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Apple Inks Deal With Volkswagen for Self-Driving Employee Shuttles
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I agree wholeheartedly. Not sure I want a computer doing the driving for me. I like driving. It's fun.
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I drive a 96 VW GTI, and although it's old, it runs like a top. And it's dang fun to drive too!! Love Volkswagens!
This is all a nice wet dream for Apple.
May the accidents begin and wake them up.
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.. or any other software
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You seem to have no experience with technology.
I do agree that most human drivers are idiots, however. No arguments there.
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I saw that Uber ram the poor woman who was walking her Bycicle. Self driving is Not ready. Not.
Apple has signed a deal with Volkswagen to use Volkswagen vans as self-driving shuttles designed to transport employees around its various campuses and office buildings in the San Francisco Bay Area, reports The New York Times.
Apple has been working on developing the shuttle program, called "PAIL" or Palo Alto to Infinite Loop, since last summer. At the time news of Apple's work on the program first surfaced, the company was said to be planning to install its own self-driving software in a commercial vehicle from an automaker, which has turned out to be Volkswagen.
Under the terms of the deal, T6 Transporter vans from Volkswagen will be turned into self-driving shuttles for employees.
One of the Lexus SUVs Apple uses to test its autonomous driving software
Apple's self-driving shuttle program is said to be behind schedule and "consuming nearly all of the Apple car team's attention," hinting at ongoing problems on its car-related project, which has already been scaled back.
Apple originally had grander plans for autonomous vehicles and over the course of the past several years, attempted to ink deals with companies like BMW and Mercedes-Benz, which would have led to the development of an all-electric autonomous vehicle.
According to today's report, no deal was able to be established because Apple was asking potential partner companies to "hand over control" of data and design, something no car manufacturer was prepared to do.
When its grandiose self-driving vehicle plans fell through, Apple shifted focus to autonomous driving software under the leadership of Bob Mansfield.
Apple is now working on its shuttle program and has been testing several Lexus SUVs equipped with self-driving hardware and software out on the streets of Cupertino and surrounding areas. Beyond the shuttle plan, Apple is said to have no clear idea of what it's going to do with its autonomous driving project.
Article Link: Apple Inks Deal With Volkswagen for Self-Driving Employee Shuttles
Since electric cars are still in the development phase for most automakers except for Tesla, I’m betting that Apple is waiting to see who will be able to electrify the best and swoop in with an acquisition to get the hardware to implement their software.
Anyone who knows their SciFi recognises that self-driving cars are inevitable 
That said, I'm very apprehensive about this VW deal. In my own experience (from driving a VW for four years), their cars are haphazardly engineered resulting in poor reliability. On top of that, their customer service is cr@p, at least here in Oz. Customers with genuine issues are met with denial or lip service. My car had numerous faults, two of which never got fixed (the DSG being erratic and jumpy, and the ECU going into limp-home mode all the time for no reason) and spent in service about 25% of its life. Brand new, off the yard, it came with a faulty supercharger, that needed fixing twice...
<shakes head>
Then again, perhaps Apple is just using them to get a driving platform, until they don't need them any longer.
That said, I'm very apprehensive about this VW deal. In my own experience (from driving a VW for four years), their cars are haphazardly engineered resulting in poor reliability. On top of that, their customer service is cr@p, at least here in Oz. Customers with genuine issues are met with denial or lip service. My car had numerous faults, two of which never got fixed (the DSG being erratic and jumpy, and the ECU going into limp-home mode all the time for no reason) and spent in service about 25% of its life. Brand new, off the yard, it came with a faulty supercharger, that needed fixing twice...
<shakes head>
Then again, perhaps Apple is just using them to get a driving platform, until they don't need them any longer.
Until they add some AI, especially if it comes from Apple.
Where do you get this idea that AI cars will have a lower accident rate? They've already racked up 5 or 6 deaths and there are only a handful of them in operation, with a low number of miles driven.
Lots of $$$ on the line here. Imagine delivery, trucking, taxi service, etc. being automated. That's what is driving (pun not intended) this insanity. The 'save lives' is just the marketing job. If they really cared about saving lives, there are much better solutions.
And, it isn't that the human mind is orders of magnitude ahead, it is in a whole different category. AI could improve a million time and it still wouldn't be in the same league. It's a qualitative difference, not a quantitative one.
Not if there are AI cars on the loose!!!
They used to be that, now they care more about profits and fashion. Marketing is driving the design, not 'we build the best stuff.'
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Anyone who knows their SciFi recognises that self-driving cars are inevitable
...
My car had numerous faults, two of which never got fixed (the DSG being erratic and jumpy, and the ECU going into limp-home mode all the time for no reason)...
I think that nails the problem here... too many of these people don't know the difference between SciFi and reality.
Our Jetta TDI also had issues with the DSG and how it ran (probably the ECU), but it wasn't that way when new. I think the firmware updates were progressively experimenting with solutions to the diesel-gate issue before it broke. After the news came out, it all started making sense. By the time we were able to settle, I was really quite ready to be rid of it (I loved it when we bought it).
It will be true sooner than you think, because human beings basically suck at driving.
See point #4 here:
https://www.vox.com/2016/4/21/11447838/self-driving-cars-challenges-obstacles
And, if we truly cared about saving lives, we would take those who suck at driving off the roads.
I'm expecting some kind of announcement about self-driving testing at WWDC. Am I the only one that see streets and intersections in the WWDC invitation?? Also, Apple has always been leader in their fields because of the incredible integration of software and hardware which they both control, they might be delaying it but they will not mix their software with someone else's hardware/cars.
They will never be bug free but they can potentially be a lot safer than having humans in control. It's then your decision to choose the lower risk of being killed by an autonomous machine or the higher risk of being killed by a human controlled machine.
Even if a bug-free driverless car did exist, it doesn't mean it won't kill you (deliberately). The scenario of a child walking out in front of a car and the car having to decide between running it down or veering into a tree and killing the passengers has been well documented. If you died as the result of such an accident, does it matter if the driver was human or machine?
Would it be ethical to mod the software of the car to protect your life to the maximum extent possible, even at the expense of other people's lives? What if all cars were modded that way?
Needless to say, ethical questions like these will probably not be addressed by engineers and manufacturers until a high profile accident occurs. That is, after all, how airline safety works.
No surprise there. This company can't even design a keyboard that is able to withstand dust particles. How on earth can one expect them to design autonomous vehicles. Just stick with Animoji, Apple, then we can all call it a day and officially move on.
/onlypartiallysarcastic
Huh? VW owns Audi, Porsche, Bentley, Bugatti and Lamborghini. They have way more design/tech than any other car company when they want to.
Your hard earned money, that you over-spend on Macs at work. I'd rather have higher quality Macs (keyboard, capacitors, ...) more ports, and newer Intel^W AMD CPUs than Apple burning money in their unsuccessful car hobby.
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Actually VW used to be quite high quality for the price point. A pity they screwed us and themselves with this stupid Dieselgate, …
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Actually VW used to be quite high quality for the price point. A pity they screwed us and themselves with this stupid Dieselgate, …
Do you think Apple is using up resources for computers on cars? They have an absurd amount of money and car engineers don’t work on building computers.
This is not a valid complaint of the largest public company in existence.
https://www.statista.com/statistics...ive-semiconductor-manufacturers-market-share/
Think about how many chips go in any car nowadays... self driving or not, these autos are filled with them. Apple makes great processors so I see a future for them in the market. Even if the cars never come with an Apple inside sticker. Do they still produce processors for missiles?
https://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/15/new-iphone-chip-will-cost-an-arm-and-a-missile/
Think about how many chips go in any car nowadays... self driving or not, these autos are filled with them. Apple makes great processors so I see a future for them in the market. Even if the cars never come with an Apple inside sticker. Do they still produce processors for missiles?
https://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/15/new-iphone-chip-will-cost-an-arm-and-a-missile/
I hear you, but the VW moving forward will be all electric soon enough. Also the diesel cheat scandal puts them at the disadvantage that Apple needs in order to come in and make their demands.