y agotech companies compete for talent first and product second; the primary purpose was to slow down competitors from developing a driverless car before apple had evaluated it as a potential platform. it wasn’t to build a platform itself, at least initially. companies, particularly rich ones, do this all the time.
- LightBug1 3y agoI think it's kind of refreshing. They tried. They failed. They couldn't see how to make it work. They exited. Much rather this than releasing yet another half-assed, techno-heavy, EV. 600 staff had a great time getting paid to muck around on a dev project at Apple. Priceless.