Slashdot Mirror
BMW's Apple CarPlay Annual Fee is Next-level Gouging (cnet.com)
BMW announced this week that the company plans to shift Apple CarPlay infotainment support from a one-time fee to a subscription service. Tim Stevens, writing about the implications of the move for CNET: While GM and other manufacturers happily include Apple's CarPlay service for free even on their most attainable models, BMW and plenty of others have levied upgrade fees to enable CarPlay, or bundled the service inside pricey packages of widgets you may or may not want. That, sadly, is par for this margin-rich golf course, but when we learned this week that BMW would change from a single, up-front fee to an annual fee, in my mind that changed everything. Instead of a one-time, $300 fee, starting on 2019 models BMW will charge $80 annually for the privilege of accessing Apple's otherwise totally free CarPlay service. You do get the first year free, much like your friendly neighborhood dealer of another sort, but after that it's pay up or have your Lightning cable metaphorically snipped.
On the surface this is pretty offensive, and it seemed like something must be driving this. The official word from BMW is that this is a change that will save many (perhaps most) BMW owners money. Indeed, the vehicle segments where BMW plays are notorious for short-term leases, and those owning the car for only a few years will save money over that one-time $300. But still, the notion of paying annually for something that's free rubbed me the wrong way. And, based on the feedback we saw from the article, it rubbed a lot of you the wrong way, too.
On the surface this is pretty offensive, and it seemed like something must be driving this. The official word from BMW is that this is a change that will save many (perhaps most) BMW owners money. Indeed, the vehicle segments where BMW plays are notorious for short-term leases, and those owning the car for only a few years will save money over that one-time $300. But still, the notion of paying annually for something that's free rubbed me the wrong way. And, based on the feedback we saw from the article, it rubbed a lot of you the wrong way, too.
You have to pay for BMW Assist and navigation updates too. If you don't like it don't buy the car. It's easy.
You’d be stupid for buying a BMW anyway. Nothing wrong with a luxury car, but “German Engineering” has an abysmal record of reliability and high maintenance. BMW knows they can stick it to the suckers.
...unless you're a socialist.
Android Auto is absolutely worthless. Just throwing that out there. All I want is:
1) My phone's display to be shown on my car's touch screen, and the car's touch screen to work for controlling my phone. I don't need an app integrating vehicle information or controls into this. The only other requirement is that I have a way to toggle between Android Auto and the car's regular display and controls.
2) The audio to work like it already does. (Actually, I'd like to get my car's audio but interrupted with any activity, such as navigation instructions, not just voice calls. But this isn't a deal breaker.)
That's it. Don't give me a different interface. Don't lock out features or apps. Don't throw me into a dedicated mode on my phone. Don't place shitty restrictions on shit. Just make it fucking work so I can have Google Maps on my fucking car's screen. Otherwise I'll be using a smaller, more distracting screen with less-accessible controls. If the goal is to prevent distractions you're achieving the exact opposite by making shit so frustrating and unusable.
In theory, Android Auto should do most of what I want. In practice, it depends on the car and the device. My current phone, for example, will throw me into Android Auto if I plug it into any modern car, lock me in to Android Auto, and then be fucking worthless because there are no "supported" apps for Android Auto for my phone. WTF? Fuck you, LG!
That's it. Don't give me a different interface. Don't lock out features or apps. Don't throw me into a dedicated mode on my phone.
I have a better one for you: Don't use a shitty interface that demands a lot of attention while you're using your car.
Dear Google,
On behalf of all the road users around sexconker please continue to not give him what he wants. We thank you for it.
Signed,
The luckily still alive because sexconker hasn't killed us yet.
Rents are the future of innovation.
Taste the Freedum!
Who is RTFM and when will he help me with Unix?
If Kia can put Apple Car Play into even their cheapest base model cars as a standard feature, why the hell does BMW need to charge money (either a one-off fee or a monthly fee) for the thing?