This is really sad. Just as the original iPhone launch broke through carriers trying to monopolize control over phones (remember having to pay for ringtones?) and instead gradually transferred to a new monopolist, we welcome our phone monopolist against the car industry. Because, as you say, the carmakers will try to customize it, and make it worse, just as PC and printer manufacturers ship bloatware and Microsoft put Candy Crush in the start menu.
I'm guessing that user customization is waay down the list here.
I agree in some ways, that phone software pushing itself into the dashboard is more worrisome. Just today I was skimming an Equinox EV review that said there's a weird interplay between the center screen and dashboard, where you'd have to reach over to the center to "push" certain modules into the dashboard.
What I guess I don't agree with is that Apple has a monopoly on car interfaces. There's a similar duopoly here between Google and Android.
Still I think the ideal might be... light integration with the automotive operating system, with that mostly controlled by the automaker, while the entertainment center is largely user-controlled, including options to use the phone-provided in-screen systems like CarPlay and Android Auto.
It hasn't, historically, been a strength of automakers to make great integrated automotive operating systems, but it is somewhat of a differentiator for buyers so we can hope that competition improves things. If someone like Mazda continues to make a fast, fluid, intuitive operating system that also supports Android Auto and CarPlay, that's great.
But... the auto sales model, I think, works against proper competition. Because there are other major factors that buyers use to make their decisions. While every GM electric car article has a few vocal "no carplay, no buy" comments, GM is still steadily increasing their EV market share. It'll never be fully... discrete.
(Not like when it was more popular to rip the whole radio out of the dashboard and put your own Pioneer/JBL/etc system in there.)
Comments
This is really sad. Just as the original iPhone launch broke through carriers trying to monopolize control over phones (remember having to pay for ringtones?) and instead gradually transferred to a new monopolist, we welcome our phone monopolist against the car industry. Because, as you say, the carmakers will try to customize it, and make it worse, just as PC and printer manufacturers ship bloatware and Microsoft put Candy Crush in the start menu.
I'm guessing that user customization is waay down the list here.
I agree in some ways, that phone software pushing itself into the dashboard is more worrisome. Just today I was skimming an Equinox EV review that said there's a weird interplay between the center screen and dashboard, where you'd have to reach over to the center to "push" certain modules into the dashboard.
What I guess I don't agree with is that Apple has a monopoly on car interfaces. There's a similar duopoly here between Google and Android.
Still I think the ideal might be... light integration with the automotive operating system, with that mostly controlled by the automaker, while the entertainment center is largely user-controlled, including options to use the phone-provided in-screen systems like CarPlay and Android Auto.
It hasn't, historically, been a strength of automakers to make great integrated automotive operating systems, but it is somewhat of a differentiator for buyers so we can hope that competition improves things. If someone like Mazda continues to make a fast, fluid, intuitive operating system that also supports Android Auto and CarPlay, that's great.
But... the auto sales model, I think, works against proper competition. Because there are other major factors that buyers use to make their decisions. While every GM electric car article has a few vocal "no carplay, no buy" comments, GM is still steadily increasing their EV market share. It'll never be fully... discrete.
(Not like when it was more popular to rip the whole radio out of the dashboard and put your own Pioneer/JBL/etc system in there.)