This is the same crud that is being discussed in Ford meetings. Can’t compete with Apple and Google on merit so lets disable the ability of customers to connect to info-tainment screen in vehicle. This will not end well. Customers either won’t buy our vehicles or will mount an iPad in front of the Ford screen and simply leave the Ford info-trainmen’s screen turned off.
https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/general-motors/2023/03/31/gm-apple-carplay-android-electric-vehicles/70068140007/
16 replies (most recent on top)
I have a GE AM radio my uncle gave me in 1971 to listen to Ernie Harwell that I can use when they stop putting them in those crazy battery powered trucks that keep catchin fire.
@2wql+1lUR4PQM - How about some critical thinking? You’re a smart person. If no one listens to AM radio, then stations would have gone out of business as there will not be anyone paying to advertise. The reality is that AM radio is alive and well.
I’m not a fan of government intervention, but this is one example where congress can pass a law requiring auto companies to maintain AM radio or pay a fine of $100 for each car they sell. You’ll see very quickly how Ford finance finds a way to keep AM radio.
2wql Plenty of people listen to AM radio. Your comparison to CD players is nonsense.
I’d suggest you do a bit of traveling outside your DF love bubble and see why people listen to and rely on AM radio. Everyone in large swaths of this country knows to keep their dial set to specific AM stations while traveling particularly in the spring, late fall and winter.
And NO they aren’t going to pay a satellite radio subscription to listen to someone in a remote part of the country/world pretending that they know the weather conditions, road conditions etc of the area they are presently in. Ditto with unreliable streaming services and short distance radio waves.
The fact that they are required to put AM radio in commercial trucks tells you something. They aren’t concerned about their customer’s safety. Wait we already knew that didn’t we?
DF made a good call for the company to get AM radio out of our vehicles. Anyone can see it will be a substantial cost save that will only help Ford's bottom line. Who in 2023 even listens to AM radio anymore? It's just like cd players, old and obsolete.
Making the tough decisions like this is another example that we have the best leadership in the business. Negative comments here do not represent the true cross-section of this country or even globally.
For the previous post:
Getting to choose your options is for free people.
Your next car will take you to the gulag for reeducation when you log in and it identifies you as an enemy of the state.
For the EV they offer the ‘unconstrained wildfire / thermal event in your attached garage’ option but take away the AM radio option where we get uncensored news and uncensored commentary. Even the commercials on radio inform the listener about what’s going on around town.
I still prefer the AM radio option.
If the AM radio can’t be shielded from Electrical activity….. then what about our own bodies. Wheres the long term testing that it’s safe for humans for those who will be spending many hours in the vehicle. Recently Apple came out with recommendations to keep the iPhone 6 inches from your body.
Love how all these decisions are made by coddled urban dwellers. There is a whole other reality in rural areas and states with mountains and wicked weather. So any fools who want to buy a Ford vehicle will have to buy a commercial vehicle as functioning AM radios are required in commercial vehicles - or they will have to after market rip out all the Ford garbage and replace with a functioning infotainment system.
Sure Ford will spend $900 per vehicle installing customer tracking firmware and software - that the customer does NOT want but can’t spend $20 per vehicle for a shielded radio and a proper antennae.
A goodly portion of the customer base has moved to the don’t bother with Ford camp, that trend will accelerate.
@1qog+1lUR4PQM - old news, DF made the decision last year and told so in one of his webcasts.
Goodbye AM radio in Ford cars… today’s article in the Freep.
One more option taken away. First it is ICE power trains taken away , then ability to cast android or apple autoplay to your infotainment screen, They will force you to use an app or phone for your listening habits, then suck the data from the app or vehicle. I predict FM radio will be next within 5 yrs.
I never thought I’d be using Charleston hestons words “from my cold dead hands”….. hang onto your used vehicles.
Ford feels threatened by the superior software technology that Google and Apple deliver.
Only reason why management would even consider blocking them.
As soon as OEMs develop, debug, and rollout ‘Chargebuddy’ for their built in screen….. the open market will develop an free app similar to Gasbuddy…. Call it Voltbuddy…. To tell you where to charge your EV and what price per kWh.
What are the OEMs thinking…..
OEMs need to Develop a ki-ler de-contented extremely affordable small EV…. Liken it to the original Beetle…. Less is more…..
C’mon…. You can do it…
This is what Tesla does. Tesla’s system
is amazing. What took so long for
Ford to look at doing this?
All Apple & Google need to do is to disable the interface to GM cars.
First they will force EV on the customer, outlawing new ICE power train in 2035.
Next force you to buy their interface, kind of like the old navigation systems $1000 built in, when TomTom and Garvin gave the same functionality for $150.
Auto companies will not learn.
DTE forcing higher rates for electricity in late afternoon/ early evening, right when you get home from work, plug in the EV to charge, cool down the house, and fire up the elec air fryer for dinner.
Government keeps encroaching on our lives.
I think this is smart and has a lot of merit. How much money/time/resources/expertise does Apple or Google really put into UX/UI compared to a car company???
LOL. What an incredibly stupid idea.
Give customers a choice and be willing to provide a superior product with defined limitations as to what you do and I really believe that is true product differentation. It could work very well if launched and evolved with Ford customers steering the feature. Could be break through stuff.