40 Mercedes-Benz dealers now using iPads to sell cars

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Comments

  • Reply 41 of 59
    bigdaddypbigdaddyp Posts: 811member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by christopher126 View Post


    we are months away from where your mercedes will be 'talking to you' transmitting data directly to your iPad! Think of the animations Mercedes could do with engine graphics and statistics and maintenance communication, etc., etc.,



    Have you seen this video on the Apple website for the iPad App 'Elements.' I know it's just the periodic table but the animations are superb. This is how magazines, textbooks and Apps like the Mercedes will be presented very soon.



    Who wants the WSJ or NYT to look like a Newspaper on a 10" piece of paper?



    Take a look. The video is in the mid left side of the screen...



    http://www.apple.com/ipad/apps-for-ipad/#elements



    Best



    Mb engineers are notorious gadget freaks. It's a little scary to think what those dweebs could do with an ipad and a German lead sled.
  • Reply 42 of 59
    kovichkovich Posts: 43member
    Why has noone spotted the most critical piece of information in this news story: teh one that proves that the iPad is a failure? How come Mercedes were able to get hold of 40 iPads when you are limited to two and they have supposedly sold out within CONUS? It is obvious that the stories about iPad sales are all lies, there is in fact a huge surplus of the product and Mercedes were able to put 40 as a job lot for say $50 a piece.





    Actually this story does get me thinking again about what Apple has "invented" with the iPad. The great innovations come not from inventing a product but from inventing or popularising a new human behaviour. Blackberry "invented" the idea of typing with your thumbs, Twitter "invented" the idea of broadcasting random thoughts to the entire world; what will we say Apple invented with the iPad? At the moment I think it might be two things:



    1) casual access to a powerful computing device in circumstances usually associated with other activities: the classic examples of this are watching TV on your sofa at the same time as browing the web on your iPad or using the iPad to read a book in bed, or cooking in the kitchen. I could do all of these with my laptop but wouldn't want to



    It is this that I think will make the iPad so popular with all the people who like to do computing activities but feel that sitting in front of their computer is not relaxing



    2) expansion of handheld devices used by business beyond the consumer market (eg Apple store) and transactional business services market (Fedex or Hertz ) into the professional services market (law firms, Doctors ) and value added business services.



    For instance I can see the iPad as the perfect device for any company that uses a checklist to support quality when interacting with customers face to face



    If I had to guess how people will explain the popularity of the iPad in two year's time it would because of these two things.
  • Reply 43 of 59
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by digitalclips View Post


    That explains iPads only having 92% approval... 8% are owned by trolls.



    Good one.
  • Reply 44 of 59
    sflocalsflocal Posts: 6,096member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by backtomac View Post


    What ever happened to the NAV system Apple was supposedly designing for Mercedes Benz?



    I can think of several apps (Around Me, Now Playing come immediately to mind) that would be perfect for a NAV system based on iPhone OSX.



    I don't know why Apple don't make something like this. Surely they can do better than MS Sync (to be fair I've read it is not bad).



    Who's to say Apple hasn't done nothing in this department. For all we know, they are creating something in their skunkworks lab to be used in a automobile system. It certainly would not be beyond them since Apple is very solid on designing excellent GUI interfaces.
  • Reply 45 of 59
    myapplelovemyapplelove Posts: 1,515member
    Next gen ipads (apple is already researching patents for the idevices for this) could have rfid receptors, and anything from cars to home security systems, to any electronic item that can give feedback on it's condition, will have a master control center in the ipad. Sure you can get feedback from a car screen on a component showing a problem, but what if you could be alerted before entering the car even...



    Of course all these need very, very strong encryption standards as I said.
  • Reply 46 of 59
    jragostajragosta Posts: 10,473member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by digitalclips View Post


    That explains iPads only having 92% approval... 8% are owned by trolls.



    Actually, the 91% approval rating is misleading. 91% of users were either completely satisfied or somewhat satisfied and only 1-2% were dissatisfied. The remainder were unsure (which is a fairly high percentage of unsure for a product evaluation). The ratio of 91 / 1-2 is the important one.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Rot'nApple View Post


    Steve told us what the iPad was able to do... movies, songs, tv shows, e-mail, web, apps, but he couldn't tell us what the iPad was capable of doing... he left that to the rest of us!



    Go Mercedes... added to the list of think different companies asking innovative app designers hired to make the iPad the company's own 'mobile consumption device'...



    Actually, Hyundai (of all people) was the first automaker to see the potential of the iPad. They're bundling the owner's manual of their luxury car on an iPad:

    http://articles.sfgate.com/2010-04-0...-motor-america



    Still, you're right - there are going to be more and more uses of iPads appearing over the coming months and years.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by aaarrrgggh View Post


    If Apple wants the pilot to be successful they had better resolve the WiFi issues extremely quickly. Could also be nice in the service garage, eliminating the need for the tech's PC...



    But, as it is today, the WiFi would just be a mess to deal with. Maybe it works somewhat better on a Cisco fabric than the residential stuff.



    What evidence do you have that any significant number of users are having WiFi problems? So far, there have been only a few isolated reports out of the million-plus iPads sold -- and most of those were due to configuration problems on the user's part.



    The only significant one is related to DHCP leases which has affected a couple of universities like Princeton, but even those appear to be related more to site configuration issues and to the extremely heavy concentration of the iPads.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Kovich View Post


    Why has noone spotted the most critical piece of information in this news story: teh one that proves that the iPad is a failure? How come Mercedes were able to get hold of 40 iPads when you are limited to two and they have supposedly sold out within CONUS? It is obvious that the stories about iPad sales are all lies, there is in fact a huge surplus of the product and Mercedes were able to put 40 as a job lot for say $50 a piece..



    Aren't conspiracy theories fun - when you can make up all sorts of bizarre stories without any evidence?



    What in the world makes you think Mercedes paid $50 each? More importantly, where did you hear that they bought all 40 at once? Last time I checked, Mercedes has many thousands of employees in the U.S. and it's not that big of a deal to have an employee order something and be reimbursed for it.



    Besides, even if they DID buy all of them via corporate, it doesn't prove that there's no shortage. Even in times of constrained supply, companies may choose to make a number of products available for a high visibility customer.
  • Reply 47 of 59
    pascal007pascal007 Posts: 118member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jragosta View Post


    Aren't conspiracy theories fun - when you can make up all sorts of bizarre stories without any evidence?



    What in the world makes you think Mercedes paid $50 each? More importantly, where did you hear that they bought all 40 at once? Last time I checked, Mercedes has many thousands of employees in the U.S. and it's not that big of a deal to have an employee order something and be reimbursed for it.



    Besides, even if they DID buy all of them via corporate, it doesn't prove that there's no shortage. Even in times of constrained supply, companies may choose to make a number of products available for a high visibility customer.



    I think he was joking : didn't you notice the bulge in his cheek ? That was his tongue protruding...
  • Reply 48 of 59
    ilogicilogic Posts: 298member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Blastdoor View Post


    The iPad has so many potential markets that it can address. The possibilities are endless...



    Like preaching the Word from the iPad. I love this little device.
  • Reply 49 of 59
    Why for christ sake?. Just put your dells desktops on a cart and wheel it around the dealership with a 500 feet cord.
  • Reply 50 of 59
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jragosta View Post




    Aren't conspiracy theories fun - when you can make up all sorts of bizarre stories without any evidence?



    What in the world makes you think Mercedes paid $50 each? More importantly, where did you hear that they bought all 40 at once? Last time I checked, Mercedes has many thousands of employees in the U.S. and it's not that big of a deal to have an employee order something and be reimbursed for it.



    Besides, even if they DID buy all of them via corporate, it doesn't prove that there's no shortage. Even in times of constrained supply, companies may choose to make a number of products available for a high visibility customer.



    Mercedes are getting all thier iPads for free. Because they pay for Jobs' new organ.
  • Reply 51 of 59
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Pascal007 View Post


    I think he was joking : didn't you notice the bulge in his cheek ? That was his tongue protruding...



    Are you sure its his tongue making the bulge, not some other oblong thing like um... a Magic Mouse?
  • Reply 52 of 59
    kovichkovich Posts: 43member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Pascal007 View Post


    I think he was joking : didn't you notice the bulge in his cheek ? That was his tongue protruding...



    Indeed my cheek was bulging, partly because I had tried to swallow a Dell Streak which is a joke from another thread
  • Reply 53 of 59
    jragostajragosta Posts: 10,473member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Pascal007 View Post


    I think he was joking : didn't you notice the bulge in his cheek ? That was his tongue protruding...



    Nope - I missed it. I guess the post was too long and he did too good a job of imitating trollish behavior. When the trolls start to ramble, I sometimes give up before the 3rd or 4th paragraph - so I didn't get to his emoticon. Sorry.
  • Reply 54 of 59
    teunisteunis Posts: 23member
    This is hilarious. I was at the Mercedes Dealership last Friday. He sales guy, Brett, kept saying 'let's go back to my desk'. This happened like 3 times. My first thought was 'get an iPad'.



    Amazing.
  • Reply 55 of 59
    davegeedavegee Posts: 2,765member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by OzExige View Post


    What's wrong with you? "I can carry a 'steak' everywhere" it's gotta be betta EDIT: "The New Dell Steak" - take it with you!



    Am I really this old...



    It's not "I can carry a 'streak' everywhere"...



    it's I CAN STREAK EVERYWHERE!!!!
  • Reply 56 of 59
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by backtomac View Post


    I don't know why Apple don't make something like this. Surely they can do better than MS Sync (to be fair I've read it is not bad).



    Exclusive to General Motors I haven't heard anyone crying for Sync in any other brand of automobile, but if Apple has an exclusive... well you know.
  • Reply 57 of 59
    lilgto64lilgto64 Posts: 1,147member
    Quote:

    The company's iPad app also allows dealers to review the condition of vehicles returned at the end of their lease while the driver is present.



    If only the iPad had a camera built in - then they could not only review the condition of the car at turn it (or service drop off) but also take photos of the vehicle at the same time and have the customer sign off on that being their vehicle etc - leaving little if any room for any disagreement later over things like damage done while in for service etc.
  • Reply 58 of 59
    mac voyermac voyer Posts: 1,294member
    Wait a minute! MB is selling cars using a device that needs to be synced to a computer, does not have a USB port, will not play flash, cannot multitask, is too heavy, can't be used in the sunlight, and has a closed app development platform? How is this possible? Poor, poor Apple haters.
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