Latest grab by auto manufactures

[MossRoad]

I agree that GPS is very convenient and useful. One thing I have noticed though, is when I have to "think" about where I am going (looking at a map to see where the general area is and where the major intersections are) I pretty much remember it next time. When I rely on GPS I may go somewhere a half a dozen times but then come to realize that I do not remember exactly how to get there without the GPS. Like so many great technological break-throughs, there is a trade off in that you may lose some ability to do things manually or by your own wits.

I haven’t found that to be the case for me yet. I use it to get to a place I’ve never been before. The next time I use it just to refresh my memory. Usually by the 3-4th time, I don’t need it.

But I always leave it on for highway trips just because it tells me a few things I like to see in one place, like how long I’ve been driving, how many miles further, about how much time still to go, elevation if I’m in hilly places, names of lakes and rivers I might pass, stuff like that.

It’s also handy in that if I haven‘t been through a particular area in a few year, chances are pretty good the roads have changed. Indy, Cincinnati, Chicago, to name a few, have changed dramatically on the street level, let alone a few major highway changes/additions.

Also, the beauty of knowledge for me, is that I don’t have to remember anything I don’t want to, just where to look something up if I need it. Facts. Formulas. Processes. It’s all right there. The internet is a giant encyclopedia! With pictures and movies and teachers, too!

My in-law‘s Mercury Grand Marquis de Sade had a broken power window regulator. I’ve never changed on in my life. I looked it up, watched two videos, and did it. I thought I’d never have to do it again, so I purged it from my memory banks. Then the other one went out. So I repeated the above process in less time as a refresher course and again purged it. Then my kid‘s went out in a Sable. So again, a quick refresher and I was done. Now I doubt I’ll ever get that process out of my mind completely (I can picture it all in my head right now), but you get the gist.

Sometimes it’s not worth remembering some things, just retain the knowledge of where to look it up if you need to.

 

[houska]

I get the visceral "yuck" reaction to this and I feel it too. We're a (virtual) commodity of people who are more self-reliant than average, who make thoughtful(?maybe) decisions when it's worthwhile to spend $$ now to buy and own some equipment, to save precious time or bleeding $ over time later. Of course we're not keen on the idea.

I had the same reaction when the computer software market changed from "buy outright and maybe buy discounted upgrades" to "software as a service". And yet now I'm quite fine with the annual or even monthly subscriptions for software (together with a bunch of free and open source stuff I use). Developers need to keep hustling on their R&D, feature updates, and bug fixes to keep getting my money. Expensive complex software is less of a "pray I chose the right platform 'cause it's too expensive to switch" decision. And if my needs change and I no longer need a complex software package, I just quit renting it.

Meanwhile, our cars get more and more expensive with feature bloat, some of which is super but a lot of it is a useless yawn. There's little incentive to fix stuff that wasn't quite right. Case in point: we have a 2014 Subaru Forester. Great car. But the smartphone interface is poorly designed and buggy (pre CarPlay). You can be sure that if Subaru had even a small revenue stream associated with it, there would be an upgrade available. Instead, we just put up with it until we change cars in a couple more years. Meanwhile I don't know how much extra we paid for some fancy "X-mode", for electrically controlled windows and lift reargate -- stuff nice to have but probably not worth $$ -- and a fancy AC that is supposed to keep a fixed temperature but we're always fiddling with up or down anyway.

 

[Jstpssng]

As a former Boy Scout, I used to poo-poo GPS. I can use a map and compass.

Then after my first use of a GPS, I realize a GPS is just a really good map and compass! It’s all right there. Better maps than are in my book of maps, and, it can suggest a place to eat, where to shop, road congestion ahead, alternate routes….

It’s just a really good tool!

Maybe so. Yet I have never had the batteries go dead in my compass. They also have never scrambled the magnetic pull of the pole, the way they did to GPS signals on Sept 11. I didn’t have a clue what was going on until I got back to my truck at 5:00 PM that day; and couldn’t figure out why my cruise line was 1000 feet off. My GPS said I was right on, and I’d gone all day without a tie-in point.

 

[MossRoad]

The subscription model... gotta love it.

I can sell you something that you can operate yourself as desired, orrrrr, I can sell you something that you cannot use unless you pay me a monthly fee, even though it’s already on the vehicle. And, I’ll bet that if you want to use something like, say, heated seats, you’ll pay me this month, and due to the agreement, you’ll be charged each subsequent month until you opt out, and you’ll forget to opt out when the warm weather returns.

Since the price of the heated seats is already included in the purchase price of the car, it’s just gravy money for me to get you to agree to pay to use something you already paid for.

Pure genius!

 

[MossRoad]

Maybe so. Yet I have never had the batteries go dead in my compass. They also have never scrambled the magnetic pull of the pole, the way they did to GPS signals on Sept 11. I didn’t have a clue what was going on until I got back to my truck at 5:00 PM that day; and couldn’t figure out why my cruise line was 1000 feet off. My GPS said I was right on, and I’d gone all day without a tie-in point.

I’ve had a compass demagnetize.
I’ve also had compasses that are not accurate inside a car or building.

 

[herm0016]

There is a lot of maintainable infrastructure for OnStar, it still uses satellites if there is no cell coverage. not much for heated seats.

GM piggy backed on their DirecTV, Hughes net and XM radio services under Hughes electronics for OnStar and now rents bandwidth from whoever owns those things now. Yes, GM used to own all that along with a bunch of other interesting businesses. they were once the largest satellite operator.

 

[WM75Guy]

There is a lot of maintainable infrastructure for OnStar, it still uses satellites if there is no cell coverage. not much for heated seats.

GM piggy backed on their DirecTV, Hughes net and XM radio services under Hughes electronics for OnStar and now rents bandwidth from whoever owns those things now. Yes, GM used to own all that along with a bunch of other interesting businesses. they were once the largest satellite operator.

AT&T owns DirecTV, although they are trying to sell it off but no takers.

 

[Jstpssng]

I’ve had a compass demagnetize.
I’ve also had compasses that are not accurate inside a car or building.

I don't generally need a compass when in a building or car. Although there have been a couple of time when in Super Walmart...

I've had one compass go bad on me. We use GPS to get close to a cruise point, then compass and pace the last 75 feet or so. Early one day I got my bearing from the GPS, took out my compass and headed west- WTF? The sun doesn't rise in the west!!! Somehow my compass had reversed it's polarity. I'm not sure how, but I was wearing a snow boarder's coat with magnets in the zipper cover, and suspect that I had gotten the compass too close to it.

 

[Gator6x4]

I‘m guessing here and I’ll take my Ford F-150 as an example. They have something called Ford Pass? You put it on your smart phone and can do things on your truck, like remote start, maybe turn on the heated seats for the remote start. It was useless on my truck since it’s an XLT and it’s too low a model for any of that to work.

So are they saying you will have to pay for this app to make it work? Or are they saying to make tge heated seats to work at all you have to pay yearly? I thought the article was a little vague.

You will have to have one of these vehicles to get Ford Pass to work on your Smart Phone.

"The FordPass compatible vehicles are from 2017 onward, including: Ford Escape Titanium. Ford F-150 King Ranch/Platinum/Limited/Lariat Luxury/Raptor Luxury. Ford Fusion Platinum and Platinum Hybrid"

 

[Gator6x4]

AT&T owns DirecTV, although they are trying to sell it off but no takers.

AT&T and DirecTV is one tangled web.

AT&T has officially spun off DirecTV, which is now its own business

So much for that investment.

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