So now there’s a rumor that Porsche might build the Apple Car. Great. It’s like I’m waking up everyday living an automotive alternate-reality nightmare. I don’t want to drive a damn Apple, iPad, or anything of the sort. But as a buyer – it seems as if I‘m not getting the choice much longer.
Here is a very interesting article from CleanTechnica analyzing how the pieces of the puzzle between Porsche & Apple may come together.
Big issue though: Apple & Porsche are naturally opposing forces.
They represent different energies in the world – virtual vs visceral. A Porsche should be an escape from the office & connectivity… not an extension of it. And any attempt to try & align Porsche & Apple from a marketing or partnership standpoint, is just devaluing Porsche’s history & pedigree in my opinion.
Tablets are passive, and driving is active. Or at least driving should be active if you have a pulse. But for some reason, it seems like all automotive manufacturers are guzzling the punch (which has a big turd in it), and they no longer know how to separate a car… from a smart phone.
So let’s go down that ‘driving your mobile device’ path real quick & see where it leads:
How long does your smart phone last? A few years maybe?
And what happens when your smart phone shits the bed, or bricks itself after an update? Do you fix it… or are you pretty much forced to trash it for a new one? Bingo.
So now there’s a ‘contract plan’ unfolding in the automotive market, right in front of our eyes.
Except instead of $1,000 phones… we’re dealing with $60,000-$160,000 vehicles. Gee – I wonder why car manufacturers are so onboard for this?
With technology being riddled & mandated into new vehicles, we are shortening the shelf-life of those vehicles. We’re allowing vehicles to become prematurely obsolete for unnecessary reasons. And there’s a real solid chance that we’re making them totally unmaintainable. For over a century now, car manufacturers have used new/emerging technology to encourage the desire for new cars. That’s natural. But in the coming day & age, car manufacturers will use technology to manipulate & force consumers into new cars.
It seems that if we truly cared about our impact on the earth (and our wallet), it’d be important to us that what we made – also had a strong level of sustainability. Vehicles should not be electronics… at least not all of ‘em. And we can have a smart phone in our pocket… without driving one. Just because car companies keep making commercials telling us what the future is… does not mean we have to follow.
