Steve Jobs wanted to build 'iCar,' Apple board member says

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  • Reply 41 of 95
    ifij775ifij775 Posts: 470member
    gmhut wrote: »
    LL

    LOL
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  • Reply 42 of 95
    gmhutgmhut Posts: 242member


    The downside is a new one comes out every year and you have to keep trading in your year old obsolete "piece of crap" iCar so you can have the new and improved iCar that's a few millimeters thinner and a few grams lighter.

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  • Reply 43 of 95
    SpamSandwichspamsandwich Posts: 33,407member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by King of Beige View Post





    The car industry doesn't need an another fancy car, it's the telco's that need disrupting. Cook needs to take charge and fix what mars the Apple experience today - the telco's inferior terresterial networks and their shift towards high-price metered usage.

    To disrupt the telco's, Apple should buy Dish or Direct TV - or hoist their own constellation of satellites into orbit - and provide ultra-reliable, ultra-fast, unlimited, global wireless service to customers who purchase one or all of the 5 computer screens we all interact with daily - the screen at work, the screen at home, the screen in the car, and the two mobility screens, phones and tablets.

    Perfect the experience and Apple will continue to own the market, and the profits, with a 3-5 year advantage over anyone else.


     


    Apple should instead take up the lead on developing mesh networks. Those have a far greater likelihood of disrupting telcos and cable companies.

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  • Reply 44 of 95
    SpamSandwichspamsandwich Posts: 33,407member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by lkrupp View Post


    The point is the mind of Steve Jobs knew no boundaries. He was willing to consider anything, to attempt the impossible, to fail miserably and try again. Guys like him are very rare. I'm sure the CEO of J. Crew is not nearly in the same league as Steve Jobs in terms of vision. Jobs was a true futurist and made it happen many times in his lifetime.



     


    I think it also deftly illustrates that companies that follow every whim of their visionary founders will soon self-destruct and that Apple had wisely implemented checks and balances to balance out Jobs' wilder notions.

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  • Reply 45 of 95
    gmhutgmhut Posts: 242member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SpamSandwich View Post


     


    I think it also deftly illustrates that companies that follow every whim of their visionary founders will soon self-destruct and that Apple had wisely implemented checks and balances to balance out Jobs' wilder notions.



     


    Probably, some grounded nameless minion wisely talked Jobs out of pursuing what could have turned out to be an "iEdsel" or an "iTucker"

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  • Reply 46 of 95
    myapplelovemyapplelove Posts: 1,515member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by ascii View Post


    self-driving



    self-serving 

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  • Reply 47 of 95
    myapplelovemyapplelove Posts: 1,515member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SpamSandwich View Post


     


    I think it also deftly illustrates that companies that follow every whim of their visionary founders will soon self-destruct and that Apple had wisely implemented checks and balances to balance out Jobs' wilder notions.



    that's news to me... let's see without the whims of SJ what they are going to come up with btw. 

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  • Reply 48 of 95
    msimpsonmsimpson Posts: 452member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by myapplelove View Post


    self-serving 



    self-jerking aren't you?

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  • Reply 49 of 95
    gtrgtr Posts: 3,231member

    Way back in the 1990's I picked up an interest in Touring Car Racing in Australia.


     


    At the time, there were many different brands competing, such as Holden, Ford, BMW, Nissan, Toyota, Jaguar, Chevrolet, Volvo, Audi, etc… but the most popular makes were Holden and Ford. They were popular because they had been around for quite a while, and used the tried and tested formula of combining a large capacity engine (V8) with a simple rear-wheel drive system.


     


    They weren't the best, but they got the job done.


     


    Then, one day, Nissan came along and introduced a car that was the culmination of all of their knowledge and expertise, and also took advantage of modern technology.


     


    It had half the capacity of the V8 engines, but used turbos to make up the difference in power, and, instead of a simple two wheel drive system that the V8's used, it utilised an intelligent four-wheel drive system that switched on and off depending on what optimum handling required at the time.


     


    It was an outstanding success.


     


    It launched like a slingshot, could pull a G cornering, and giggled like a Japanese schoolgirl in the wet-weather conditions while allowing you to drive in a manner that would cause other vehicles to crash in the dry.


     


    Upon it's release in Japan, the car initially had twenty-nine wins in twenty-nine races. It was so dominant in the Australian Touring car series that it was dubbed 'Godzilla' after the unstoppable monster, caused some of the less competitive manufacturers to threaten boycotts, and eventually the race rules were changed to make it ineligible for entry.


     


    I have one of those cars now. It is one of the most incredible pieces of machinery that I have ever owned. It has gone up against the likes of 2012 exotic cars even today, and absolutely decimated them. It cost me twenty grand.


     


    There is an expression among owners of this car: "If you could drive God, this is what it'd feel like."


     


    It is this car that embodies everything that Jobs and Apple believe in: It prefers the use of brain over brawn, and quality over quantity, all the while creating something that is absolutely breathtaking in it's ability to do it's job. Whenever I drive it, I can't help but be reminded that, given the chance, this is the type of car that Apple would have made.


     


    I won't spoil the story and tell you the exact model, but the smarter ones among you will work it out easily.


     


    However, if Apple ever gets into the car business, I look forward to that day.
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  • Reply 50 of 95
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by GTR View Post

    …the car initially had twenty-nine wins in twenty-nine races… …eventually the race rules were changed to make it ineligible for entry.


     


    This is the kind of crap that ticks me off more than anything. 


     


    If you suck THAT much, you need to get out of the business entirely or actually make better products. You don't conspire to cheat the best of the best out of fair competition.

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  • Reply 51 of 95
    libertyforalllibertyforall Posts: 1,418member


    So would it be the iCamaro?  ;)

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  • Reply 52 of 95
    libertyforalllibertyforall Posts: 1,418member


    WHERE is the rear window in that car?!


     


     


    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post


     


    That was a lot of extra formatting code. image


     


    For an iCar, I'd imagine the frame would be made of one piece of aluminum and the door seams wouldn't be visible when they're shut… 


     


    Lights would be handled by strips of LEDs instead of single lights… I wonder if I could mock that up… 


     


    nano-engineered-audi-a9-futuristic-car-03.jpg


     


    Can't mock it up… BUT, lights like the back strip here, except all the way around the vehicle at that same thickness. So when you're turning left, the entire left half of the strip will blink. When you're braking, the entire back half of the strip will be red. And the strip wouldn't have to be fully horizontal; you could design the vehicle around the lighting. 


     


    Anyone else with iCar ideas?


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  • Reply 53 of 95
    libertyforalllibertyforall Posts: 1,418member


    Well, Jobs was in the process of designing his iYacht...  ;)  

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  • Reply 54 of 95
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by libertyforall View Post

    WHERE is the rear window in that car?!


     


    Here're some more shots. The glass isn't visible. Sounds like something Apple would do.


     


    AudiA9concept2_.jpg


    AudiA9concept3_.jpg


    AudiA9concept5_.jpg


    a9-concept.jpg

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  • Reply 55 of 95
    WHERE is the rear window in that car?!


    Just say, "Siri, what's behind us?"
    Siri: "Maybe this will answer your question" (displays rear view).
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  • Reply 56 of 95
    swssws Posts: 44member


    I remember reading back in 2010 and 2011 that Steve Jobs was in talks with Volkswagen and they were both very lightly kicking around the idea of working on a joint project, one would assume the so called "iCar".


     


    I have a 2011 VW, and I would trade it in for the iCar any day of the week, just to have it!! lol


    image

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  • Reply 57 of 95
    iqatedoiqatedo Posts: 1,846member


    Don't know the efficacy of this claim, however, very sad that there were doubtless ideas forming in Steve's consciousness that we'll never learn about.  This project would have been particularly interesting however, IF Apple were to have played a significant role in hardware-level software design.  Hardware requires a real-time OS (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real-time_operating_system).  This might have advanced an Apple OS in interesting directions indeed.  Of the current high-level operating systems, there is a real-time Linux.  Maybe one day...

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  • Reply 58 of 95
    iqatedoiqatedo Posts: 1,846member


    Imagine SIRI integrated into the car's OS...


     


    Driving down the highway, iCar-iPhone rings, SIRI answers... "Hello Tim, I am sorry that Newt cannot take your call right now, he is en route to meet you at 1 Infinite Loop in 10 minutes.  Do you want to reschedule or change the venue?"  "Thank you, I will pass on the message 'you are fired'... have a nice day."

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  • Reply 59 of 95
    antkm1antkm1 Posts: 1,441member


    @GTR:


     


    Answer: Nissan Skyline GT-R, your handle gave it away.


     


    there are so many things to say about that but I limit it to a few.


     


    Anyone remember, Jobs drove a Merc SL 55 AMG?  So I'd assume the car would resemble the same smart design and forward thinking that Merc's have.  It's a little know fact that almost every major safety feature and standard innovation we now enjoy in our cars was first implemented by the S-Class Merc's.  Sounds like Apple eh?


     


    I do wish Jobs had pursued this.  Tesla did it, and that guy invented Pay Pal.  Not even close to the background Apple has.  However, when is the world going to wake up and realize that Hydrogen is really the fuel of the automotive future?  I wish Apple would invest in Fuel cell tech and help the industry figure out how to mainstream that.


     


    as for cars go, IMO, a German-esque car would be what the iCar would have been.  And for those who complain about bad stereos, pick up a new VW.  They worked with Apple for years and they finally got the stereo right when it comes to iPod integration.


     


    My 2012 VW is great...simple design from bonnet to boot, only the essentials...smart design with many surprises.  Like the speed sensitive wipers that slow down when you're waiting at a light and.  The rear wiper engages when you back up with the wipers on.  Dials instead of buttons so you can set it and forget it, especially on the sunroof.  How annoying is it that you have to hold the damn button down in any other car to open the roof, when you can just set the dial.  Streamlining the car series by making all the interior equipment as universal and as high quality for most every model.  Just a few things that I love about the design philosophies inherent to VW's.

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  • Reply 60 of 95
    pembrokepembroke Posts: 231member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Apfeltosh View Post


    Just because one thinks about doing everything does not mean they cannot and will not fail or that they are one of a kind. LOTS of people think outside of their skill set and fail miserably. Jobs made nice electronic toys that took the brain out of using them, which was his skill. He perfected what he stole from Xerox and others and then went ballistic when others copied him. He was a control freak, impossible to work with or for, and wanted to make billions for the company, and give nothing back to society. Well done. Massive market cap and that is it, quite the legacy. Wall Street and its band of thieving executives are proud.



     


    Give nothing back to society? That's astonishingly myopic.



    > There are upwards of 50,000 people who have a means of living by working for Apple, since when are they not part of society? That's some 50,000 that work for Apple, that doesn't include the people who work for Apple suppliers. 



    > The billions in taxes paid by Apple, how has that not benefited society? 

     "In Apple’s last annual disclosure, the company listed its worldwide taxes — which includes cash taxes paid as well as deferred taxes and other charges — at $8.3bn [£5bn], an effective tax rate of almost a quarter of profits."

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