Cars should just come with a big open socket up front, where I can buy (or build) my own infotainment system to install there. That way I can replace it over the course of the car's lifetime. Or, give me the option to just plug it up or install a traditional car radio or something. I should be able to cram an 8-track player in if I want.
Keep all automobile controls as physical buttons, knobs, and levers.
I haven't owned a car in over 10 years, but whenever I look at what's available, I can't get past how much planned obsolescence is baked into newer cars. I would never buy one...
If automakers focused on cars, and let tech companies and focus on building the infotainment systems, we'd have better choices and less vendor lock-in.
Cars should just come with a big open socket up front, where I can buy (or build) my own infotainment system to install there.
...which is precisely what we used to have, before auto makers decided to insist that they should be enclosed in a swooping dash.
I'd be fine with a reinvention of the modular system with more digital I/O and connections to other features of the car. Let me buy something like a "Samsung Galaxy Drive" infotainment dash that embodies the "swooping dash" concept, or let me buy a pre-built shell that I can build out like a custom PC.
I can cram my car full of corporate apps, or I can run it on Linux. I would love to have the choice.
Any future self-driving capabilities need to be inside of their own dedicated system like an aircraft autopilot.
I mean, the DIN hole was a standard size but it certainly wasn't a 'socket' and anyone who had a Ford Focus that needed a Mercedes-Benz writing harness to plug up their aftermarket radio knows what I'm on about.
That was also the point of Apple CarPlay/Android auto. Let the manufacturer provide the hardware but your phone can run the infotainment. Let actual software companies do that, instead of the horrible mess that car manufacturers make out of software
Cars should just come with a big open socket up front, where I can buy (or build) my own infotainment system to install there. That way I can replace it over the course of the car's lifetime. Or, give me the option to just plug it up or install a traditional car radio or something. I should be able to cram an 8-track player in if I want.
Keep all automobile controls as physical buttons, knobs, and levers.
I haven't owned a car in over 10 years, but whenever I look at what's available, I can't get past how much planned obsolescence is baked into newer cars. I would never buy one...
If automakers focused on cars, and let tech companies and focus on building the infotainment systems, we'd have better choices and less vendor lock-in.
...which is precisely what we used to have, before auto makers decided to insist that they should be enclosed in a swooping dash.
I'd be fine with a reinvention of the modular system with more digital I/O and connections to other features of the car. Let me buy something like a "Samsung Galaxy Drive" infotainment dash that embodies the "swooping dash" concept, or let me buy a pre-built shell that I can build out like a custom PC.
I can cram my car full of corporate apps, or I can run it on Linux. I would love to have the choice.
Any future self-driving capabilities need to be inside of their own dedicated system like an aircraft autopilot.
I mean, the DIN hole was a standard size but it certainly wasn't a 'socket' and anyone who had a Ford Focus that needed a Mercedes-Benz writing harness to plug up their aftermarket radio knows what I'm on about.
That was also the point of Apple CarPlay/Android auto. Let the manufacturer provide the hardware but your phone can run the infotainment. Let actual software companies do that, instead of the horrible mess that car manufacturers make out of software