Ivan Andriollo Dec 24, 2023
Dare Obasanjo

It’s ironic that GM decided to pull CarPlay and Android Auto in favor of their in-house infotainment systems only for their software to be so buggy that they’ve had to stop selling the Chevy Blazer EV until they fix the system.

Car companies are a great example of how culture eats strategy for breakfast. It’s a smart strategy not to be dependent on Apple and Google for key software. But if you can't execute a transition to a software development culture then it's dumb.

https://www.theverge.com/2023/12/23/24013357/2024-chevy-blazer-ev-stop-sale-software-problems

GM stops selling the Chevy Blazer EV to deal with ‘software quality issues’

The 2024 Chevy Blazer EV is no longer available while GM works on software bugs breaking the electric SUV’s infotainment system and its ability to charge properly.

The Verge
Dec 24, 2023 at 7:30pmWeb
Show threadLuke KaniesDec 24, 2023

@carnage4life is it a smart strategy, though?

People love and are used to their phones. And it’s way better and easier to use phones. Even the best executed non-phone system will be worse than using a phone.

Given how car ratings are dropping, and mostly because of infotainment systems, I think it’s a dumb strategy.

I have a stupid Tesla, and other than the company leadership, it’s my least favorite “feature”

Show threadskryDec 24, 2023

@carnage4life So right.

Ford had cars returned a few years ago because people hated the poor usability of the touch-screen system. That’s ridiculous.

Show threadCassandrichDec 24, 2023
@carnage4life The whole idea of integrated infotainment systems is so stupid but capitalism creates perverse incentives for it. Nobody wants the value of their car to plummet even faster because the console is slow and klunky and incompatible with anything modern. The consumer friendly thing is either a standardized bracket & connector for BYOD or a dumb screen & audio device your phone can link up to. But of course car industry wants old cars to become trash faster.
Show threadBen StokmanDec 24, 2023
@dalias @carnage4life the very obvious/simple solution to this is a simple USB display standard of some kind (+audio +touchscreen +etc) but executives aren’t really that smart.
Show threadSteve RigginsDec 24, 2023
@carnage4life @nicklockwood code around and find out
Show threadChristopher Dec 24, 2023

@carnage4life

Their new infotainment system is powered by Red Hat "In-Vehicle Operating System"

More likely Red Hat gave them an reduced licensing rate so Red Hat could use it as a platform to sell their unproven flavor of their Enterprise Linux. And it back fired.

Show threadJeff C. 🇺🇦🇬🇱Dec 24, 2023

@carnage4life The task ahead of them is even bigger than making a solid infotainment system.

To match CarPlay, they need to be capable of developing and maintaining a platform for OTHER developers to build upon. As far as I know they aren’t even trying.

Even if they were fully competent that’d be a hard sale to make as their potential usage numbers are far lower than what CarPlay can offer.

Show threadJoseph GaeddertDec 24, 2023
@carnage4life saying “dumb” is being so so generous
Show threadRobert AtkinsDec 25, 2023
@carnage4life I’ve always said it was a race between Tesla getting good at manufacturing before the legacy car companies got good at software and you can guess who I’m backing in that one…
Show threadMoved to [email protected]Dec 25, 2023
@carnage4life @ovid More than happy to keep my vow of never buying another vehicle from the General Motors family of manufacturers.
Show threadFred MoyerDec 26, 2023
@carnage4life surprising given they just hired Apples iCloud SVP