It might very well be the largest mistake Apple has ever done and seal its demise or the smartest move and they will be a global dominant company even more so than today...
Same goes for the ipod.
Only thing they had expertise in was computers. And with computers becoming extremely important for cars, they might just have a chance. Just as much as google, and they don't have any particular domain knowledge either (ie. they have never sold a car before).
I'll gladly believe that Apple will produce a car with a completely amazing user experience for its center console.
But I'll take a car with a less amazing user experience for its center console if it drives better, gets better mileage, has lower maintenance, costs tens of thousands of dollars less, and looks good on the outside. Apple has no expertise there, and it's a complicated business.
We like to sort of claim Tesla as our own, but it's not a computer company, it's a car company. Maybe Apple can create a car company ex nihilo, but that's a lot less in their wheelhouse than producing a rectangle with a touchscreen on it.
What if you change those facts? It's not too hard to imagine a world where computers could have greater effect on your car driving experience than just simple things like a music player or voice recognition.
Again, we are talking about a company that took in 75 billion last quarter. If a scrappy upstart can get into the industry, I don't doubt Apple could.
Also, this is probably an automated Uber service so you can focus on your Apple devices, not the driving experience.
Except these are improved with improved software now...for example battery technology isn't anything without good software, same with maintenance (software is the reason why the F-35 is orders of magnitude cheaper to maintain over the lifecycle)
>We like to sort of claim Tesla as our own, but it's not a computer company
Except it is...
At its heart, Tesla is a software developer dressed in a carmaker's robes. The Silicon Valley company has focused on developing its software to be the primary component behind its fleet's sophisticated safety and battery systems, not to mention its infotainment console[1]
Tesla is closer to being a technology company than a traditional automobile maker.[2]
[1]http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/04/11/is-tesla-mo... [2]https://www.ihs.com/articles/features/tesla-motors.html
And who knows ,if it's not good enough in the rest that's needed, it can always cooperate.
And sadly, much as I am invested in the Apple ecosystem, Apple's software QC has gone downhill.
Yosemite and iOS 8 both suffer many glaring, obvious bugs that have been present since the beta/DPs with no sign of fixes.
That leads to recalls and lawsuits with cars.
Surely one would be a TV. Smart TVs right now are woeful, and just providing a weak set-top box on the side might provide something at an accessible price point, but it doesn't solve the real problem.
An ideal smart TV would pre-fetch EPGs to load and switch quickly, have an optional social layer over the video feed (like what Xbox One proposed), and more naturally fit in with other hardware and ways of getting media to the screen.