why do cars still come with GPS, maps, phone services, etc etc We all have these things called cellphones, that could easily interface with a vehicles data display... so why do automotive manufacturers still include things like GPS/Maps and phone services like onstar for emergency or operator functions including displaying whats wrong with your vehicle... why not just create some bluetooth enable or wired transfer method so when you get in your car, you place your phone in a cubby hole or slide it into a holder, and the computer simply allows your cellphone to interact with the main display for maps, directions, gps, onstar related services where you want directions or a restaurant or schedule an appointment or it could download data into your phone about your cars performance and maintenance needs... basically why haven't car makers figured out, they can spend $1000-2000 less in equipment costs and charges to consumers, by simply having them use their cellphones as the onboard computer they ultimately charge us to have either as an option or as a standard package... I just don't get it, certainly they should be far brighter than me about cost reductions on an automobile, why is this not reality for them... all they need is the display, they don't need all the electronics that perform these functions, reducing their costs and increasing their competitiveness with other car makers... I was thinking of this while looking at all the garbage my car came with, that I've never used, probably will never use, but yet I had to pay for it as there was no option for it to come without all those bells and whistles they think I want and should pay for... save folks money, create a link to their cellphones to replace many of those computerized functions in a car... in fact create an app that will start their car instead of having to use a key... I mean its literally the same technology they use with remote starters, key fobs that don't have to be in an ignition just a certain distance from the car... people already have a device that does so many things they create an extra expense on... I mean you could even have car doors lock and unlock as the phone goes away from the vehicle so people never have to do that anymore either... so many things... now I get it, people have bad days and destroy their phones somehow, so keep a key entry point if someone wants to carry one, but if people don't why not make it an option since you already have keys that are no longer needed, except as a proximity enabler for the vehicle to open or start... just random babbling here I guess... I can't be the only person to have thought of this, I hate cellphones so surely those who love them, have already looked into ways that device can automate their entire lives... why are cars so inefficient with catching on to the technology? P.S. if they used your own phone instead of the cars phone for onstar (yes your onstar car has a phone number) they could cut the cost of that service some too, I mean I realize they've made a sweet arrangement with phone carriers consider how little it uses over the life of a person, but pennies are profit... why not cut some pennies...
Main reason, people buy it them. The consumer is the worlds biggest sucker. It's the same reason why cell phone companies themselves sucker people into buying the same exact phone every single year and people still keep doing it. People like "new" stuff and are easily manipulated into shiny new things and many people fail to stop and ask themselves if they even need that. My 15 year old truck can do everything that a 2016 model truck can do. I have touch screen navigation that sits on the dash, its called Tom Tom. I have my MP3 player hooked up to my truck, it's called my cell phone with music on it and a cable. I don't need bluetooth connection, a cable does the same thing. And I have emergency roadside assistance which is also called a cell phone like you said. But some people like it all in one I guess. Whatever it's their money. My philosophy is this when it comes to buying vehicles. I'll wait for a company to invent something that my truck can't already do that I actually NEED it to do. Until then my old truck is just fine. It runs great, it has 4x4, it plays my favorite tunes, and I can't get lost. So unless it breaks down to the point where I can't fix it, I think I'll keep it. But if the guy next door wants to buy a brand new 2016 Ford F-150 for $50,000 then more power to him. Long story short, companies keep making stuff like that because people keep buying it. If nobody bought it then they would stop. Plus a lot of people just "want" things which is perfectly fine I guess. I always just laugh when I see people buying things like the Ford Raptor to simply drive it to work. I'm like do you go offroading or like the outdoors or anything? Nope I just like the truck....um...ok lol. Nice way to spend $70,000...
Well, I think what you describe is coming. That said, my father-in-law has onstar. He prefers it to GPS or cellphone while in his Caddy. There is an aftermarket system out there to do what you describe for using smartphones as keys. The thing is, I have never had a keyfob lose battery to the point I couldn't use it. It's not that uncommon for a cellphone to run out of power. I will admit, I will never pay for another car GPS, or pay for the option on a car. Smartphone GPS apps are so convenient.
well you may not WANT to pay for it again... but already some things are becoming mandatory to have... such as backup cameras, I think it was supposed to be 2018 it was mandatory all new cars have them in some form... so we're basically encouraging people to rely on technology instead of actually turning to look like I was taught back in drivers education... you always turn and look, you never just back up and hope for the best... but we keep replacing personal responsibility with more technology, and that comes at a huge cost, without a guarantee it will change the result, people still need to use the technology, so its not without personal responsibility still... and because of this, we've added thousands of dollars of mandatory cost to vehicles, all because people won't do what they're supposed to do... makes me mad I must pay more because other people are not responsible, and the mandates we force don't make them anymore responsible, or else we'd have no car wrecks by now...
Case in point. I was heading to lunch with a coworker the other day who has one of those backup cameras in her truck. While backing out of the parking spot the thing kept beeping even though she was like 7 feet away from the pole. So she'd slam the brakes. Try again and the same thing. I'm turned around looking and noticing that the pole was far away but her eyes were glued to the camera. I'm like turn around! Back up you have room holy crap...it's taking 5 mins to back out of a parking spot lol Turns out her camera sensor had snow on it so it was giving false readings. But the camera said we were about to hit something, slam the brakes! You have eyeballs, stop relying so much on that thing. People backed out of parking spaces for like 90 years before they invented backup cameras.... I agree 100% with you. I hate "mandatory" technology. You don't NEED a backup camera, turn the hell around and look like people have been doing forever. I don't keep up with car technology very much, I drive older vehicles because they are easier to work on and I like them. I rode in my friends Ford Focus Hybrid thing one day and I just shook my head. This thing had sensors to keep you in the proper lane, it would slow you down if you were gaining on the car in front too quickly, it would parallel park itself, etc. I have a solution for all of this technology. While driving, drive the car and pay attention, that will prevent accidents, not all of this fancy technology to help people who feel they don't have to pay attention while driving the car down the street... Oh well maybe I'm just old and grumpy. But all of this technology is getting ridiculous to me. It's YOUR responsibility to maintain control of your vehicle and operate it safety and pay attention, it's YOURS, not the cars... Watch, in a few years we're going to have a string of lawsuits from people saying "Wahh my car didn't automatically stop for me before I rear ended that truck, I'm suing Ford because the car was supposed to slam on the brakes for me when I decide not to pay attention". It's funny to me because there's this huge stink about people texting and driving and being distracted while driving right now yet car companies are doing everything in their power to make it easier for you to do exactly that...It boggles my mind.
your friend is the exact person I am scared of... I think its becoming a generation thing with us... we grew up in a time where things were your own responsibility, you had to rely on yourself to accomplish things... but people today are learning to rely on technology and not learning how to do things on their own, or making it their responsibility when they are doing something... case in point your friend who was merely looking at a camera that if its like the cars I've seen at the dealership (I refused to buy a new car because I was so annoyed at the junk) it has a rather narrow view compared to what I can see and know when I turn my head and view people and things coming down the lot or walking in between cars... the cameras simply don't see that stuff until its probably too late or very likely to cause an accident... I see it every day all day long... people literally living life through a camera... in this case on their car, but in most cases looking down at their phones while walking, and anything they see, they lift the phone up to see through it... as if they are now forced or compelled from sheer amount of use to view it through a screen... near my community is another that has a train crossing where several children have been hit because they walk with earbuds in and eyes down at cellphones, and I guess even with a train horn blowing for a couple football fields distance, they still don't hear it enough to look up and step back... they've gone so far as to post signs along the walkway, and on the actual cement, saying "train crossing look up and to the sides" because people don't anymore... and the signs are posted at waist height, because they thought people looking downward would be more likely to see those than if it was at head height... this is the new reality we live in... idiots on technology... ugh!
