| Author | Message | ||
     Court |
This is rich . . .
Apple . . . . arguably the most successful business in American history . . . is told by the Ex-CEO of General Motors . . yeah, the one that went bankrupt and still never paid back the bailouts . . . that they have "no idea what they are getting into.
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| Ourdee |
One of the men at the helm of Chrysler during the "Branding" days, Desired to have the cars completely outsourced roll through the Chrysler plant where the badges would be installed making them our product. In my opinion (  ) you don't have to know the answers, but know the questions to ask. | ||
| Jonny5 |
Reports of Apple offering $250,000 signing bonuses and a 60% pay increase to certain Tesla employees certainly means they are serious about building something with wheels. I'm 100% certain that I would NOT be in the market for a car that drives itself..... Sounds to me like GM may be a little bit worried though! (Message edited by jonny5 on February 24, 2015) | ||
| Airbozo |
Apple is a great Marketing company. Their technology however lags behind others here in the valley and elsewhere. Could you imagine owning an iCar? Only Apple approved electricity would work on it. If you need to have repairs made, only an Apple approved mechanic would be able to fix it (at twice the cost of a normal shop). If you wanted to charge it, only an Apple approved charger would work (and cost 5 times what a normal charger would cost). None of the existing parking lot chargers would work and you would have to wait for them to be installed 3 years after you buy your car. Only Apple branded tires would work on the car and it would brick itself if you used anything else. Batteries are not changeable and you will have to buy a new car when they die. Apple would know where you drive at all times and would brick your car if you drove on roads not approved by Apple. Apple would make more money off selling your driving details and locations visited to third parties than it would off the cost of the car. Only iTunes would play on the stereo system. You could not use anything but an iPhone with the iCar. Advertisements would constantly scroll across the dashboard. Color options would include: White. Ten years down the road, Apple will claim to have invented the electric car and sue everyone else to stop producing them or pay royalties. Apple will also claim a trademark on the round shape of the wheels and another trademark on using a steering wheel to control the car. They will also trademark the pedals used for accelerating and stopping. | ||
| Froggy |
Dan Akerson, the former CEO in question, is not the CEO that mismanaged the company for a decade sending it into bankruptcy. Under Dan's leadership, the company is now profitable, and had repaid the bailout loans. Dan is right, Apple doesn't know what they are getting themselves into, hence why they are trying to bait Tesla engineers, and they already got one of the former higher ups of Mercedes. Airbozo, I know you jest, but those thoughts were going through my mind as I've been hearing the rumors of an Apple car over the last week. No one would want to buy a phone with a big screen - Steve Jobs, 2010. | ||
| Airbozo |
Actually only a few are in jest. We'll see in 5 years. Don't get me wrong though, more players in that field means more options and better prices for the masses. I would just never own an Apple product. | ||
| Sifo |
and had repaid the bailout loans. Only in a rob Peter to pay Paul sort of way. | ||
| Court |
>>>I would just never own an Apple product. Perfectly understandable. I'd never own a General Motors product. Folks have preferences based on personal experience and predisposition. | ||
| Hootowl |
Technically, yes, they've paid off the loan. But in reality, tax payers took it in the ass 10 billion times when the stock we bought was sold at a great loss. | ||
| Airbozo |
" Perfectly understandable. I'd never own a General Motors product. Folks have preferences based on personal experience and predisposition." For me it is based on how they have behaved in the last several decades. It is Apple's MO to routinely patent ideas from other companies and then sick their lawyers on the rightful owner to drown them in the legal process until they scream uncle. Or to try and patent things that are common sense things like swiping in a downwards position to turn a device off (which btw was how my old ZIRE 71 was shutoff, long before Apple thought about selling a phone). Or like the time they claimed to have invented the mouse and then tried to prevent the testimony of the actual inventor by filing restraining orders and law suits for defamation so he could not legally testify in court (which the judge saw through and had to make a legal maneuver to give the guy immunity from prosecution). The mouse and windowed operating system, which Apple also claimed to have invented were actually invented at the Palo Alto Research Center back in the 60's. Not to mention the fact that they refuse to pay certain property taxes and other fee's, because the city of Cupertino should be grateful their headquarters are in their city... They're just slimy. | ||
| Pwnzor |
Ford. Android. Windows. Kawasaki. Honda. Ruger. Beretta. Smith & Wesson. BadWeB. I dabbled in Buell for a few years, but dealers and stators put me off entirely. | ||
| Greg_e |
Not to pick on GM, but I have owned one, got treated really badly by dealers and customer service people, traded it for a loss, and will very likely never own another GM. In my opinion they should have been allowed to fail so some other company could buy what was left and hopefully make decent vehicles. | ||
| Hootowl |
They wouldn't have failed. They would have gone through a normal bankruptcy and restructuring like a bunch of other companies. They got a special deal that screwed the shareholders in favor of labor and a stock bailout that cost the taxpayers ten billion dollars. GM has no intention of returning that money. I will never purchase another GM product. | ||
| Orman1649 |
I don't know how an i-car thread turned into a GM hate thread...but in general, I like the looks of the GM products both in and out better than Ford. If I had the money I would own a 2015 Suburban. My first car was a 1965 Corvair Corsa (although I'm 35) and I have loved GM ever since. However, my latest car is a 2013 MKZ and while it looks beautiful inside and out, after driving it for a few years I'm not all that impressed with the build quality. (Message edited by orman1649 on February 26, 2015) (Message edited by orman1649 on February 26, 2015) | ||
| Hootowl |
I was thinking apple will be in for a shock when they attempt to navigate the red tape of environmental regulations and union bs...but then it dawned on me...the icar will be built in china by a third party just like all other apple products. -sent from my iphone- | ||
| Court |
By the way ...... All vehicles sold in the United States, even if they have significant foreign content from China . . . Like Buells, EBR and Harley-Davidson, have to comply with all that red tape. | ||
| Hootowl |
It was meant in jest...hence the tag at the end. | ||
| Hootowl |
I am curious though, what US environmental regulations and labor laws will apple have to comply with if they manufacture the car in china? Besides cafe of course. |
