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'Apple Car' Project Lead Steve Zadesky to Leave Apple
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Both of those are electronics. The automotive industry is very, very different.
Sure, developing a car is one thing. But then you get in to manufacturing. The amount of capital expenditures would run into the tens of billions of dollars setting up manufacturing plants, hiring staff, dealing with unions, sourcing unbelievable amounts of lithium ion batteries (themselves being extremely sensitive and complicated tech). Apple can't just take the easy route and hire Foxconn to manufacture them either, since it has no experience manufacturing cars.
Once it's all said and done, it would take many years for Apple to recoup it's losses. Another problem is the upgrade cycle for cars, which is considerably longer than for smartphones. Once the Apple Koolaid drinkers have all bought the car their sales will slump for years until the next upgrade cycle hits. And this will be an expensive car too, if practically every other product that Apple has ever released is any indication, so they won't see millions of people lining up to get them.
The biggest problem of all though is just fundamental business 101. If you're going to enter an industry that already has a lot of competitors, your product needs to be 10x better if you really want to succeed. With the way Apple Maps has turned out, I just don't see this happening here. Since Google has a large advantage here, Apple really should go back to the drawing board and stick to what they're good at: consumer electronics.
And AI really would be easier than a self driving car, since AI is just software and Apple can be pretty good at big software efforts. Think of Siri, for example. It already builds large convolutional neural networks. I don't think most people realize just how close we are to a full blown AI revolution...except Google of course, they know it and they're investing big because they're the only ones with the sense to see where the tech world is really headed.
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Google has the sense to not to try to become a car company. Google will likely license the autonomous tech to established players like Ford and Toyota.
This what happens to sinking ships. Apple could plug the leak by concentrating on their old strength of building great computers with unique qualities instead of froth, and fashion items. They have lost their professional integrity. Cook and Ive will watch a once proud company steepen its dive and crash and burn or be taken over by someone east of Europe.
Hoo haa.
The price of oil has dropped tremendously and is set to carry on doing so in the short term. This will put a considerable barrier up to the adoption of electric cars, and that adoption is still tiny after many decades—over 100 years—of electric technology. We've made some great advances in technology, but battery life is still a huge barrier to mass market adoption of electric cars. There is simply no chance of electric competing with gas (petrol or diesel we call it in England) for many, many years; decades, realistically.
People comparing the car market to the smartphone market are mistaken. Smartphones were universally clunky before the iPhone, which changed everything. The rest is history. Cars? A very mature market, with beautifully designed cars that people love to drive. There is no great yearning for an easy to use car like there was for an easy to use smartphone.
As others have surmised, it seems to me that Apple are trying to keep the growth story going by diversifying into new areas. I'm not convinced this is a wise market to get into. They need to stick to their bread and butter lest they are swallowed up by their lust for profit.
I associate Tim Cook with grey. Grey is over.
The price of oil has dropped tremendously and is set to carry on doing so in the short term. This will put a considerable barrier up to the adoption of electric cars, and that adoption is still tiny after many decades—over 100 years—of electric technology. We've made some great advances in technology, but battery life is still a huge barrier to mass market adoption of electric cars. There is simply no chance of electric competing with gas (petrol or diesel we call it in England) for many, many years; decades, realistically.
People comparing the car market to the smartphone market are mistaken. Smartphones were universally clunky before the iPhone, which changed everything. The rest is history. Cars? A very mature market, with beautifully designed cars that people love to drive. There is no great yearning for an easy to use car like there was for an easy to use smartphone.
As others have surmised, it seems to me that Apple are trying to keep the growth story going by diversifying into new areas. I'm not convinced this is a wise market to get into. They need to stick to their bread and butter lest they are swallowed up by their lust for profit.
I associate Tim Cook with grey. Grey is over.
I mean "car" as in the vehicle without the drivetrain.
For the drivetrain and batteries, of course Apple can be competent!
Anyone that says otherwise certainly didn't look to Europe.
Every time i see apple car, i can't help but smile..
A car from apple would have the battery life like an iPhone, therefore would need to be refuelled every 100ft at apple owned fuel stations, need a security updates and a reboot every Monday. Having no user changeable parts and be obsolete within 2 years by design and each upgrade would seriously impact the performance.
God forbid you pranged it, you would have to take it in and have the whole body replaced, not repaired.
A car from apple would have the battery life like an iPhone, therefore would need to be refuelled every 100ft at apple owned fuel stations, need a security updates and a reboot every Monday. Having no user changeable parts and be obsolete within 2 years by design and each upgrade would seriously impact the performance.
God forbid you pranged it, you would have to take it in and have the whole body replaced, not repaired.
It is not that easy. Getting into smartphone is way easier than getting into cars. When you making cars, youare dealing with much more complex thing than smartphone.
There is mechanical asepect of cards, three is saftey aspect of cars, you need pass bunch of tests and deal with regulatory much more than smartphone.
You guys keep motioning Tesla, yes, they are quiet successful in its own, but they are still not making profit.
Secod ly, what Apple car looks like? Are they going to standardlized components? Or they are creating its own crap? Like tires only works on Apple car? Charging dock that is not compatible with standard one? What happen if three is no Apple car service center? Can you even fix your Apple car by yourself?
There are lots of things that will make Apple car success or failure... There are more chance that Apple fails than succes in car department
What Apple product are you getting this from? My iPhone doesn't need to be charged every 100 ft, doesn't get a security update every Monday, rarely needs rebooting, and doesn't become obsolete after 2 years.
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If the windshield breaks on your Toyota, do you fix it yourself with duct tape and some plastic sheeting? I think I passed you on the road yesterday.
Aah, says someone who probably doesn't remember 10.0-10.2 and to some extent 10.3... I fondly remember the days were point updates could wipe data of your drives, make systems unbootable and every other topic on this and other forums was "I checked and fixed my permissions but..." and 10.4 which got a 10.4.1 mere days after the initial release because it had such wonderful bugs as Safari crashing when right clicking on PDF-documents (and making it impossible to mount network shares amongst others)... I also remember the days of glorious multitasking in the Pre-OS X era which in some occasions made Windows 95 seem stable. The days when there were more viruses for Mac OS than Windows... I also remember a bug in OS 8 (IIRC) which made it possible to drag the trash can to an alias of the trash can and wipe the entire system folder...
Aaah, yes, those good old days with high quality - stable - software from Apple is long gone.
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Have you not noticed that the PC industry is in decline? Apple already makes the best PCs and they are increasing market share. Maybe they could focus there and increase the rate at which they are gaining marketshare by a bit. But they would still be gaining market share in a shrinking market.
They have to look elsewhere. They are already doing a fantastic job at phones and tablets. The Apple Watch is a heck of a wearable. The Apple TV is good; late but basically good. Assuming Apple is working on VR, I don't think they are missing out on any category that is in their traditional wheelhouse.
I bet the entire electric vehicle project portfolio has been canceled.
Amazing. Giving up a job that pays you for washing and polishing an imaginary car every week for silly money. Even better job is the bloke who gets to "drive" it.
"Yeah Tim. It's great! Fantastic 'innovation' man. It'll outsell Ford overnight. You can't see it cos it's painted in invisible ink. But don't worry man. You'll be seen as being just as insightful and forward thinking as Jobs himself when this thing gets released. Just keep financing it, man. Forget all those naysayers, man. It's gonna be the dog's bollo. .... ok lads, quick whilst he's not looking. Nip through this hole in the fence. ....."
"Yeah Tim. It's great! Fantastic 'innovation' man. It'll outsell Ford overnight. You can't see it cos it's painted in invisible ink. But don't worry man. You'll be seen as being just as insightful and forward thinking as Jobs himself when this thing gets released. Just keep financing it, man. Forget all those naysayers, man. It's gonna be the dog's bollo. .... ok lads, quick whilst he's not looking. Nip through this hole in the fence. ....."
Never under estimate what Apple is capable of:
Why should the Apple Car, if it exists, be less successful ?
http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/stories...-sorry-steve-heres-why-apple-stores-wont-work
Why should the Apple Car, if it exists, be less successful ?
http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/stories...-sorry-steve-heres-why-apple-stores-wont-work
"Rather than unveil a Velveeta Mac, Jobs thinks he can do a better job than experienced retailers at moving the beluga. Problem is, the numbers don't add up. Given the decision to set up shop in high-rent districts in Manhattan, Boston, Chicago, and Jobs's hometown of Palo Alto, Calif., the leases for Apple's stores could cost $1.2 million a year each, says David A. Goldstein, president of researcher Channel Marketing Corp. Since PC retailing gross margins are normally 10% or less, Apple would have to sell $12 million a year per store to pay for the space. Gateway does about $8 million annually at each of its Country Stores. Then there's the cost of construction, hiring experienced staff. "I give them two years before they're turning out the lights on a very painful and expensive mistake," says Goldstein."
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/12/23/iphone_will_fail/
"The hype is reaching fever-pitch, and the odds are still stacked that Apple will announce a device combining the functionality of an iPod and a mobile phone in January next year, but whether such a device will actually sell is another question.
There seems little question that an Apple phone product will be launched in 2007, and that it will work with the iTunes service and have a very pretty industrial design and a smooth interface. Strapping an iPod to a mobile phone is not a great technical challenge, which makes it all the more remarkable that Motorola did it so badly with their ROKR handset. Maintaining the features which made the iPod so popular in a mobile phone will be much more of a challenge."
http://suckbusters2.blogspot.de/2007/06/apple-iphone-debut-to-flop-product-to.htmlThere seems little question that an Apple phone product will be launched in 2007, and that it will work with the iTunes service and have a very pretty industrial design and a smooth interface. Strapping an iPod to a mobile phone is not a great technical challenge, which makes it all the more remarkable that Motorola did it so badly with their ROKR handset. Maintaining the features which made the iPod so popular in a mobile phone will be much more of a challenge."
"The forthcoming (June 29) release of the Apple iPhone is going to be a bigger marketing flop than Ishtar and Waterworld (dating myself again, aren't I) combined. And it’s not for reasons of price, or limited cell carrier options, or lack of corporate IT support, which are the mainstream media’s main caveats when they review it. (See the June 19 issue of the Wall Street Journal for the latter).
Instead, the iPhone is going to fail because its design is fundamentally flawed. The designers and technophiles who encouraged development of the iPhone have fallen into the trap of all overreaching hardware and software designers; thinking that their users are like themselves. (...... snip.....) The iPhone’s designers have forgotten this fundamental law of the universe. The market will severely punish them for doing so."
Instead, the iPhone is going to fail because its design is fundamentally flawed. The designers and technophiles who encouraged development of the iPhone have fallen into the trap of all overreaching hardware and software designers; thinking that their users are like themselves. (...... snip.....) The iPhone’s designers have forgotten this fundamental law of the universe. The market will severely punish them for doing so."
If my Windshields break, I go to glass shop to change one. I aren't going to Toyota for widsheild replacement. If I need change winter tire, I ain't going to Toyota for tchange tire. If my breakpad need to replace, I will go to parts store buy one and replace by myself and I ain't going to Toyota for that. You get what I mean. If Apple Care does not allow people that, they ain't going to success. I am not going to Apple for everything and pay premium for everything
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Well, Apple Watch is not instant hit and Apple Pay still not successful. iPad Pronisnjusy other meh product and iOE 9 sucks ball. So yeah, don't assume everything Apple made gonna be instant success
Apple VP of Product Design Steve Zadesky, who was believed to be leading Apple's electric vehicle development efforts since 2014, has informed colleagues that he will be leaving the company, according to The Wall Street Journal. He remains at Apple for now.
Zadesky, a former Ford engineer, joined Apple in 1999 and worked on the iPod and iPhone during his 16-year career in Cupertino. He is also named on several U.S. patents and documents related to Liquidmetal, a malleable alloy which Apple owns the exclusive rights to.
His impending departure from Apple is said to be for personal reasons, rather than an indication of his performance at the company, and marks a setback for Apple's electric vehicle plans:Apple has aggressively recruited engineers and other talent from Tesla, Ford, GM, Samsung, A123 Systems, Nvidia and elsewhere to work on the rumored "Apple Car" project, which has allegedly been called "Project Titan" internally. Just days ago, Tesla CEO Elon Musk even called the "Apple Car" an "open secret."
Last year, Apple also had discussions with a secure Bay Area testing facility for connected and autonomous vehicles, and met with the California DMV to review self-driving vehicle regulations. Further speculation arose when Apple registered a trio of auto-related domain names, including apple.car, apple.cars and apple.auto, earlier this month.
Apple's electric vehicle could be approved for production by 2020, but some employees reportedly believe it "might take several more years" for the iPhone maker to develop a truly differentiated electric vehicle. The project has encountered some challenges internally due to a lack of clear goals, according to the report.
Article Link: 'Apple Car' Project Lead Steve Zadesky to Leave Apple
A self driving, long range electric car would certainly be a game changer. The plan may not be for retail sale. Think driverless Uber, no more car ownership just schedule your pickup. Turn your garage into a mother-in-law suite and enjoy the stress free daily commute. If the average car payment is $450 a month plus gas, your "Apple Uber" bill could be as high as $600 a month to make sense. The average "Apple Uber" car could probably fully serve 7 people a month meaning that Apple would be making $4200 a month with virtually no human labor. If they can produce the cars for $50,000 each they are fully profitable in month 13.
Yeah, it's just the project lead. Nothing to worry about.
The second iCar prototype had other problems.
Engineers took Tim's software warning too literally
and designed an Apple iCar without any windows.
This site is still called MacRumors.
Careful OllyW you're applying logic to Rogifan. There's no telling how this will end.
Nothing more?
You speak like Apple is run by monkeys, like Google.
Google won't manufacture a car, because they would fail doing so. They prefer to license their software to 3rd parties, because their Google cars will suck, and their image will be kept intact that way. Same thing with Android phones, the fault is always with the OEM, not Android/Google.
I have every apple product...
My iPhone from 4s onwards needs a charge every SINGLE day or it runs out of power. If you actually use it for calls (old school i admit, pfft it's not like a smart phone should be used for voice) I'm lucky to get to 2pm in the afternoon and require multiple charges. and its not just one phone i have multiple all do 100% the same.
Security updates are coming out all the time for iOS its the most unsecured platform on the market - you can confirm this with a quick google. iOS needs a regular reboot or the UI lags, another common issue and i do stand corrected on the 2 years, its actually only 1 year before the device is obsoleted. 2 years was more a comment on when the latest version of iOS begins to suck performance wise so much the phone is pretty annoying to use!
no it hasn't. there are just an order of magnitude more users now so you read about them more. OS X is the best it's been and is way more stable and satisfying.
Was anyone else confused by the picture? Like, did anyone else just think there was a big black smudge on it, or that the black was somehow a jacket on his shoulders or something?
Or did people immediately recognize it was a car?
Or did other people just not pay any attention to the picture and not notice the smudge/car?
Or did people immediately recognize it was a car?
Or did other people just not pay any attention to the picture and not notice the smudge/car?