Here we are referring to 4 specific companies: Toyota & Ford V Apple and Google.
It sounds like a bit of a boxing match and in due course, it leads to some very interesting developments. We can see that other companies are deciding to take on the likes of Google and Apple to prove that they at least don’t have so much of a monopoly on the market as they might think.
So what’s it all about?
The car firm Toyota has decided to join forces with Ford and use a system which they originally devised, to allow smart phones to become connected with car dashboard screens – almost appearing to reject Google and Apples designs in their own right.
Quite understandably, a lot of contention has been evident in this area as car manufactures are uneasy about appearing to ‘give away’ the experience of their car and systems to software firms.
Google and Apple’s stance on this is a simple one of safety and convenience. If you already have the respective smartphones then it is much easier (and therefore safer when you are out driving on the road) to have their own management systems on car screen dashboards. This seems a fair point, but shouldn’t all car screen dashboard systems be safe and convenient anyway, regardless of who is operating them?
Toyota have already appeared to clearly state that they have no plans to integrate Apple and Google’s technologies into their cars, although they are always open to review the situation they claim.
Perhaps the best approach? Leave the consumers to decide which system they want. Afterall, it is the customers that have the ultimate power when it comes to buying and ‘voting with their pocket’. Ford have at least voiced their approval to this kind of stance.
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