barthrh

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barthrh
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  • Rivian adds Apple Music, but won't consider CarPlay

    barthrhbarthrh
    I've listened to the podcast; it's good and CarPlay is just 5 min of the one hour interview. I'm coming from the perspective (as it was framed) of CarPlay as we know it. Many of the comments here seem to consider the full-UI replacement CarPlay that's also available, but not mandatory. I get why a manufacturer wouldn't want this.

    The idea of shunning CarPlay is ultimately tone deaf and to some extent hubris. It suggests that the car is a more important focal point of your life than your phone. It's not. My phone/iCloud is the hub of everything and try as you may to replace bits of it (adding Apple Music, some parts of Messages), my phone is effective because they are all thought-out components that work together perfectly, not modular vendor-neutral parking spots in another UI. I also have the option to use any CarPlay app, so if I prefer Overcast to Podcasts, I'm covered. In a Rivian, I'm not.

    When I get in my car, I want the experience I have at my desk, in my living room, brought into my car for complete consistency. I don't give a rat's ass about the car manufacturer's design language and I'll gladly press an extra button to heat my seats to have that (the argument RJ makes for controlling UI).

    This difference will become immensely larger when the promise of Apple Intelligence is delivered. Siri is helpful now, but if I can chain together a series of commands in while driving that understand my personal context, no car will match that experience.
    watto_cobra

  • iPad, iPad Air, iPad Pro buyer's guide May 2024: which iPad to buy for any budget

    barthrhbarthrh
    tht said:
    I think the iPad mini rev will have either an A16 SoC or TSMC N3E A18 SoC. Also, wouldn't mind a rebranding to iPad Air 9". Yes, increasing the display size to 9" or 8.8" whatever.

    There really isn't any reason for it to have an M-series processor. An A17 Pro would be nice for it, but I buy the story that Apple is transitioning to TSMC N3E chips as soon as they can. An A18 that performs like an A17 Pro would be great.
    I suspect that they delayed the Mini launch until the fall so they can use the same processor as the iPhone 16, so likely the A18. That provides a nice bump and leaves them lots of runway before they need to bump it again.
    tht

  • EU's antitrust head is ignoring Spotify's dominance and wants to punish Apple instead

    barthrhbarthrh
    How does your comment relate to calculating surcharges? To modify... it is a 43% surcharge on app prices / a 30% tax on developers.
    What do you think retailers charge as a markup on hard goods on the store shelf? In the "old days" of buying software on disk, the retailers were taking 50% or more markup on wholesale. Retail is commonly a 100% markup on wholesale. Before anyone says "well you don't need to buy from that retailer", nor is that retailer obliged to put the URL of each product / competitors' stores on the shelf tags.

    You don't see developers complaining as vocally about the *same* 30% cuts happening on the Sony PS / MS XBox stores because they know the alternative -- distribution, packaging, marketing, collecting from the stores, lower wholesale vs. the 30% (or 43%) "tax" -- is way worse.


    foregoneconclusionteejay2012tmaythtwilliamlondonAlex1Ndewmebyronlwatto_cobra

  • Gene Munster: Apple should buy Rivian after cancelling Apple Car

    barthrhbarthrh
    twolf2919 said:
    Literally everything you wrote in support of Fisker also holds for Rivian.  Although I think it very unlikely that Apple will buy any car company, Rivian would be a better fit for Apple for one simple reason: they have indicated, many times, they like to control/make all the critical components of of their products.  Fisker doesn't even make their own cars - they're produced by Magna-Steyr in Austria!  Rivian makes its own cars and has developed its own related technologies (e.g. the  motors that now drive  most of their newer vehicles).

    But Munster is not the smartest tool in the shed.  He just throws stuff onto a wall and hopes something sticks.  He previously forecast Apple will produce a TV for christ sake.
    If anything, Apple pairing up with a platform like Magna through an investment or partnership is the best play. I believe that EVs will become a very fractured market, much more so than ICE cars, because you can just build an experience atop a platform. Buy the battery, drivetrain, framework from a Magna, then you add the experience. We are already seeing tech companies announcing cars. The platform builders would offer a flexible array of options so that you can build a sports car, laid-back SUV, or small urban putter. It'll make for way more reliable cars, unlike so many of today's cars where they look great, but you need to be ready to for lots of garage time (most British and Italian cars?). Just look at the Supra vs. the Z4. Built on the same platform, share most of their DNA, but each manufacturer made it into something unique with design and execution tweaks.

    Apple needs to get in on the platform business to get CarPlay and core electronics into these cars.
    watto_cobra

  • Play more Windows games on the Mac with the new CrossOver 24

    barthrhbarthrh
    schlack said:
    $24 per YEAR. SMH. Uh, no.
    It doesn't stop working after a year, you just don't get updates and bug fixes. Can't imagine how they could afford to do that ongoing for $24 (or $100) one-time given the nature of what they do (support new APIs and games).
    watto_cobramichelb76