There are a few things that are relevant in Car-OS these days:
- Ecosystems
- Long-term maintenance
- Integration with a phone that takes over most day-to-day interactions
- Car should work without it
That doesn't mean that all car makers should just keep using an ancient QNX version statically forever, or whatever some OEM happens to install with the head units, but an in-house Linux distro with some vendor branding sauce really is about as relevant as blinker fluid.
> Companies don't buy 300 company car because it has the best center console OS.
However, I centred mine more around personal consumers, rather can organisational buyers. It's also not just some console OS, but an ecosystem that also reals with sensors and self-driving features.
I also went more into the technical aspects of operating system success, but rather than say something to the extent of "yet another QNX-style lineage is about as useful as Windows Mobile", I wrote a slightly more expanded story, just like Mercedes-Benz did on their announcement (but they added a whole lot of extra fluff about how their OS is a value add).
QNX isn't exactly defining for an ecosystem, MB.OS probably will be.
The great gift of QNX is that it is so reliable that you forget it is there. But no mistake: it is still there and it still works and without it you'd miss it right away.
Historically, their in-vehicle software has been handled by other companies they've contracted, and is radically different from generation to generation (different company each time).
There's very few quality software products these days. And that's usually just a temporary state before eventually a product gets messed with :(
Could you explain what specifically you refer to?
Diess lost his job because of that: https://www.theregister.com/2022/07/26/from_beetles_to_bugs_....
MBRDI, known for its engineering innovations, has grown to a team of over 6,000 employees and is one of the earliest technology and innovation center of a global automotive company to set up a strong presence in India.
At Mercedes-Benz Research & Development North America, we develop and certify cars for the U.S. and the world in six locations. Our work ranges from powertrain development and vehicle certification, to autonomous driving technology and in-car user experiences including advanced interior and exterior design. It is not just about cars, it is also about creating the latest and greatest software, cutting-edge technology, and groundbreaking innovation.
Locations:
Ann Arbor, MI Carlsbad, CA Long Beach, CA Redford, MI Seattle, WA Sunnyvale, CA
https://group.mercedes-benz.com/company/north-america/merced...
That doesn't mean jack. Most large German companies I worked at tended to be super inefficient, being very top heavy and prone to constant turf wars and power struggles between the managers, as that was the only career path that made you any decent money so everyone was focusing on that instead of building great products.
>They pay really well for German standards and have access to a large talent pool of people that would like to live in Germany.
Meh, pay is underwhelming, as they focus more on getting off-shore talent from abroad on a visa who's more interested in getting to Germany at any cost rather than netting a higher market wage or increasing wages to attract local talent.
These companies are good places to coast on average wages, not to make money and innovate making great products.
But they don't pay well for IT standards, German standards (IT) are lower (sometimes a lot) then polish ones.
>large talent pool of people that would like to live in Germany.
From Hungary, Romania or Turkey? Because no one else in Europe would like to work in Germany (in the IT industry). A bit of reality salt would be better for the German IT-Industry.
Human efficiency and human potential are very different things. I don't want to be an efficient cog in a well designed efficient machine. I want to be a human being - building cars is cool and fun. Fun is probably a waste too, I suppose. "Two plus two makes four without my will", etc.
Or you could even s/linux/QNX/g. But in any case, running a trusted and reliable kernel that wasn't designed by an auto manufacturer could still be what they're doing.
> MB.OS is designed and developed in-house to retain full control
You better have some world class software engineers to pull this off, a LOT of them. And retain them. If not, you better go open source. You can still retain full control with open source.
Good software is the KEY to good cars, especially electric ones. Why are we inventing 100 different models of cars every year? What a waste of human potential.