Automobiles

[j44ke]

These nav stories are a good example of why something like Apple CarPlay is so nice. The apps aren’t native to the car, they’re just played through the car.

That said, some are better than others. The car I drove in Europe last summer had a very laggy system and that really kills the user experience.

My father's wife has never been able to get Apple CarPlay to work in her Subaru. Neither has the dealer. They even gave her a new iPhone (she's a tough negotiator.) It has been a couple of years so maybe they got it figured out, but she was just using the phone for navigation and running the audio through the car speakers.

[j44ke]

...


It’s amazing that nobody was killed in the collapse as that bridge is on a bus route….my nephew just sent me this image.

Wow. Scale was completely off in the news photos. This is a very large bridge. And that bus. Zowie.

[j44ke]

Interesting...so you have a wifi hotspot or something? I don't think I have that, or at least I've never used it. I also don't have Navi activated and just connect carplay for my phone's navigation.

My issues have been that the head unit had to be re-flashed once or twice. One time only half the screen was showing...may seem like a minor inconvenience until you realize they sacrificed all the button controls for things like climate control etc. in favor of the slick tablet interface...having any second thoughts about that yet Volvo?? This is why I may be stuck buying used cars from now on, until they bring back buttons and knobs.

There is an On-Star-like communication (tracking your every move) system - Volvo's version of it - that allows for current conditions navigation, remote communication with the car through an app (start, stop, warm up, lock, alarm, maintenance check) and emergency roadside assistance. I actually kind of like the service and was surprised to find it useful a couple times. But yeah, part of it can also operate like a hotspot using an ATT sim. But we dropped that part after the free trial.

[lumpy]

It’s amazing that nobody was killed in the collapse as that bridge is on a bus route….my nephew just sent me this image.

The car at the very top of the photo, on the edge of the break with its headlights on . . . Jeez.

[vertical_doug]

It’s amazing that nobody was killed in the collapse as that bridge is on a bus route….my nephew just sent me this image.

https://www.thinkreliability.com/wp-.../CM-i-35v4.pdf

I think the I-35W collapse still takes the cake.

[vertical_doug]

anyway, back to our regular scheduled programming:

A Ferrari in opalescent.









I bet this car blinds you when the low sun hits it.

[AngryScientist]

wow that takes "flashy cars" to a whole other level. I would love to see who the driver is. it takes some kind of special to drive that!

[davids]

Our car has a 3G based communication system. 3G is being phased out. Volvo has promised a replacement cellular unit, but that seems to be more difficult to develop that expected - plus covid supply chains etc. So it was supposed to be here last year.

Also the mapping program stopped accepting new maps, even manually, which might be related.

As far as Acura and Honda, the vehicles are all 2014 and newer. So I guess my 2012 TSX wagon and 2010 Fit are all good!

[j44ke]

As far as Acura and Honda, the vehicles are all 2014 and newer. So I guess my 2012 TSX wagon and 2010 Fit are all good!

This Volvo is a 2017. In 2018 they changed the info-tainment module. Missed it by a year.

BTW, after typing re: mapping program, I remembered it required formatting the USB stick as FAT32 - Master Boot Record before copying the map update file to the USB. Works as it should now.

[caleb]

This is like the fight between Gates and GM back in the day. Bill said why couldn't cars advance as fast as computers, and GM shot back because when you need your brakes, you don't have time to control alt delete and reboot.

That's a funny list.

To this day, it seems like whenever Microsoft gets involved in something, their solution works less well than the previous status quo.

Circa 2001, Microsoft got slapped down in its antitrust case, and they spent ten years wandering in the wilderness, which was the best thing that could have happened to tech.

Meanwhile, Apple put amazing devices in everyone's hands that were dead reliable. No more crashing, no more missing files, no more locking up. The stuff just worked, and it lasted. So we put all our files on our Apple devices and carried them around with us and it worked great.

Then somehow Microsoft came back from the dead and managed to convince executives that what we all really needed to do is put all our stuff in the cloud.

It'll be great they said.
It'll be more reliable they said.
It'll be more secure they said.

And over the past five years Microsoft has managed to roll the end user experience of technology back a decade and people who make decisions are fine with it.

Back to cars, if Microsoft ever makes a car it'll be less reliable than a 1990 Chrysler LeBaron convertible, but it'll sell because there's a great adversing pitch to fleet managers.

[j44ke]

I just spent a long time trying to help my dad find and open files he created with Microsoft 365 a few days ago. I don't even know how to describe that process.

[sk_tle]

Microsoft don't sell products that solve problems to end user. They sell products that solve (or pretend to solve) problems to managers. Hence the dependency/hate relationship most people have with Microsoft products. Only way to be happy with Microsoft products is to develop Stockholm syndrome.

[vertical_doug]

https://twitter.com/jac5connor/statu...795285507?s=11

Have you noticed how some technology doesn’t seem to improve our lives, rather it just makes us burn more calories and/or spend more time just to achieve the same results as before?

I call this Red Queen technology.

1/8

Online dating is a prime example. It’s easier than ever to meet people to go on dates with, using Tinder/Hinge/Grindr/etc. But are we seeing more relationships? More marriages? More sex even?

No, no, and no. Just more swiping from the couch and less irl social interaction.

2/8
https://twitter.com/Jac5Connor/statu...535617/photo/1

It’s called Red Queen technology from the Red Queen’s race of Alice in Wonderland.

“Well, in our country," said Alice, still panting a little, "you'd generally get to somewhere else—if you run very fast for a long time, as we've been doing."

3/8

"A slow sort of country!" said the Queen. "Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place.”

In the Red Queen race, you work harder and harder to stay where you are.

4/8
New types of Red Queen technology lead to one group, initially, gaining an advantage. This evens out once the whole world has access to this technology.

Except the status quo has changed for the worse - we now all need to spend more time/energy to achieve the same results.

5/8We’ve automated ad tech, so now you see 10x/100x/1000x as many ads per day without buying significantly more stuff than you would’ve 20 years ago.

As a side effect, it’s annoying and distracting. We all lose.

6/8

[htwoopup]

It takes a certain attitude insouciante to not only drive what appears to be a cherry example in NYC during snow, slush, salt…but to park it on the street.

[Too Tall]

Jon that's a doughnut machine.

Kudos for your early wordish Wednesday use of: insouciante

[rwsaunders]

It takes a certain attitude insouciante to not only drive what appears to be a cherry example in NYC during snow, slush, salt…but to park it on the street.

They have the Union Jack on the rear quarter panels but missing the redline tires. How do you call that cherry, Jon? ;)

[GeneK]

It takes a certain attitude insouciante to not only drive what appears to be a cherry example in NYC during snow, slush, salt…but to park it on the street.

Man they don’t make cars that look like that anymore. Sure there are the bumper regulations, but still a pity.

[lumpy]

They have the Union Jack on the rear quarter panels but missing the redline tires. How do you call that cherry, Jon? ;)

The redlines are the summers.

[SeanEasley]

His late model X5 BMW is probably in the shop...again

[Too Tall]

His late model X5 BMW is probably in the shop...again

Meeowww you so right