Many Drivers Never Use In-Vehicle Tech, Don't Want Apple Or Google In Next Car

Lucas123 writes: Many of the high-tech features automakers believe owners want in their vehicles are not only not being used by them, but they don't want them in their next vehicle, according to a new survey by J.D. Power. According to J.D. Power's 2015 Driver Interactive Vehicle Experience (DrIVE) Report, 20% of new-vehicle owners have never used 16 of 33 of the latest technology features. The five features owners most commonly report that they "never use" are in-vehicle concierge (43%); mobile routers (38%); automatic parking systems (35%); heads-up display (33%); and built-in apps (32%). Additionally, there are 14 technology features that 20% or more of owners don't even want in their next vehicle. Those features include Apple CarPlay and Google Android Auto, in-vehicle concierge services and in-vehicle voice texting. When narrowed to just Gen Yers, the number of vehicle owners who don't want entertainment and connectivity systems increases to 23%.

Comments

I don't want it - and I am in IT

[cjonslashdot]

I know how software is made. I know how buggy and unreliable it is. In my car, I want things that are rock solid, or that at least fail gracefully. Also, I don't want distractions, like screens changing their content, or having to fiddle with a display while I am driving. I want fixed controls that are simple and display a single thing. Also, I don't want my car second-guessing what I want - there is nothing more annoying that the car deciding, "He pushed the window button to go down, but it is cold outside so he must only want it half way down" - I want my car to do exactly what I tell it: I don't want it to try to be "smart".

Remember Apple Newton?

[Taco Cowboy]

... understanding this is what made Apple so successful in the first place ...

Really?

What kind of 'understanding' Apple had to get them to produce that "Newton" thingy, huh?

It shouldn't be Apple which get the credit - instead, the credits should go to the late Mr. Jobs - he's the one had a clear understanding of what the world wanted

Case in point - after the untimely demise of Mr. Jobs Apple has yet to come up with anything which is worthwhile

Smartphones have problems too

[sjbe]

Which is exactly the value offered by Android and Apple car integration. Both can offer superior mapping at lower cost than an auto maker.

Only in places where there is a cell phone signal. If you drive somewhere where cellular service is sketchy you'll need a "real" GPS system. Speaking for myself I go to places with iffy to no cell service often enough that the GPS in my cell phone is useless for long periods. Not to say a smartphone GPS isn't useful but it isn't without some very significant flaws.

All the car needs to provide is a display and audio.

What you really want is the two systems to complement each other and be more than the sum of the parts. Furthermore what if you don't have a smarphone with you? Sometimes I don't carry mine but I'd still like GPS navigation while driving. Have a "real" GPS receiver in the car but let the smarphone provide traffic, weather and location overlays. Have basic functionality built in to the car but allow the smartphone to supplement it and make it better.

Re: Smartphones have problems too

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah you do. Cellphone GPS isn't a full GPS chip, it's "assisted GPS" and it relies on the cell network to provide it with data to provide a meaningful location. Without a data connection, your location will be so inaccurate as to be worthless for navigation.

Re:Smartphones have problems too

[Bob the Super Hamste]

Out of curiosity have you tried out Navit? I use it on my phone when I am traveling and I don't even have a data plan. Granted it will eat battery substantially faster than other cell navigation apps as it has to actually compute and render things but that isn't a concern if it is plugged into the 12v adapter. If you download the data set for the entire planet it is about 17GB currently. The data that is used comes from OSM so depending on where you are it can be really good or still better than the base maps that come with most GPS receivers.

Re:The Homer! (FP?)

[Penguinisto]

Agreed - a bluetooth connection is all that is really needed, with maybe the ability to act as a larger remote screen (or device mirror) for what's on the phone (for GPS and etc).

Come to think of it, I can buy an aftermarket kit that does that now... (yeah, this one is double-DIN in height, but so is my existing car stereo kit.)

So why buy a car that will have this built-in (and will become obsolete in less than 10 years) when I can just buy a kit that fits into my car now? Hell, I could bolt this under the dash of an old 1960's era car if I wanted to...