You're assuming a lot. Apple never said they were creating software to sell to manufacturers. That's just some SWAG thrown out there on the rumor sites. It's very unlikely. More likely Apple may partner with some company as they have been able to watch how Tesla is still losing huge amounts of money and is struggling mightily to produce vehicles, all the while most every other manufacturer has electric vehicles and autonomous in the pipeline. Heck, by the end of this year, every single Toyota sold, down to their cheapest car will have significant "autonomous" features: LIDAR, auto braking, 360 cameras, pedestrian avoidance, lane control, etc. Those features are rapidly heading toward commoditized products that will be on every car. The differentiator is not going to be the technology ironically, but rather price, quality, the experience, etc.
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Apple Autonomous Driving Training Program Confirms Self-Driving Software Platform
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You're assuming a lot. Apple never said they were creating software to sell to manufacturers. That's just some SWAG thrown out there on the rumor sites. It's very unlikely. More likely Apple may partner with some company as they have been able to watch how Tesla is still losing huge amounts of money and is struggling mightily to produce vehicles, all the while most every other manufacturer has electric vehicles and autonomous in the pipeline. Heck, by the end of this year, every single Toyota sold, down to their cheapest car will have significant "autonomous" features: LIDAR, auto braking, 360 cameras, pedestrian avoidance, lane control, etc. Those features are rapidly heading toward commoditized products that will be on every car. The differentiator is not going to be the technology ironically, but rather price, quality, the experience, etc.
I'm not convinced it will be successful, but I'm also not convinced it will fail. Like you (and like those who speculated about the iPhone or AppleTV before they came out), I have limited information from which to speculate.
I wouldn't be surprised if the likes of BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen are studying the ideas Apple are working on in terms of autonomous driving technology. In fact, number of vehicles on Volkwagen's new MEB (Modularer Elektrobaukasten) electric car platform could end up using Apple's autonomous technology.
Surprised nobody has posted this image yet. Also wishing Apple would just buy Tesla already, since the latter provides the entire energy ecosystem (generate, store, consume) and has refined their cars, gained a cult following, and have sales / distribution / charging mostly figured out. They also need the money and actually have real products in their pipeline (Model 3).
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Maybe Tesla, not Ford or GM. The differences in culture would likely be too difficult to change.
Right in then that goes back to what car manufactures want (or need) a car OS from Apple?
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No, I know Apple never said this but that's what everyone else says; that Apple building a car is ridiculous. But somehow building a car OS isn't. I don't get it.
I think(hope) this is exactly apple's thinking.
There were MP3 players before there was an iPod.
There were smartphones before there was a iPhone.
There were tablets before there was an iPad.
But none of those things were doing it right until Apple came along. Late to the game, sure. But they spent the time to get it perfect as opposed to being first. I hope that's the case here. That they are going to let other companies publicly tinker with the idea of a self driving car, and they're going to be watching what everyone else gets wrong, take those learnings and make a killer product.
What that product is, I'm not sure. Honestly, my money is on a subscription car service. One that is connected to the internet of things. Imagine you pay for a certain tier of car. Some people pay for a ride share, some people pay for a super luxury car. Maybe those cars are apple designed. Either way, it knows your calendar. It knows you have a 9 am meeting that's 30 minutes from your home. So at 8:20, you have a car sitting outside your home, and your phone alerts you. You get in and your emails are loaded up, your most recent podcast starts playing. You can FaceTime with your contacts. I for one would love that.
How about them taking care of computers first? Before getting into a war about "self driving cars" that not even 1/3 of the people want at the ****ing moment?
I am getting so SICK!
I am getting so SICK!
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Plan B for Apple to $tay relevant in the Chinese market after faltering iPhone sales.
And you may be crippled or killed by a human driver, too - more likely than by a machine, I would bet.
Apple will do what it does best: take an emerging product category with a frustrating user experience and delivered a polished product made possible by its control over both the hardware and software.
Wasn't the google home in the news recently for sharing of fake news? I think the misconception here is that just because google mines a lot of data, this means they are necessarily able to process it properly. Google has the raw resources but not the "common sense" needed to get it right.
That's where I think Apple can make all the difference, given their strength in execution relative to the rest of the competition.
And what is the long term goal of autonomous vehicles, do you think? Is it to free the millions of people whose job it is to drive from their toil so they can enjoy lives of ease and culture and enjoyment? Or is it to free up even more cash that can be called profits?
And what will happen to all those people who currently drive taxis and delivery vehicles? In the not too distant future there will be vast cardboard cities of starving people, denied any chance to work, labelled as "idle workshy scum". And then, sometime after that, there will be a lot less people about. If it hasn't occurred to you yet that the model is, they take your job away, then blame you for being unemployed, then take your welfare away, you haven't been paying attention. And, with a few exceptions, there is no such thing as a job for life anymore.
And what will happen to all those people who currently drive taxis and delivery vehicles? In the not too distant future there will be vast cardboard cities of starving people, denied any chance to work, labelled as "idle workshy scum". And then, sometime after that, there will be a lot less people about. If it hasn't occurred to you yet that the model is, they take your job away, then blame you for being unemployed, then take your welfare away, you haven't been paying attention. And, with a few exceptions, there is no such thing as a job for life anymore.
Actually, Volvo has said that they will take full responsibility if their self driving car crashes due to their error. I was truly amazed to hear this.
Self driving cars,uh? We got one here that passes 3-4 times a day,it's called a "bus",you can find them in most populated areas.
I am thinking of universal basic income, but that assumes the government can work hand in hand with businesses to take care of its own people, rather than institute a "every man for himself" mentality by keeping the status quo.
I see self-driving cars as the inevitable. Even if Apple doesn't do it, someone else will.
I don't think you can equate Siri with Apples self driving software. The thing that holds Siri back is Apple's privacy stance, it is a balance between data mining everything you do vs privacy, so Siri has less info to work with compared to other AI systems.
On a self driving platform they know that the system needs all the info it can get.
On a self driving platform they know that the system needs all the info it can get.
I don't know how old you are, and maybe it's just a coincidence, but some young(ish) people at work have mentioned this magical universal basic income to me on occasion but have been spectacularly unable to explain exactly how it works. Perhaps you can. Who is supposed to generate the wealth needed to distribute for free? Why exactly would these people or entities give away money for absolutely nothing in return, and keep doing so generation after generation? What exactly would these jobless people do day-in, day-out? I have a million more such questions but let's start with these simple ones for now.
Sure worked wonders for Microsoft and PC hardware for over 20 years. Why can't Apple get in the Autonomous Driving Market and mature carOS? Looks like China and the Didi company they invested in will be the test labs.