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0 pointskenjackson1y ago0 comments

I so much prefer hooking up my phone, rather than having to authenticate every device I own to all the services I want to use. And given that most of the services that I want to use in the car are also services on my phone, e.g., GPS maps, music, podcasts -- why would I want to have to use a whole new app for this purpose?

I love that when I search for something with Google Maps it knows, typically in a letter or two, what place I'm trying to go to. I don't want to use a different music service in my car -- it has all my playlists and my "likes" already.

Do I want Ford to write its own implementation of Google Maps or Pandora? Why? Seems stupid to have 10 different implementations of the same service.

0 comments

massysett1y ago

You make a great case for why your car should have Google Maps built in. That wouldn’t require you to hook your phone to the car.

Having to hook the phone to the car is s giant leap backward. We’ve got Gmail: email from any device. We don’t say: My phone has all my email, I hook it up anytime I want to read mail, if the battery is dead or I forgot my phone, I’m screwed. No, we use Gmail from a tablet, phone, PC, etc.

But for some reason people believe it’s an awesome advance that we can hook the phone to a car, as if it’s impossible to build Google Maps into a $30000 car.

kstrauser1y ago

That’s like arguing for a smart TV instead of a dumb TV plus a smart set top box. I’d vastly rather my car’s system be a dumb display for my upgradable phone. If Google stopped making Maps, your idea would mean my car could no longer navigate. With CarPlay or Android Auto, you can just switch to a different map app.

lmz1y ago

The lifecycle of a car and those gadgets are quite different. Without upgradable hardware in your car you'd be stuck with a very old version of Gmail on your car.

This is the same logic as why some people would rather buy the dumbest TV they can and let the smarts live in an external replaceable box.

hypothesis1y ago

> as if it’s impossible to build Google Maps into a $30000 car

I’m dreading the day when they start shipping Chromium with your car and thus force you to jump through 0-day hoops.

Is Tesla basically this? Do they still update old models?

ajmurmann1y ago

In addition to the points other comments are making, please consider rental cars. So much easier there if I can just plug in my phone and get the same Infotainment UI everywhere.

BHSPitMonkey1y ago

Guess I'll just have to learn to love paying for two cellular data plans!

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