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The future is coming?
Nov. 14th, 2020 10:04 amSo I'm reading this post about yet another electronics architecture coming to automobiles, GM this time. They don't know how to call it yet, DVT or Global B, but it is coming and will spread across the range. Is this good news?
At about the same time, in 1970-ies, electronics arrived at personal computers and automobiles. Since then, computers became much more affordable, convenient, and useful. I have ten personal computers in my household (of four people); this is not including smartphones and tablets, which are actually also personal computers in a slightly different format than a desktop or laptop PC.
While not any less useable devices than computers in our lives, automobiles haven't become much more affordable in the last 50 years. Actually, I'm seeing many people now who can't afford even one car. Not even mentioning owning multiple automobiles for different purposes: for a daily commute, for long-distance travel, for hauling big and bulky loads, for fun and play... and so on.
Why is that so? One reason why computers are so cheap is that their industry had accepted unified standards and architecture. You can buy a Dell computer, connect it to an HP monitor, Brother printer, and use an Asus router to connect it with a Lenovo laptop and Samsung tablet. There will be no "grave consequences"! Even more: you can swap internal components of desktops and laptops between all the different brands, install used hard drive or network card - no problem.
Imagine you would need to use only Dell printer, Dell keyboard, Dell monitor, Dell gamepad because you got Dell desktop, and it has all the different protocols, connectors, and software than, say, MSI desktop. How affordable do you think all that stuff would be in this case compared to what we have now.
And while all that stuff is affordable and made by thousands of different manufacturers all over the world (hey, last week I got myself a very unusual and super useful gaming keyboard made in Latvia!), it is a computer industry that became the richest and the most powerful. They have no problems selling their product to the masses.
So, yeah, another manufacturer came up with their specific electronics architecture, and you say, "the future is coming, are you ready?". Again, we need to do more training, buy more expensive tools, do another price hike to pay for all that - and as a consequence, there will be more people who can't afford it anymore. Right now, I am waiting for a leasing company to pick up a car from my yard. They will pay my bill instead of the customer, who can no longer afford to pay for this car. So I got paid this time, but I am losing a customer for a long-term perspective. Maybe this customer will get another, cheaper, and less useful vehicle and bring it to me again - but also possible this customer will be using a bus and occasionally only borrow a car instead. I seriously doubt that this will add more convenience and joy to that person's life.
The automotive industry as a whole shooting itself in the leg with all that proprietary nonsense. The bright future would look like they all start using a standard USB plug as a diagnostic connector (or a Bluetooth, or even use that big useless screen that you stick in the middle of the dash now as a built-in scan tool for all the onboard systems). When all the modules connectors are unified, so you can use the same break-out boxes for all the different modules diagnostics on any vehicle. And even swap modules between different brands of cars.
Instead of wasting resources on re-inventing computers over and over again, automotive engineers and designers could have done more work developing mechanical systems, powertrains (EVs are still far from perfect and affordable!), and styling. While their product would become more affordable, so more people could buy more DIFFERENT cars, not just the same big fat crossover because it seems to be the universal vehicle - and because I can't afford to have different cars for different applications.
The future is coming. Thank you for the info. I wish there would be more people like you sharing the same useful information about all those networks, protocols, and diagnostic plug pinouts for all the different brands out there. Unfortunately, this is not a bright future, and even Elon Musk, with all his cult of followers, is not doing the right thing - his product is even more closed and proprietary than many others. No, you can't run diagnostics on Tesla modules from your smartphone; you have to bring the car to the Tesla center where they connect their own scan tool. And get prepared to pay more for that visit than you pay for a new TV! Because they are not building automobiles to add convenience, comfort, and joy to your life, that's not the purpose. The purpose seems to be to drain your wallet dry - nothing personal, just business, pal...
At about the same time, in 1970-ies, electronics arrived at personal computers and automobiles. Since then, computers became much more affordable, convenient, and useful. I have ten personal computers in my household (of four people); this is not including smartphones and tablets, which are actually also personal computers in a slightly different format than a desktop or laptop PC.
While not any less useable devices than computers in our lives, automobiles haven't become much more affordable in the last 50 years. Actually, I'm seeing many people now who can't afford even one car. Not even mentioning owning multiple automobiles for different purposes: for a daily commute, for long-distance travel, for hauling big and bulky loads, for fun and play... and so on.
Why is that so? One reason why computers are so cheap is that their industry had accepted unified standards and architecture. You can buy a Dell computer, connect it to an HP monitor, Brother printer, and use an Asus router to connect it with a Lenovo laptop and Samsung tablet. There will be no "grave consequences"! Even more: you can swap internal components of desktops and laptops between all the different brands, install used hard drive or network card - no problem.
Imagine you would need to use only Dell printer, Dell keyboard, Dell monitor, Dell gamepad because you got Dell desktop, and it has all the different protocols, connectors, and software than, say, MSI desktop. How affordable do you think all that stuff would be in this case compared to what we have now.
And while all that stuff is affordable and made by thousands of different manufacturers all over the world (hey, last week I got myself a very unusual and super useful gaming keyboard made in Latvia!), it is a computer industry that became the richest and the most powerful. They have no problems selling their product to the masses.
So, yeah, another manufacturer came up with their specific electronics architecture, and you say, "the future is coming, are you ready?". Again, we need to do more training, buy more expensive tools, do another price hike to pay for all that - and as a consequence, there will be more people who can't afford it anymore. Right now, I am waiting for a leasing company to pick up a car from my yard. They will pay my bill instead of the customer, who can no longer afford to pay for this car. So I got paid this time, but I am losing a customer for a long-term perspective. Maybe this customer will get another, cheaper, and less useful vehicle and bring it to me again - but also possible this customer will be using a bus and occasionally only borrow a car instead. I seriously doubt that this will add more convenience and joy to that person's life.
The automotive industry as a whole shooting itself in the leg with all that proprietary nonsense. The bright future would look like they all start using a standard USB plug as a diagnostic connector (or a Bluetooth, or even use that big useless screen that you stick in the middle of the dash now as a built-in scan tool for all the onboard systems). When all the modules connectors are unified, so you can use the same break-out boxes for all the different modules diagnostics on any vehicle. And even swap modules between different brands of cars.
Instead of wasting resources on re-inventing computers over and over again, automotive engineers and designers could have done more work developing mechanical systems, powertrains (EVs are still far from perfect and affordable!), and styling. While their product would become more affordable, so more people could buy more DIFFERENT cars, not just the same big fat crossover because it seems to be the universal vehicle - and because I can't afford to have different cars for different applications.
The future is coming. Thank you for the info. I wish there would be more people like you sharing the same useful information about all those networks, protocols, and diagnostic plug pinouts for all the different brands out there. Unfortunately, this is not a bright future, and even Elon Musk, with all his cult of followers, is not doing the right thing - his product is even more closed and proprietary than many others. No, you can't run diagnostics on Tesla modules from your smartphone; you have to bring the car to the Tesla center where they connect their own scan tool. And get prepared to pay more for that visit than you pay for a new TV! Because they are not building automobiles to add convenience, comfort, and joy to your life, that's not the purpose. The purpose seems to be to drain your wallet dry - nothing personal, just business, pal...
