Detroit and Silicon Valley are in a cold war over our driverless future. And yes, we know Silicon Valley isn’t a city…
The Hustle
Wed, Oct 26
The Valley versus Detroit
For years, tech giants like Apple and Google have been fixated on disrupting, if not destroying, America’s automaking industry.
After all, driverless cars are the future, right? And it’s on the campuses of Silicon Valley — not the manufacturing plants of Detroit — that the AI revolution is taking place.
Lately, however, these tech companies have backed off of the “We’re the only ones smart enough to make driverless cars!” stance. Heck, Apple’s pretty much given up one building one altogether.
Why? Because, as it turns out, building a car is really freakin’ hard.
The pendulum has swung
Thanks to the tech world’s acknowledgment that they’re “not up to the complex task of mass production,” the balance of power has shifted back to traditional automakers… ya know, the guys that have actual experience bending metal and assembling cup holders.
As a result, Detroit’s finest are now spending billions to develop their own self-driving systems and lure tech talent away from Silicon Valley through acquisitions and research labs expansions.
“The old conversation I used to have was, ‘You guys are going to end up being the handset, you’re going to be low-margin assemblers of other people’s cool technology,’” said Bill Ford, Ford Motor Co.’s executive chairman. “We don’t want to be the handset. And we won’t be.”
Can’t we all just get along?!
Despite the rare cases of Detroit and Silicon Valley working together (e.g., Volvo’s partnership with Uber), the two industries are severely lacking in the cooperation department.
And that’s mainly because neither side is willing to share power. Toyota, Volkswagen, General Motors, and Ford have all “conducted extensive talks with tech giants,” but in every case failed to meet in the middle.
In the future, one can only hope these two sides come to a power-sharing agreement to push this revolution forward. Having them work entirely independent of one another just seems silly and inefficient.
However, until then the cold war will continue to rage on…
“It’s amazing to see these two sides. They look at each other and there’s fear and greed,” said Evan Hirsh, an auto-executive adviser at a consulting firm. “They really don’t understand each other.”
Vroom, vroom
Back to the drawing board
Google tries to do a lot of stuff. That’s pretty much their MO. And as a result, people either give them a ton of crap or props depending on the flavor of the week.
Gmail, the Pixel phone, and those weather balloons that provide internet access? Props.
Google Glass, anything self-driving cars, and creepy robots that move like animals? Crap.
Well, yesterday they announced a new piece of hardware called the Jamboard and it’s surprisingly sweet. Not in a “my life is forever changed” way, but more along the lines of “that actually seems pretty useful.”
Here’s what it does
If you’ve ever been a part of a corporate environment, especially one with remote employees, you know how hard it is to get people on the same page for meetings.
Skype or Google Hangouts? Hipchat or Slack? Do you want to share your screen or should I share mine? Is that a donut? What are you eating over there?
The Jamboard takes all that logistical mumbo jumbo and packages it into a single, 55-inch 4K touchscreen TV that includes their Android operating system, Google Apps, a webcam, speakers, and a stylus.
Kind of like a whiteboard that’s trying too hard. Except as it turns out, all this stuff is actually super useful.
Think about having Jimmy from Australia talking on the screen while you’re mapping out a new UX flow. Or writing on a whiteboard and having it automatically save in the cloud instead of taking a picture of it on your phone.
It’s not anything revolutionary (Microsoft came out with the Surface Hub back in March), but it’s one of those things that solves a simple, real, problem that businesses have.
Move over ping pong table. At $6k a pop, these bad boys might become the new office staple. Mark my words.
Props, Google
Venmo just got some competition
On Monday, Paypal received some expected news that America’s biggest banks (Chase, Citi, Bank of America, and others) are building a way for kids to transfer $4 to each other for some “za.”
Looks like the financial world is finally ready to compete with cool/hip/rad payment apps like Venmo, Square Cash, and whatever Snapchat or Facebook Messenger are rolling out these days.
What is this new money-transfer service?
They’re calling it Zelle, after a gazelle. Because gazelle’s are fast, get it?!
However, as The Wall Street Journal’s deep investigative reporting team pointed out, “The Urban Dictionary defines zelle as ‘best girl ever,’ meaning a female who is attractive and smart.”
Thanks WSJ… That’s probably what they were going for.
How’s it work? Well, it’s new, but not that new
For years, banks have been using a backend system called clearXchange that allows them to send money to accounts at other institutions.
The difference now is that they’re giving it a startupy-sounding brand and marketing it to consumers, particularly younger ones.
And while most financial institutions move like molasses, Zelle’s money transfers to your account will be instant, without the traditional delay you see from Venmo.
Congratulations, consumers. You now have even more ways to send and receive money in a matter of seconds. Your great grandfather, Pete, who used to walk 5 miles to the nearest bank just to cash his paycheck is quite envious.
Strong like an ox
Yesterday in Apple
Lots of Apple news on Tuesday. Here’s a quick recap of the 3 top stories.
Apple posts annual revenue decline for first time since 2001
They grew to be the most valuable company in the world over the past decade thanks in large part to the tremendous success of the iPhone.
But now that sales are “lukewarm” at best, the company posted its first annual revenue decline in 15 years.
Despite all this, Tim Cook remains confident about current-quarter revenue as response to the iPhone 7 “has really been off the charts.”
And here’s some more good news: The company’s services business (Apple Music, iTunes, and the App Store) saw revenue grow 24% from a year earlier.
We have a leak…
Yesterday, 2 hidden images of the upcoming MacBook Pro were leaked and, as many expected, the function row (all those buttons above the numbers on your keyboard that you rarely ever use) has been replaced by a “Magic Toolbar.”
This toolbar will include, among other things, a Touch ID sensor, which will allow users to confirm an Apple Pay payment (and one would presume unlock their computer) with their finger.
Heads up: Apple’s event is on Thursday where they’ll officially announced all of these things.
Happy 15th birthday, iPod!
This week marks the 15th birthday of the iPod, which Steve Jobs first unveiled back in the fall of 2001 (here’s the iconic video).
As we all know, the iPod changed music forever and really brought Apple to prominence in the early 2000’s. But here’s something that might surprise you: People were originally very skeptical about the product.
Even Apple’s biggest fans were critical of the product, calling it “ridiculous” and “pathetically expensive.” Care for a re-do, gentlemen?
Remember Music Quiz?
Calling all Earthlings
More often than not, our sweeps are only available to people living in the US. It’s for legal reasons. But this one’s a little different: We partnered with some friends to give away $3,500 worth of goods to one lucky human living anywhere in the freakin’ universe.
This includes four $500 gift cards to stores like Linjer and Velasca, a $250 gift card to Style Forum, an Italian suit from Lanieri, and even a couple tickets to our very own conference — Con Con.
So if you’re a carbon-based lifeform that breathes air, click here for your chance to win all this great stuff. We come in peace but the suit might come in 3 pieces… get it?
THE FINE PRINT: Ends November 2nd, gotta be 18 or older, yawelcome
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