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Apple Says It Is Working On Self-Driving Cars (theguardian.com)
For the first time, Apple has said that it is indeed working on technology to develop self-driving cars. The company confirmed late last week its previously secret initiative in a statement to the U.S. highway regulator. From a report on The Guardian: "The company is investing heavily in the study of machine learning and automation, and is excited about the potential of automated systems in many areas, including transportation," said the letter from Steve Kenner, Apple's director of product integrity, to the head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The letter offered no details of the project, instead highlighting the "significant societal benefits of automated vehicles," which it described as a life-saving technology, potentially preventing millions of car crashes and thousands of fatalities each year.In a statement to Financial Times (might be paywalled), a spokesperson for Apple said, "We've provided comments to NHTSA because Apple is investing heavily in machine learning and autonomous systems. There are many potential applications for these technologies, including the future of transportation, so we want to work with NHTSA to help define the best practices for the industry."
....and I still don't care.
Overpriced cars that only drive you where you want to go if your destination is within the Apple walled garden....
The very first line in the linked article:
Apple has said for the first time that it is working on technology to develop self-driving cars.
And in more detail:
The company is investing heavily in the study of machine learning and automation, and is excited about the potential of automated systems in many areas, including transportation,” said the letter from Steve Kenner, Apple’s director of product integrity, to the head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
The difference is that they have not said they're making cars in the same way they do not make TVs. But they do make hardware/software that will drive your TV - so to speak.
Just as auto makers can make 'carplay' http://www.apple.com/ios/carpl... compatible cars, you can imagine they might one day make 'carpilot' compatible cars.
Don't let Samsung start making cars.
They can take my LifeAlert pendant when they pry it from my cold dead fingers.
Most people call those leases.
There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
Apple : "We have so much money we literally don't know what to do with it anymore."
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Apple : "We have so much money we literally don't know what to do with it anymore."
That's alright. Neither do Google or Microsoft and a few others. They simply can't find investment opportunities large enough and profitable enough to do anything with their piles of cash. So the pile keeps growing. Eventually I expect it to attract a dragon or something.
Really they should be paying it back as dividends if they can't figure out what to do with the money.
Non-replaceable tires, headlights, etc. Rest assured, Apple will find some way to kill the value proposition. That's all they do these days.
Slashdot Editors / owners / etc.:
o Please stop supporting paywalled sites.
o Please stop supporting sites with closed comment sections.
These things are bad for the web and the web's denizens -- of course not for the ethically crippled sites themselves, as we are their product, and both payment up and dissent down are multipliers to their bread and butter.
The paywalled sites are monetizing the news, and that almost always makes for biased reporting.
The closed comment sections make for echo chambers, and that creates an environment where fake news and agitprop flourish.
Same thing to my fellow slashdotters: if you support bad actors in bad behaviors, they will naturally persist. So think about that before you click through the next time someone thrusts a paywalled or comment-bereft site in your face.
Thanks for reading.
I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
Dateline 2025: Apple has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Mitsubishi and Ford over alleged violations of Apple intellectual property. The claim is that both Mitsubishi and Ford are infringing on Apple's patents on autonomous vehicles in that the Mitsubishi Allgonica and Ford Frobnulator have rounded corners and four wheels. Spokesmen for Mitsubishi and Ford were unavailable for comment.