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>Control over what, exactly? Planned obsolesence. Without proper CarPlay/AA integration, car manufacturers get to decide when those whiz-bang infotainment feat

>Control over what, exactly? Planned obsolesence. Without proper CarPlay/AA integration, car manufacturers get to decide when those whiz-bang infotainment features stop working. You'd have to replace the whole car to get those features back instead of just buying a new phone.

s0rce 3y ago
Do people do that? I just use my phone beside the old useless infotainment. Honestly, I wouldn't buy a new car that used an in-house infotainment specifically because they go obsolete quickly (<5-10 years) and cannot be economically (or at all) to the latest tech. Carplay seems to be long lived.
- brewdad 3y ago
  My vehicle (a mid teens Volvo) doesn’t support CarPlay or AA. Its infotainment system gets its data from 3G, so it doesn’t get data anymore. Music is through Bluetooth, which works well enough. Navigating means using the clunky in-car nav with no traffic data or a phone with the volume turned way up. It’s far from ideal but at least I have zero expectations for my next car.
  - ddmitriev 3y ago
    I replaced the head unit on my car from the same era with an aftermarket Sony XAV-9000ES unit that has wireless carplay support. It takes about 10 seconds to connect after powering up the electronics but is otherwise seamless. Full steering wheel controls too (volume, next/prev track, pause/resume, mute). No car info, but the car is old enough to have a proper gauge cluster. There are also dash-mounted "carplay screens" that are both much cheaper and much easier to install but lack integrations/require hacky solutions to get, say, audio out.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
  - ruszki 3y ago
    Why don't you use bluetooth to navigate with your phone?
- adrr 3y ago
  You don’t like paying $300 for a map update? On my car, Nav + traffic was $3k. CarPlay was $300 and I get multiple map choices like Waze or Google maps. Only infotainment that comes close is Tesla yet map data is always out of date with construction road closures.
- hx833001 3y ago
  No degradation at all for me over seven years. It’s a game changer. Car still feels new
daanvr 3y ago
For me, the fact that it updates with your phone every year is a game-changer! The end of those bad user interfaces.
m463 3y ago
come on. It is AOL of cars. This isn't "we're going to deprecate your car, buy a new one". People will buy them anyway. It is "You're going to pay for AOL, even though we have the internet" And when you sell your car, some other dumb schmuck will buy it used and sign up for AOL-of-cars.
com2kid 3y ago
Heck simple bluetooth audio playback has degraded year over year in my car. After an android update a few years back I don't get to see the track name any more, pause/play sort of works, and thankfully audio still comes through and I can go to the previous/next track. Without constant updates, software that is part a a larger ecosystem will eventually breakdown.
- the_snooze 3y ago
  >Without constant updates, software that is part a a larger ecosystem will eventually breakdown. This is why we should be so skeptical of tight software integration with durable hardware (e.g., cars and appliances with operational lifespans 10+ years easily). Software has a pretty short half-life, especially software that integrates with internet services; vulnerabilities get discovered in third-party components and remote APIs shift out from under you. Durable goods manufacturers have little skill or interest in long-term software upkeep (maybe they like the profits and the rent-seeking, but not the actual maintenance), so the most sustainable design is one where the software is easily seperable and replaceable from the core durable item. Manufacturer-specific internet-connected infotainment in cars ain't it.
  - shiroiushi 3y ago
    >so the most sustainable design is one where the software is easily seperable and replaceable from the core durable item. No, the most realistically sustainable design is one where the software is built into the durable item and not connected to the internet, so it never changes and doesn't need to worry about security issues. You can keep using the thing until it fails from mechanical issues and can't be easily repaired. If it's internet-connected for some reason, then the software should be open-source so interested parties can take over maintenance after the OEM decides they don't want to bother any more. However, I don't consider this "realistic": how many manufacturers are going to do this in reality? Almost none: they want you to buy a replacement device.
    - kergonath 3y ago
      > No, the most realistically sustainable design is one where the software is built into the durable item and not connected to the internet, so it never changes and doesn't need to worry about security issues. How would that work in a car, where people expect map updates and streaming music or radio over the internet?

s0rce 3y ago

Do people do that? I just use my phone beside the old useless infotainment. Honestly, I wouldn't buy a new car that used an in-house infotainment specifically because they go obsolete quickly (<5-10 years) and cannot be economically (or at all) to the latest tech. Carplay seems to be long lived.

brewdad 3y ago
My vehicle (a mid teens Volvo) doesn’t support CarPlay or AA. Its infotainment system gets its data from 3G, so it doesn’t get data anymore. Music is through Bluetooth, which works well enough. Navigating means using the clunky in-car nav with no traffic data or a phone with the volume turned way up. It’s far from ideal but at least I have zero expectations for my next car.
- ddmitriev 3y ago
  I replaced the head unit on my car from the same era with an aftermarket Sony XAV-9000ES unit that has wireless carplay support. It takes about 10 seconds to connect after powering up the electronics but is otherwise seamless. Full steering wheel controls too (volume, next/prev track, pause/resume, mute). No car info, but the car is old enough to have a proper gauge cluster. There are also dash-mounted "carplay screens" that are both much cheaper and much easier to install but lack integrations/require hacky solutions to get, say, audio out.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- ruszki 3y ago
  Why don't you use bluetooth to navigate with your phone?
adrr 3y ago
You don’t like paying $300 for a map update? On my car, Nav + traffic was $3k. CarPlay was $300 and I get multiple map choices like Waze or Google maps. Only infotainment that comes close is Tesla yet map data is always out of date with construction road closures.
hx833001 3y ago
No degradation at all for me over seven years. It’s a game changer. Car still feels new

daanvr 3y ago

For me, the fact that it updates with your phone every year is a game-changer! The end of those bad user interfaces.

m463 3y ago

come on. It is AOL of cars. This isn't "we're going to deprecate your car, buy a new one". People will buy them anyway. It is "You're going to pay for AOL, even though we have the internet" And when you sell your car, some other dumb schmuck will buy it used and sign up for AOL-of-cars.

com2kid 3y ago

Heck simple bluetooth audio playback has degraded year over year in my car. After an android update a few years back I don't get to see the track name any more, pause/play sort of works, and thankfully audio still comes through and I can go to the previous/next track. Without constant updates, software that is part a a larger ecosystem will eventually breakdown.

the_snooze 3y ago
>Without constant updates, software that is part a a larger ecosystem will eventually breakdown. This is why we should be so skeptical of tight software integration with durable hardware (e.g., cars and appliances with operational lifespans 10+ years easily). Software has a pretty short half-life, especially software that integrates with internet services; vulnerabilities get discovered in third-party components and remote APIs shift out from under you. Durable goods manufacturers have little skill or interest in long-term software upkeep (maybe they like the profits and the rent-seeking, but not the actual maintenance), so the most sustainable design is one where the software is easily seperable and replaceable from the core durable item. Manufacturer-specific internet-connected infotainment in cars ain't it.
- shiroiushi 3y ago
  >so the most sustainable design is one where the software is easily seperable and replaceable from the core durable item. No, the most realistically sustainable design is one where the software is built into the durable item and not connected to the internet, so it never changes and doesn't need to worry about security issues. You can keep using the thing until it fails from mechanical issues and can't be easily repaired. If it's internet-connected for some reason, then the software should be open-source so interested parties can take over maintenance after the OEM decides they don't want to bother any more. However, I don't consider this "realistic": how many manufacturers are going to do this in reality? Almost none: they want you to buy a replacement device.
  - kergonath 3y ago
    > No, the most realistically sustainable design is one where the software is built into the durable item and not connected to the internet, so it never changes and doesn't need to worry about security issues. How would that work in a car, where people expect map updates and streaming music or radio over the internet?