
How connected cars are turning into revenue-generating machines - prostoalex
https://techcrunch.com/2016/08/28/how-connected-cars-are-turning-into-revenue-generating-machines/?ncid=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Techcrunch+%28TechCrunch%29
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manyxcxi
Just saw a Buick commercial touting their in-car wifi and my first thought
was, why is this something I want to pay extra for? Whatever crappy mobile
network device it has is already older than my iPhone/Hotspot and I'm tied to
whoever their provider is for however much they want to charge.

Let me run it in reverse. Let my connect my phone using my frequently updated
hardware and the network that I want to use. I've got power so I don't care
about the battery drain, and I gaurantee I will have a better speed/data
cap/price relationship than whatever tiers they will have.

Better yet, instead of the crappy infotainment system make it Android and/or
AirPlay capable and let the phone run the head unit and you just have a dumb
display.

~~~
Spooky23
I think the systems that are powering this are being phased in in relation to
the US government's "smart roads" initiatives. This stuff starts becoming
mandatory in 2020 or thereabouts.

There are pilot programs in place now where over the air motor carrier
inspections and other road telemetry is being exchanged with vehicles. You're
also going to be taxed based on mileage or other telemetry and certain classes
of vehicles can have geofencing and other controls enabled.

~~~
maxerickson
The Buick thing is via Onstar and uses AT&T 4g.

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wsetchell
This article was really hard to read. Here's my attempt at a summary:

* The author expects new cars to be networked and to have beefy CPUs.

* There are lots of cars, and each car will use lots of data. To network all these cars, you'll need investment from telecom companies like carriers.

* Today the car's systems don't talk to each other, or the internet that much. Once you network them, it'll be good for companies who make cars to see how their product is used in the wild.

* Now that you have smart cars, people can write apps for them. The author thinks this will be a large market with a few killer apps.

* Car's are really complex, and were not designed to be networked. You should expect a lot of security issues during this transition.

~~~
unexistance
on the security side

[http://www.tu-auto.com/cyber-security/content-zone.php](http://www.tu-
auto.com/cyber-security/content-zone.php)

~~~
ddt_Osprey
on the security side

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Hastings_(journalist)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Hastings_\(journalist\))

[http://nymag.com/news/features/michael-
hastings-2013-11/](http://nymag.com/news/features/michael-hastings-2013-11/)

[http://i2.wp.com/www.dcclothesline.com/wp-
content/uploads/20...](http://i2.wp.com/www.dcclothesline.com/wp-
content/uploads/2014/06/michael-hastings-crash.jpg)

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bonniemuffin
I feel like such a luddite for saying this, but this article makes me want to
go torch a car dealership just to sabotage the idea of connected cars. This
just sounds like marketers looking for new ways to shove ads where they don't
belong.

Even well-established connected car technology like built-in navigation still
sucks. I know people with built-in nav, but they all use google maps on their
phones instead, because it works better and is more up-to-date. What does that
say, if car companies haven't even gotten navigation systems right yet?

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Spooky23
If you think of it from an old-school, consumer viewpoint, "connected cars"
are a solution looking for a problem.

This seems unusual, since automakers will eagerly save <$5/unit to place a
deadly Takata airbag or that faulty GM ignition switch in a car. Why spend $50
to give me some shitty functionality that I don't need?

So obviously these investments are being made to address some tangible problem
-- and "let's make more money" is a problem that everyone has.

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nerdponx
That saying about how if you're not paying for the product, then you are the
product bothers me. Because it implies that if you do pay for the product, you
somehow get to avoid being the product.

~~~
S_Daedalus
Popularize a corollary! Paying for something doesn't protect you from being
monetized.

Or something like that.

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Animats
That article lacks any useful ideas on how to generate revenue with a
connected car. It's suggested that payment at gas stations could be automated,
but that was first deployed in 1997 as Mobil Speedpass, and still has only
about 3 million users.

Ads on the dashboard maps are likely, but you can get a map overlay with fast
food restaurants now.

Monetizing tracking data on where the car goes seems almost inevitable. GM has
such data from Onstar, but they're hesitant to do it. "If we can monetize that
connection at some point then there is revenue potential, but selling a
$20,000 or $30,000 vehicle, that’s where the value to GM is" \- GM exec. They
don't want to jeopardize the car business by trying to get a little extra
revenue by selling tracking data.

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joe_the_user
The last American Airlines flight I took, the plane had no built-in screens at
all. No TV, no movie, nothing. It was great. I think they realized that
sinking money into their screens was just dumb - everyone who wanted to watch
a movie or TV just their own device, etc.

The idea of cars using more and more realistic to bombard their users with
"infotainment" is just awful. I want a car to tells me less and less because
it needs to tell me less and less. Speed and maybe which lights are on and
maybe fuel/energy gauge. I shouldn't need rpms or fuel mileage or whatever
because the car should take care of this normally - emergency information is a
different matter but the car should avoid emergencies.

~~~
EliRivers
American Airlines just made the in-flight entertainment free for all and is
seeking to have more aircraft with seat-back entertainment, rather than less.

[http://apex.aero/2016/08/19/behind-scenes-american-
airlines-...](http://apex.aero/2016/08/19/behind-scenes-american-airlines-
decision-offer-free-ife)

[http://www.nasdaq.com/press-release/american-airlines-
introd...](http://www.nasdaq.com/press-release/american-airlines-introduces-
free-premium-inflight-entertainment-20160809-00584)

~~~
ghaff
Better in-flight seat back systems and BYOD systems both seem to be happening.
I'm not sure if there is a difference in philosophy with different airlines or
if anecdotally-observed different approaches are just a matter of timing.

I could imagine airlines preferring systems, such as the one United is pushing
these days, of customers using their own tablets/phones for reasons of
cost/weight. It also gets customers onto their app and perhaps increases the
rate of purchased WiFi.

On the other hand, seat back systems can run ads etc. and are often a premium
service. They're also just convenient for a lot of travelers who may not have
a charged and loaded device for everyone in the party.

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pmontra
This is going to work only if we change cars every two or three years, like
phones. Otherwise the (probably) immutable hw in the car will soon be unable
to interact with newer phones and services. And the builtin services will soon
look old and uninteresting.

So, is long term rental and automatic new car after two years going to be the
new normal for car "ownership"?

~~~
rubidium
There's a word for that. Leasing.
[http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/09/business/auto-leasing-
gain...](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/09/business/auto-leasing-gains-
popularity-among-american-consumers.html?_r=0)

~~~
dcole2929
Which is generally accepted to be the worse way for any given individual to
take possession of a car. Does it work in some cases? Sure. But overall
leasing is just a way for people to drive cars they can't afford.

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jameslk
Great article. This makes a few assumptions about the future, but I can really
see the potential here for media in cars that the author is getting at:

\- Once the driver is no longer driving, they're going to pretty bored

\- As the need for windows becomes less important, this area can be used for
displays instead

\- These lead to the potential for passengers to do something else with their
time, such as watching videos, doing work, playing games, etc. like they would
on a flight

\- It's likely consumers may expect this experience without it coming from the
data of their smartphones (less setup, better connectivity, not dependent on a
phone)

\- The new media systems and potential data subscriptions opens the door for
lots of new revenue streams

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bitwize
Does it speak TCP/IP? Someone is figuring out a way to use it to sell you to
advertisers.

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0xcde4c3db
I'm a little surprised that "smart" TVs aren't mentioned; the situations seem
very similar, and major brands (Panasonic and Samsung at least) have put ads
in their smart TV interfaces. Maybe this is too much of a puff piece to
mention such a disliked point of comparison (the author all but admits to
being in the tank for "connected" cars)?

I guess if nothing else it ought to be possible to buy retired fleet vehicles
without this crap.

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FussyZeus
I just read a bunch of reasons to learn proper auto-maintenance to keep my
current vehicles running for as long as possible.

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frogpelt
I imagine a time in the future (months from now) when we will summon an Uber
and it will list all of the stops it has to make along the way to
deliver/pick-up packages.

We'll be able to sort our autonomous ride options by lowest number of stops.

~~~
shostack
More like airlines where you will pay more for a nonstop flight.

~~~
frogpelt
Exactly.

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S_Daedalus
This is going to be a dumpster fire, at least for a while until the best
overtakes the best-funded and marketed.

