Apple... and why I won't be buying an electric car soon.
Hard for me to believe that I wrote this headline. The issue is nothing to do with Apple, that of course doesn't have an offering in the market.
The issue for me is all about 'trust':
° Trust that when I purchase a vehicle that I actually own it and am not renting it from the vendor. If a vendor reserves the right to turn features off remotely, do I own what I purchased?
° Trust that the vehicle's operating systems are secure. Many today use android or software of their own design for driver facing features. For such an expensive purchase, I am not prepared to wear those options.
° Trust that when I purchase a vehicle, features that I paid for are, or will be within promised time-frames, available. Full self-driving anyone?
° Trust that available capabilities such as range are valid. When customers complain of less-than-expected range, many are told apparently that 'they are driving it wrong'!
° Trust that I will treated faithfully when repairs or maintenance is required.
I had an electric vehicle on order some time ago, built by a well-known American manufacturer but cancelled the order just prior to delivery for other reasons. I always thought that my next car would be electric but now not likely.
So, where does Apple come in? My trust in Apple has served me well having used Apple computers from before the days of the Mac (we had a couple of Lisa's too). Hopefully, trust again won't be an issue should Apple enter the market. (Apple could buy publicly listed Vovlo and throw out the android OS in favour of their own and release the new EX series cars thus equipped - https://www.volvocars.com/au/cars/ex90-electric/).
Of course, none of this commentary pertains to the real-time electronics and operating systems but those systems are the result of many, many years of design and refinement.
The issue for me is all about 'trust':
° Trust that when I purchase a vehicle that I actually own it and am not renting it from the vendor. If a vendor reserves the right to turn features off remotely, do I own what I purchased?
° Trust that the vehicle's operating systems are secure. Many today use android or software of their own design for driver facing features. For such an expensive purchase, I am not prepared to wear those options.
° Trust that when I purchase a vehicle, features that I paid for are, or will be within promised time-frames, available. Full self-driving anyone?
° Trust that available capabilities such as range are valid. When customers complain of less-than-expected range, many are told apparently that 'they are driving it wrong'!
° Trust that I will treated faithfully when repairs or maintenance is required.
I had an electric vehicle on order some time ago, built by a well-known American manufacturer but cancelled the order just prior to delivery for other reasons. I always thought that my next car would be electric but now not likely.
So, where does Apple come in? My trust in Apple has served me well having used Apple computers from before the days of the Mac (we had a couple of Lisa's too). Hopefully, trust again won't be an issue should Apple enter the market. (Apple could buy publicly listed Vovlo and throw out the android OS in favour of their own and release the new EX series cars thus equipped - https://www.volvocars.com/au/cars/ex90-electric/).
Of course, none of this commentary pertains to the real-time electronics and operating systems but those systems are the result of many, many years of design and refinement.
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