Cars with M$....?

[walkingmac]

I just read this article (http://www.freep.com/money/tech/mwend8_20040308.html) highlighting how M$ wants to have a version of windows in every 3rd car by 2006. Despite my overwhelming distaste for M$ in general and their OS. It made me think about the logistics of it, and 2 main thoughts come to mind:

1) Landing deals with the big 3 would put Mac OS and Apple deeper in a whole to struggle out of (if this was really even possible with monopoly issues and such... like I know of such things).

2) What cars will these systems be implemented with? Not your Ford Escorts or Chevy Cavaliers. Most likely your New Yorker's, your Explorers/Excursions, and other more sporty cars. Your more pricier, higher end cars. Cars that require a bit of money and good job to pay for them. Think about the demographics of such a consumer that would be interested in such a feature, and use it. am I wrong, or wouldn't most of them (around 50%) be Apple users? Most of the creative production fields would fall under that category. I know there are a lot of people out there that still use M$ (and that saddens me ), but really, wouldn't a lot of people in that demographic be mac users and have strong feelings in opposition of such a system in their car?

 

[SiliconAddict]

It won't work. Mac has no thin client. OS X may be great for desktops, workstations, laptops but its bloated when in comparison to Windows CE or Windows XP embedded. And I highly doubt Apple is going to go head to head in the embedded OS market. They seem to be perfectly happy playing niche market as is. With that being said I've commented on this in other venues that I wouldn't want Microsoft everywhere. And to be frank I wouldn't want Mac OS either. I'm a big proponent of specialized OS's. When you have a standard OS across the board, be it MOS or Windows it makes it easier to hack a system. Lets take for example the Toyota Prius I'm considering. It has BlueTooth wireless enabled on the system now I don't know the inner working of the Prius's computer so I don't know exactly how integrated some of these components are with one another but imagine if someone could sit in the car next to you and hack your car's security system simply because they knew a vulnerability in that version of Windows or MOS? With a specialized dedicated OS designed to do only a handful of core tasks that was customized for that car the likelihood of a hacker using a common vulnerability decreases. By how much? No clue but it’s a good bet it does provide greater security.

 

[SiliconAddict]

2) What cars will these systems be implemented with? Not your Ford Escorts or Chevy Cavaliers. Most likely your New Yorker's, your Explorers/Excursions, and other more sporty cars. Your more pricier, higher end cars. Cars that require a bit of money and good job to pay for them. Think about the demographics of such a consumer that would be interested in such a feature, and use it. am I wrong, or wouldn't most of them (around 50%) be Apple users? Most of the creative production fields would fall under that category. I know there are a lot of people out there that still use M$ (and that saddens me ), but really, wouldn't a lot of people in that demographic be mac users and have strong feelings in opposition of such a system in their car?

Oh and one other note. Neither MOS nor Windows CE would use the standard interfaces. You don't need that kind of complexity in a car. You would have a simple menu system like in the Prius:

In the end the user wouldn't even know they are running a Mac OS and bluntly, that's the way it should be. In the car no one gives a crap what OS they are running as long as they can interact with their car in a timely and manor. Last thing someone needs to be doing is dicking with their system while driving.