Ford CEO Predicts 1k% Growth for In-Car Software Services

msn.com

4 points·HeyLaughingBoy··6 comments

On one hand; i really, intensely dislike that the notion of "ownership" is being degraded like this; that manufacturers are less concerned with making things than they are with renting them to you in perpetuity.

On the other hand; if the car becomes a platform for rent seeking like this; it's very likely that the car itself will become much simpler and more reliable without all the "support the dealerships" drama that industry has going on now. Instead of being a goal, that kind of thing will be in the way of their goals (rent extraction); so the customer who just wanted a simple reliable machine may be able to find one.

I applaud your optimism, but my prediction is more along the lines of constant introduction of new features via online software update, affecting not only the infotainment (I hate that word) system but also the car's basic functionality, lots of bugs and security vulnerabilities, leading to cars that may be simpler mechanically but are more unreliable than ever. And yes, you'll have to buy it and rent it, or it won't even roll out of the driveway.

SaaS cancer being exported to virtually every industry where the companies will get away with it. The particularly nasty part about this being the new direction for the auto industry(because it isn't just a Ford thing) is that the heavy fixed costs of auto make the possibility of a "dumb car" startup that one could imagine as a response practically 0.

I encourage everyone to contact their state legislators to have this practice banned.

I guess it worked out for Tesla, so we will see this coming from all of the manufacturers in the future.

edit for clarity

Built in technology is just idiotic. You just know it will become obsolete long before the car does.

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