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Build-to-Order Cars?
MadMonk writes "Baseline has an article about a new car company that wants to be 'the Dell of the auto industry.' Build-To-Order, Inc. could turn the auto industry on its ear. At worst, BTO will be an interesting technology petri dish. I want a customized car to match my customized computer."
isn't calling a dell computer a "custom" computer a bit of a stretch? they're interchangable parts, its not like they are custom built.
it's henry fords interchangable parts manufacturing line, but with mcdonalds order panels telling the monkey what part to put in and where. I don't see the big innovation with so called "custom" pc's...
I hope they are backed by a large political party, or organized crime. Else the big3 will have them summarily executed.
Havent we been here before? I think this is how all car companies start out. The world is too corrupt or im a big fat cynic.
"The preconceived notion is that the network will run Unix, but I came to the view that this is a unique opportunity, so why take something that's decades old?" says Lele.
By that logic, the concept of a internal combustion engine is over 100 years old, and seats are thousands of years old. Maybe he shouldn't use those either.
"The preconceived notion is that the network will run Unix, but I came to the view that this is a unique opportunity, so why take something that's decades old?"
.NET.
Saying that something that's "decades old" won't fit your new business model simply because of its age seems like a short-sighted way to base a decision. Building an IT infrastructure is not only about fitting your needs, but also about one that will serve you reliably. In the end it doesn't matter what the network runs on, but rather that it works, whether it's Unix, Linux, or
Just sounds to me like these cars won't have rubber tires simply because they've been in use on automobiles for a century.
No, no such standard exists in the car industry. You can plug a Chevy engine into a Mazda, but it requires an awful lot of work, and even then, it's not going to be as reliable as the stock engine in the stock vehicle.
I don't see how it can work. What they are going to end up with is a car that's only slightly more customizible than a Ford. Maybe you can pick your color from a million different colors, or your interior material from thousands of materials, but even this requires a lot of logistics. Car manufacturers don't limit your choice of color because they only want you to have a few choices, they limit it because changing colors on the assembly line is a lot of time and work. You can have maybe a dozen or so colors ready to go, but mixing and readying a special paint for one car takes a lot of time.
It's a great idea, but I think it's way ahead of its time.
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