Report claims Apple talking with Volkswagen over 'iCar'

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Comments

  • Reply 21 of 73
    domdom Posts: 2member
    Why is it that people who put forward the most facile and asinine opinions always defend themselves with, 'well everyone's entitled to an opinion'. Yes we know this, but it doesn't make your opinion a good one, and it doesn't stop people rightly correcting you.



    Many companies have had dubious ties and do and will in the future. The post war generations of Germans carry an unfair level of guilt on their shoulders. I've lived there, and am married to a German. Most western countries were entertaining ideas of eugenics long before Hitler got on board. The UK almost past laws to sterilise the disabled in 1933, but were stopped at the last. Hitler just beat us to it as the country he lead was more socially and politically ripe for the leading.



    Most governments in most countries have committed atrocities, and were propped up by the powerful men in the powerful companies. Pretty hard to boycott everything.
  • Reply 22 of 73
    My god, what awful news.



    VW's cars have been HORRIBLE for the past few years. I can't urge you strongly enough NOT to buy a Volkswagen. Ours has had a huge number of failures, unfortunately just shy of our state's (sadly weak) lemon law. Many days in the shop, many problems in the first year and beyond ranging from multiple severe engine problems to a dead radio to bad seatbelt, door handle, cracked windshield (the dealer's fault), loud annoying noises in the car from bad assembly, and more. We ended up in court over it but sadly we couldn't get them to take the car back.



    Even the basics like windshield wiper refils and antifreeze are non-standard and must be bought from a dealer.



    Yes, you read that right.



    ANTIFREEZE is not available at regular auto supply stores.



    I can't make this point strongly enough:

    DO NOT BUY A VW.



    It will be the biggest regret of your life. Stay far far far away.
  • Reply 23 of 73
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ifiredmyboss.com View Post


    IBM's first computers were in the 50's...



    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM
  • Reply 24 of 73
    vineavinea Posts: 5,585member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by elroth View Post


    "What does today's VW have to do with WWII?"



    Besides building the tanks, armaments, etc. that killed American soldiers, the German car companies used Jewish slave labor in their factories. When people were too weak to be productive, they were sent to concentration camps or killed. (Side note: a very well-known aspirin company manufactured the cyanide used in concentration camps).



    If someone wants to make a moral decision to not support the heirs of those who made possible the Nazi murders, good for them. If you don't think it's relevant 60 years later, good for you. It's individual sensitivity and choice.



    Any he doesn't own any Japanese products from Mitsubishi or other corporations? Even Japanese companies formed after WWII likely have links via the keiretsu system to companies/banks/entities that profited on slave labor, conducted (in)human experiments and created chemical and biological weapons.



    And no diamonds too right?



    Vinea
  • Reply 25 of 73
    tenobelltenobell Posts: 7,014member
    Most major banks and many old companies in the US and Europe were founded and profited highly from the African slave trade. And they were never forced to pay reparations. Do we also boycott them?
  • Reply 26 of 73
    What do moderators around here do, other than not proofread articles?
  • Reply 27 of 73
    teonycteonyc Posts: 21member
    This is probably just a co-branded version of one their cars. Like they used to do with TREK bicycles (on the Jetta) or the way Ford does the Eddie Bauer edition SUVs. I wouldn't read too much into it.
  • Reply 28 of 73
    VW recently did a wacky promotion that made an electric guitar standard equipment (!?) with some models, and this makes a lot more sense.



    It'd be slick, for instance, to have an iPhone-friendly Dock connector in the glovebox, and a built-in dashboard mic for hands-free use (in addition to now-standard integration of iPod output into the sound system; steering-wheel controls for answering calls as well as navigating playlists, etc.).



    Not to mention gleaming silver apple medallions inset into the interior trim; paint schemes that match/complement the iPod nano palette; iSight cameras built into the rear-view mirror, etc...



    FWIW, my pal Julio Ojeda-Zapata, tech writer for the St. Paul (MN) Pioneer Press, was spot-on way back when he compared the original iMac to the then-new New Beetle from VW. Each product was a stylish, fun repackaging of decent but far from cutting-edge technology, priced to appeal to young hipsters. VW and Apple Think Different in similar ways.



    P.S. I understand the the Nazi-VW link made above but I trust any war criminals were, well, driven from the company a couple of generations ago.
  • Reply 29 of 73
    wessanwessan Posts: 37member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by elroth View Post


    "What does today's VW have to do with WWII?"



    Besides building the tanks, armaments, etc. that killed American soldiers, the German car companies used Jewish slave labor in their factories. When people were too weak to be productive, they were sent to concentration camps or killed. (Side note: a very well-known aspirin company manufactured the cyanide used in concentration camps).



    If someone wants to make a moral decision to not support the heirs of those who made possible the Nazi murders, good for them. If you don't think it's relevant 60 years later, good for you. It's individual sensitivity and choice.



    "Bacillus just thought one could play the 'holier than thou' card and walk away intact?"



    I don't see where he did any such thing. Giving a personal moral opinion is not criticizing anyone else. Did he say other people should come to the same conclusion? No, he just made a statement of his own feeling, in a pretty matter-of-fact way.



    It's not about the companies. It's about politics. Almost every capable company in Europe during WW2 was producing weapons. Even "allies" who betrayed democratic Czechoslovakia and forced it to surrender to Germany gave Nazis a lot of factories capable of producing weapons located in Czechoslovakia.



    The sad thing is that history is always written by winners. Losers are always bad in every aspect and winners are always good in every aspect (black-and-white). All evil that was commited by loasers is a "crime". The same things commited by winners are "necessary to defeat evil".



    USA are now behaving much like Germany few years before WW2 from my point of view. It's definitely country that lead highest number of wars since WW2 for various reasons from fighting communism to getting oil. It's strong as Germany was before WW2 and nobody can stand against it. Many factories produce weapons there including IT industry, boeing, etc.



    But the war is politics and people and even huge companies can't do anything against it. If they refuse working for state another company will.
  • Reply 30 of 73
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by max_naylor View Post


    I actually have quite fancied Volkswagen as the Apple of the car world. I think that they have the same design ethos. Plus their cars are neat.



    Audi. Not VW.
  • Reply 31 of 73
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by minderbinder View Post


    My god, what awful news.



    VW's cars have been HORRIBLE for the past few years. I can't urge you strongly enough NOT to buy a Volkswagen. Ours has had a huge number of failures, unfortunately just shy of our state's (sadly weak) lemon law. Many days in the shop, many problems in the first year and beyond ranging from multiple severe engine problems to a dead radio to bad seatbelt, door handle, cracked windshield (the dealer's fault), loud annoying noises in the car from bad assembly, and more. We ended up in court over it but sadly we couldn't get them to take the car back.



    Even the basics like windshield wiper refils and antifreeze are non-standard and must be bought from a dealer.



    Yes, you read that right.



    ANTIFREEZE is not available at regular auto supply stores.



    I can't make this point strongly enough:

    DO NOT BUY A VW.



    It will be the biggest regret of your life. Stay far far far away.



    VW made me a switcher... to another car brand.
  • Reply 32 of 73
    bdkennedy1bdkennedy1 Posts: 1,459member
    I think Steve is going to join the iCar with Time Machine and revolutionize time travel.
  • Reply 33 of 73
    hopefully it comes in more than 1 or 2 colors
  • Reply 34 of 73
    OMG, are we actually arguing about this?!?!



    The whole argument is completely ridiculous. Yes, because buying a Volkswagon means you love Hitler and hate Jews. Sh*t, that's like saying that buying a car from a sinner is unethical and means you support sin, love Satan and hate God.







    Obviously none of us are sinless, and it's impossible to purchase an item from someone who is. This includes not only descendants of Nazis but people who have any sort of hatred toward any sort of people...



    So let's just move on and never speak of this again.



    I hearby proclaim the end of the Nazi - VW conversation. OBEY!



    -Clive
  • Reply 35 of 73
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by wessan View Post


    USA are now behaving much like Germany few years before WW2 from my point of view. It's definitely country that lead highest number of wars since WW2...



    Obviously you've never heard of Africa. Yeah, it's that big continent south of Europe. You have no idea how many civil wars have been (still are) going on there since "colonization" by Europe. Things don't work so well, socially, when outsiders divide a montsrous continent up into neat little countries, based purely on geographical lines. And you never hear about them because the UN is too busy tending to "1st-world countries" that it ignores the little guys in Africa (who are also members of the UN, mind you)



    Let's also not forget the Middle East which is in consistent turmoil. Though they might not be in power directly, political factions exert power over others through means of terrorism. These factions can be considered to be at war with their government.



    Need I go on?



    Pull your arrogant head out of your ass and learn some facts before you speak again.



    -Clive
  • Reply 36 of 73
    wessanwessan Posts: 37member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Clive At Five View Post


    Obviously you've never heard of Africa. Yeah, it's that big continent south of Europe. You have no idea how many civil wars have been (still are) going on there since "colonization" by Europe. Things don't work so well, socially, when outsiders divide a montsrous continent up into neat little countries, based purely on geographical lines. And you never hear about them because the UN is too busy tending to "1st-world countries" that it ignores the little guys in Africa (who are also members of the UN, mind you)



    Let's also not forget the Middle East which is in consistent turmoil. Though they might not be in power directly, political factions exert power over others through means of terrorism. These factions can be considered to be at war with their government.



    Need I go on?



    Pull your arrogant head out of your ass and learn some facts before you speak again.



    -Clive



    I know about Africa, the conflicts there and I know problems there are not solved by "rich" countries. I think it's because they are not interesting like not having oil, strategic geographic location etc. But wars in Afrika are rarely wars of one coutry against another, but mostly civil wars that are mostly totaly out of control of state - Siera Leone, Sudan etc. And such wars are very different from invading other countries around the world.



    Yes I know middle east and I have been there. I know about many wars between Israel and it's neighbours and also about civil war in Libanon and similar. But I'm afraid that even the count of Israel-some-one-else wars is lower than USA-someone-else war, although not entirely sure.



    Killing and murdering people for any reason including ideology, land or oil is bad. Whether you kill tousand or millions it's the same evil. When commited Nazi Germany, Soviet Union, Japan, USA it's still the same evil. The point of my previous post was different and it was that no company can stop state from commiting such crimes.
  • Reply 37 of 73
    vinney57vinney57 Posts: 1,162member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Bacillus View Post


    This whole i thing is getting out of control, if the reports of an iCar pan out.



    On a personal note - I don't buy cars from a company with significant Nazi roots / origins.



    Don't buy cars from Confederates!



    Not that I'd ever buy an American car. Ford GT maybe or a Jeep, are they made by Confederates?
  • Reply 38 of 73
    benroethigbenroethig Posts: 2,782member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Buck View Post


    Ah, but why not Smart? I'd go for Smart any day. VW is just so... uncool and uninteresting.



    The Golf/Rabbit may be one of the ugliest cars ever made, but I'll take one any day over the golf carts Smart is making
  • Reply 39 of 73
    dentondenton Posts: 725member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ifiredmyboss.com View Post


    IBM's first computers were in the 50's...



    Fine: IBM's Hollerith punch card did the job. The point remains the same.



    IBM and the Holocaust
  • Reply 40 of 73
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by bdkennedy1 View Post


    I think Steve is going to join the iCar with Time Machine and revolutionize time travel.



    Revolutionize??? why, what so bad about the way it is right now, does it need extra features?

    Has worked just fine for me for years now, or maybe its minus years, cant remember when i started...
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