Apple, Volkswagen talks on hold?
updated 09:15 am EST, Thu December 6, 2007
Apple, VW talks on hold?
Negotiations between Apple and Volkswagen are at a halt, a German business publication suggests. The companies' respective CEOs, Steve Jobs and Martin Winterkorn, are said to have met in August to discuss the prospect of an "iCar," which would integrate Apple products directly into the design; now however, Capital magazine claims that although Volkswagen later confirmed exploratory talks, these have suddenly stopped. "The project is shaky," say the magazine's business sources.
Also suggested is that Apple has started negotiating with other car manufacturers, a tactic which may be designed to put pressure on VW to accept its terms. Apple has long been rumored to pit companies against each other for its own benefit. One of the most recent examples of this is the iPhone and British carrier O2; while O2 eventually won the contract, The Guardian wrote that Apple had threatened to share iPhone distribution with Orange, a move which would have seriously harmed O2's profits.
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Touch screens in cars
Serious work needs to be done on creating appropriate user interfaces for automotive applications. Touch screens are cool and slick, but you can't use them without looking at them, their performance in cold weather isn't optimal, and using them with gloves on is tricky.
A simple array of k****, buttons and sliders have worked well for decades, and can be made very user-friendly.
Controlling every aspect of the car's functionality through a single interface with nested screens isn't the best way to keep the driver's attention where it should be... on the road.