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The Coming Wave of In-Dash Auto System Obsolescence

Posted by timothy on from the new-din-standard-called-for dept.

jfruh writes "Automakers are striving mightily to bring their in-dash systems into the modern age, providing integration with smartphones and other advanced features. The problem: while smartphones go in and out of vogue every few years, modern cars have lifespans of a decade or more. Add in the fact that many (though not all) manufacturers have no plans to allow software upgrades to their systems, and you might end up driving a car with a fancy in-dash computer system that's completely useless for much of the time you own it."

9 of 445 comments (clear)

  1. This is already the case with in-dash GPS. by ZorinLynx · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I already know at least two people who have in-dash navigation systems, yet use their smartphone or a standalone GPS because either the automaker stopped providing map updates, or wants to charge an exhorbitant amount of money for them (as in, SEVERAL TIMES that of a stand-alone GPS or even a smart phone!)

    Someone needs to come up with a docking module on the dash, to which you can dock a standard device that can be upgraded over the years. Kind of like the old "DIN" standard for car stereos, but more flat, intended for touch screen devices. Then when your in-dash system gets outdated you can upgrade it.

    1. Re:This is already the case with in-dash GPS. by msauve · · Score: 5, Funny

      "Setting temperature to 75 degrees Celcius."

      --
      "National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
  2. Re:Sure by mekkab · · Score: 5, Funny

    This is EXACTLY why I've still got my RCA 45rpm record player in my Plymouth. You really appreciate the 'warmth' of vinyl as you're cruising down the highway...

    for those who care...

    --
    In the future, I would want to not be isolated from my friends in the Space Station.
  3. Re:Like BMW's startac phone integration? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Lets see, I have a 2001 740 BWM (Bought in 2011). The phone was (apparently) an analog based and mostly useless now(don't know, when I got my car it did not include the phone). I have the cable as part of my armrest in the center.

    Now, if I'm willing to spend a few hundred dollars, I can get a bluetooth module that will hookup to my current phone and I can use the cars controls for the bluetooth phone.
    And, apparently on phones can display text messages on the dashboard display (1 line, 15 characters or so).

    So the car is upgradeable, but it ain't cheap.

  4. No fancy gizmos please... by sakkathotmagaa · · Score: 5, Insightful

    When I recently bought a car, I specifically searched for a model that does not have any touch screen jazzy GPS-smartphone-capable stuff thrown in. Apart from the slow upgrades that are offered by the manufacturers, I find it extremely distracting. A phone call can always wait, and I prefer physical buttons on the dash to skip music tracks or control the volume. Unless you have steering wheel mounted controls (which I admit, most cars have these days), I find the prospect of taking my eyes off the road to figure out where on the screen to touch to change route/track very distracting and potentially dangerous. Voice activated commands are not yet very accent-insensitive. I speak with a marked indian accent, and I find that a couple of systems were not able to pick up commands very easily. More distractions and it just ends up making the journey more tiresome. So car makers, please spare some of us the bleeding edge technology and give us cars that we can actually enjoy driving.

  5. Re:Standardized Remote Touchscreen API by Peter+Simpson · · Score: 5, Insightful

    No touchscreens, please. Any UI that requires you to remove your eyes from the road is a non-starter. Pleas, let's not *add* to the already out-of-control distracted driving problem.

  6. What the hell? by L4t3r4lu5 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    http://www.mirrorlink.com/

    This problem has been solved.

    --
    Finally had enough. Come see us over at https://soylentnews.org/
  7. there's your GNU/Car by medcalf · · Score: 5, Funny
    I bought a GNU/Car. It took me:
    • a month to gather all the parts that were not included to the car, but were necessary to its basic operation,
    • another two months to find all the parts that those parts depend on,
    • a week to assemble the car correctly,
    • a few hours to build the custom security system in LISP so that I could open the doors, plus a day to make sure I'd configured and tested all the various access permissions needed to do each task (at first, I forgot the glove box permissions, and since that's where the starter is for some reason located ...),
    • three weeks of reading semi-literate documentation that assumes I already know everything about materials engineering, calculus and thermodynamics to figure out how to turn it on and not have it immediately wreck the engine (by the way, those four ruined engines were, cumulatively, expensive),
    • three days dealing with the guy in Finland who flamed me when I complained about ruining the second engine for not knowing how to do something as simple as machining my own camshaft,
    • oh, yeah, and a week to machine my own camshaft.

    But I've now got a completely running GNU/Car. Just one quick question: my lawyer just got back to me on the license terms. Do I really have to let my neighbor use the car whenever he wants? Because that sounds wrong.

    --
    -- Two men say they're Jesus. One of them must be wrong. - Dire Straits
  8. Re:Like BMW's startac phone integration? by RenderSeven · · Score: 5, Funny

    I got a nice BMW about the time I got engaged, so it came with a really hot chick in the passenger seat. After 20 years I'd love to upgrade that accessory but I'm locked in, even after changing cars multiple times. Uninstalling the current one is way too pricey, and honestly Im not sure I could figure out how to work the newer models.