Comment by aikah | Hacker News Reader

Comment by aikah | Hacker News Reader

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> ...i...what...but why...that doesn't even make sense?...

From the article

> Basically, a phone unlocks the car using a combination of cell service and Bluetooth. So when you're out of cell range it can be difficult to unlock the car.

> They were unable to ping the car because, I don't know, they hadn't updated, or synced, the software in 24 hours.

My understanding is that it works like scooter and bike sharing services, where you have to have an active connection to their servers to use the vehicle. Of course, while it works in the city where there is 3G/4G coverage, it's not going to be efficient in the middle of nowhere where coverage is unlikely... so sometimes convenience (AKA it's just an app) becomes a hindrance. Who's fault is it? (rhetorical question)

> Who's fault is it?

The developer's fault. How this is even debatable is beyond me. Completely failed on the UX level.

Someone probably told the developer to implement it that way.

Rarely are developers in charge of UX

Devs just do whatever they're told. It's likely the PO's responsibility to think through how this should work.

How is that the developer's fault?

You unlock the car with your phone over your data connection and not with a key. Losing the data connection is the equivalent of losing the key. You may not like it, I know I don't, but that's the downside of doing it this way (just like it's a downside to have a physical key because you can lose it too).

I have no doubt that the developers warned management of the risk of doing it this way, they accepted the risk.

Whether the restriction is reasonable or not is up for debate. The issue is that they created a vehicle that only works within a specific geographic area, then failed to document that area or warn users that it existed.

Who is downvoting this guy and why are you downvoting him? This makes perfect sense. This isn't Reddit where you upvote/downvote based on your opinion, you downvote if the information isn't factual.

I get that part, but why would sleeping overnight and trying again in 8 hours be a solution?

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