BlackBerry last week announced that its turnaround was finished, and Microsoft finally provided some information on its new connected car deliverables. One strange thing was that after CEO John Chen excitedly pointed out that BlackBerry had displaced Microsoft in Ford, he then announced a strategic initiative to work more closely with Microsoft’s Azure on BlackBerry’s own market-leading QNX car operating system. That showcased not only the massive changes in both companies, but also the really strange way this market is evolving.
I have always felt technology in some places doesn't work. Vehicles is one place where technology quickly ages and their is no ability to update or upgrade. I bought a 2008 Lexus used, had many bells and whistles like adaptive cruise, GPS, traction controls, ABS, parking assist alerts. All of this is great on paper or when you read in. Using it you find yourself asking, this was important technology back in 2008? The GPS is out of date, too expensive if you could even buy the DVD to update the maps. The adaptive cruise doesn't work, the ABS works but feels like the front end is coming apart when it activates. It brought me in to reality that technology ages quickly and doesn't age gracefully many times. Heads up displays, semi auto pilot, lane departure and other features might be useful at times. But if you really look at how many people ask to have lane departure turned off, or how many say heads up displays are distracting, or that the head unit died in my SUV and now my HVAC system doesn't work. That's when you realize we are paying for technology in vehicles that just doesn't live up to its hype and cost.
BlackBerry, Microsoft and the Ever-Smarter Connected Car
Posted by: Rob Enderle January 30, 2017 09:46 AMBlackBerry last week announced that its turnaround was finished, and Microsoft finally provided some information on its new connected car deliverables. One strange thing was that after CEO John Chen excitedly pointed out that BlackBerry had displaced Microsoft in Ford, he then announced a strategic initiative to work more closely with Microsoft’s Azure on BlackBerry’s own market-leading QNX car operating system. That showcased not only the massive changes in both companies, but also the really strange way this market is evolving.