Hope he convinces them to go back on the stupid decision that is to abandon Carplay/Android Auto.
Get this man a raise!
But not on their phones.
Infotainment systems may be different, but suppliers were doing most of the code several years back (I hired one of those guys too). With the desire to bring SaaS to automotive I would expect GM to bring some software development in-house, but they are a management-heavy company.
I've worked there. There are two types of people: "Lifers" which are the people you described. They are content with doing their pieces and never taking a step outside the cog they are part of. This is most of the people there.
Then there are temporary workers. Contract or Independent minded, these are the people who have no trouble calling out the problem and working on it, even if its outside the job scope. They didn't learn this at GM, they learned this somewhere else. They are temporary because they see that GM is a zombie company. There are too many useless cogs that you described. There are likely more people tracking the completion of work, than those doing work. These people are looking at their resume and how they can grow their skills to leave and make more money.
I feel like finding good workers at large companies are like playing the lottery.
I completely agree. I interviewed there and above a certain level all they really want is the ability to bargain with others for resources if you or your own people can't get something done or done on time. It's not a bad thing, it's just the entire focus at that level, which leads to more chiefs than indians.
I think it stems from interdependence of components and the huge supply chain. You can't miss or it impacts the model year changeover. IMHO they need to work on that so they can have more incremental change if needed.
I think that was an attitude from like 10 years ago. When i worked there they had all their web & mobile apps in-house. They even stood up their own hosted PCF network into the more recently partnered with Azure.
Every single automaker outsources nearly everything under the bodywork related to engineering and development to their suppliers. VW, Renault, BMW, Mercedes, etc. all of them do it.
I absolutely will not buy another car in the foreseeable future that lacks Carplay. It's too good, and too much better than any carmaker's attempts to integrate with phones or music players that came before.
(I also won't pay EXTRA for it; looking at you, BMW.)
That said, in my experience Siri works well for music selection. I just hit the voice button on my steering wheel and ask for the playlist, album, or artist I want to hear.
>GM was not affected by PRISM, so they could make claims of having a privacy oriented vehicle. That messaging does really well on HN and I imagine other communities as well.
>The other thing is deeper integration. Yes it sounds like a security nightmare, but you will get additional features this way.
>You also write your own future. If the tech duopoly decides to do something like forbid alternative web browser engines, you don't need to bend the knee.
Not to mention, if every car has a generic infotainment screen, it makes the car less unique. Cars are all about the marketing and if you can make someone feel like they are cool for driving your car with the infotainment screen, you can sell that car.
I don't this this really follows. Can't you be unaffected by PRISM and then later also sell lots of customer data or whatever? Though I agree this won't be the death of GM. The worst case is they later go back and just add Carplay and Android Auto and waste a bunch of money trying to write their own stuff.
> >You also write your own future. If the tech duopoly decides to do something like forbid alternative web browser engines, you don't need to bend the knee.
I just want to say that this isn't the case for any person or corporation and it never will be. You always rely on someone or something else. GM for example relies on the United States to secure oil. You, a regular person rely on (whoever) to go and mine minerals to build your laptop. It's not just a fantasy but it's a uniquely weird, and hysterical anti-social pattern that I wish would just die. It's ok to rely on someone else and in fact it's normal, acceptable, and desirable. Relying on someone else means you have to forge relationships, and not be an ass.
Come on now... You know what I'm talking about.
We arent talking about making a car from raw materials, we are talking about in-house vs outsource.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2017/01/15/polic...
https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2021/04/01/these...