Why get into high risk low profit territory with huge products that can mame and kill people. Apple should focus on medical device technologies that can dovetail with their other tiny box high margin products.
Valid question.
Apple may answer that one of their mission goals -- in addition to profit -- is attacking areas that cause problems / inconvenience to a large number of people. Transportation is one of those areas, and Apple seems to be exploring whether this can be the next area where they have a global impact on people's lives.
Your comment about medical device technology is another good area, and we've seen them hiring people in this space the past few years, so that seems to have some momentum already (despite only minimal announced products, so far).
People think we have reached peak iPhone. But that's because they don't get it. Apple with its new camera technologies that it is developing is but a tiny fraction of the possibilities left. It's all about sensors. Apple should forget cars and focus on buying as many start-up companies working on novel sensors that will add functionality to the little gadgets we hold in our hands. That's why I mention medical devices as an example. The iPhone, watch, EarPods and whatever else are just the very foundation of so much potential.
Cars, tires, windsheilds, ..let Tesla and Kia play with that. But Apple with their bread and butter little high margin devices have so much more potential, not just for profit, but for the betterment of people on a much grander scale.
yes the grass is greener and cooler on the other side, but Apple is in an enviable position with what it's got. I'd hate to see them squander their talent and resources on lesser and less profitable endeavors.
Cars are also about sensors, or they soon will be. Plus situational intelligence, connectivity, and above all, the ultimate user interface and experience — because they take you somewhere bodily.
People who think deeply about how they can make things that improve human life will be attracted to transportation as a software and hardware opportunity. The auto industry has been stuck in an imperiialistic, ego-based aggression trip for many years now, and it's ripe for revolution.
The Jobs-Ive approach was always to strip things down to their essentials, ditch all the stupid frills, and find joy in the discovery of pure function. Why not help people move intelligently and sustainably for a change?
I think like CarPlay, or HomeKit Apple can be right there. Apple doesn't have to build the house or the car and still play a huge role.
Beaides, cars are cool, but they are not the solution the world needs. Musk is right in his hyperloop. The future is in infrastructure. And that's politics. And that's non linear and non logical. That's all bluster and hyperbole and god knows what else.
Why get into high risk low profit territory with huge products that can mame and kill people. Apple should focus on medical device technologies that can dovetail with their other tiny box high margin products.
Valid question.
Apple may answer that one of their mission goals -- in addition to profit -- is attacking areas that cause problems / inconvenience to a large number of people. Transportation is one of those areas, and Apple seems to be exploring whether this can be the next area where they have a global impact on people's lives.
Your comment about medical device technology is another good area, and we've seen them hiring people in this space the past few years, so that seems to have some momentum already (despite only minimal announced products, so far).
People think we have reached peak iPhone. But that's because they don't get it. Apple with its new camera technologies that it is developing is but a tiny fraction of the possibilities left. It's all about sensors. Apple should forget cars and focus on buying as many start-up companies working on novel sensors that will add functionality to the little gadgets we hold in our hands. That's why I mention medical devices as an example. The iPhone, watch, EarPods and whatever else are just the very foundation of so much potential.
Cars, tires, windsheilds, ..let Tesla and Kia play with that. But Apple with their bread and butter little high margin devices have so much more potential, not just for profit, but for the betterment of people on a much grander scale.
yes the grass is greener and cooler on the other side, but Apple is in an enviable position with what it's got. I'd hate to see them squander their talent and resources on lesser and less profitable endeavors.
I think making an EV is pretty easy given time, which pretty much sums up Tesla, but being successful, and generating profit in the industry is a difficult goal to achieve. You imply that there isn't any innovation left for Apple to exploit, yet encourage Tesla to keep throwing money at it in the hopes that they eventually will find some success in a low margin industry.
In Apple's case, it's all rumor of what the intent of their effort is, and it may be that there are in fact margins to be found in either subsystems or complete transportation systems, such as cars. Either way, Apple isn't squandering that talent or resources, since most of the staff of the Titan Project were hired specifically for the project, in which case, its just a relatively small pile of money that is being invested. More to the point, Apple may discover some totally unrelated innovations that we cannot even imagine today, or even more likely, that Elon is daft for even wanting to be in that industry (he's actually in the battery industry, and the car(s) is a vanity project in my opinion, but we'll see how all of that plays out against the competition in the next decade).
A single-passenger commuter vehicle makes a lot of sense when a lot of vehicles on the road can seat 4+ people but most of the time only contain a driver.
My favorite two-seater:
Love the Messerschmitt. The ragtop version in particular. I actually used to own a BMW very similar to the one on the right side at the back. It even had a sidecar.
The same bike that Steve Jobs owned and put on display at Apple as an example of great design.
It can be interesting for Asian markets but then it has to be open since people there tend to overload motorbikes with twice more passengers then they are build for. Or counts kids as luggage.
A single-passenger commuter vehicle makes a lot of sense when a lot of vehicles on the road can seat 4+ people but most of the time only contain a driver.
I see cars on the road all the time with no driver at all because the person behind the wheel is fiddling around with their cell phone.
Very true. An AI system can't we worse that that! I just read the brochure about my wife's new car, it actually stops the car if it 'sees' something it's going to hit, pretty staggering to me. We humans will accept these changes over time and one day people will laugh in horror when told we actually manually steered vehicles past each other going in the opposite direction at closing speeds of >150 m.p.h. not to mention putting oil extracts in the engines.
Comments
Beaides, cars are cool, but they are not the solution the world needs. Musk is right in his hyperloop. The future is in infrastructure. And that's politics. And that's non linear and non logical. That's all bluster and hyperbole and god knows what else.
http://www.popsci.com/this-bike-is-worlds-fastest-human-powered-vehicle
89.56 mph over a one mile course is pretty impressive.
In Apple's case, it's all rumor of what the intent of their effort is, and it may be that there are in fact margins to be found in either subsystems or complete transportation systems, such as cars. Either way, Apple isn't squandering that talent or resources, since most of the staff of the Titan Project were hired specifically for the project, in which case, its just a relatively small pile of money that is being invested. More to the point, Apple may discover some totally unrelated innovations that we cannot even imagine today, or even more likely, that Elon is daft for even wanting to be in that industry (he's actually in the battery industry, and the car(s) is a vanity project in my opinion, but we'll see how all of that plays out against the competition in the next decade).
I could see these autonomous "pods" being perfect for an urban ride hailing system.