iPlanet of the iDrives: Does Apple Want Global Domination?
Is this the future for Apple? image Credit: viperapps.co.uk
This plan has been in the making since the beginning of time itself. Everywhere you look they have been there, slowly creeping into the collective consciousness. From the basic foodstuff that animals feast upon for survival, to the fruit that tempted Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, to the falling realisation that gave Newton his idea for gravity, to the making of computers and phones, Apple have been gathering their strength. Their latest venture is to enter the car industry with their own Apple car. This does beg the question, are Apple slowly trying to take over?
Before you get too worried, I have not forgotten that this is indeed an automotive blog. The content of this blog will therefore fall on around the concept of the Apple car. The rumours surrounding Apple moving into the car industry has been swirling for quite some time now, and to this day remains nothing more than speculation. However, it has reared its fascinating head once again with the latest news that Apple have reportedly been poaching employees from both Tesla and A123 systems (battery makers) to name but a few, which has landed Apple in a bit of a sticky wicket of a situation. And by sticky wicket I mean lawsuit against Apple by A123 accusing them of stealing workers from them. I would be stupid to try and get involved with that, so I shall stick to what I know and focus on their car.
This latest news from the front has given another slice of tantalizing information regarding the release of an Apple-mobile. The attempts to convert employees from companies like Tesla and A123 point to one thing, an electric car. Unless this is some strange double bluff and Apple are in fact going to release a petrol-guzzling planet killing super car with the capability of going 1,000,000 mph, and in which case I will quite literally eat my shorts.
Now I have had somewhat of a fluctuating relationship with Apple, and perhaps I represent exactly what Apple are aiming for. For me it began with an outright refusal to buy into the ‘Apple’ brand name, claiming that it was an over-expensive marketing ploy just to bring in the dollar. Next thing I knew, I had downloaded iTunes because it had a more user-friendly operation than the equivalent Windows Media Player. With iTunes comes an iPod, obviously. I vowed that would be it, I would never buy the iPhone. In my defense it did take a few years for me to give into that one; when my phone at the time finally died my head started telling me that the iPhone was really the only option to do what I wanted in a phone. When it came to laptops I had already accepted my fate and thought I may as well complete the set. After all, the iCloud means I can sync all of my data and documents! Their clever marketing strategy and simple user experience make their products feel impossible to live without. The sad thing is I know there are much cheaper options out there, but I just can’t stop myself anymore. Shame really!
It will take some doing for Apple to out-do Tesla, but maybe that’s why they tried poaching some of their staff! Image Credit: Autoblog.com
Apple are one of those companies that I do have a grudging respect for, mainly because their products are marketed in such a way that they seem to answer the problems you never realised you had, and fill the void you never knew existed. Furthermore, Apple are clever in their timing in releasing products in new business sectors; for example the introduction of their first iPhone into the smartphone market came at the perfect time in 2007. Although they were not the first on the market, they wait until a few models have been released, before totally eclipsing them with a superior example that places its emphasis on user experience. Based on the electric car market as it stands, this is the perfect time for Apple to do what they do best. Electric cars have reached a stage where the technology is improving by the year, but there is yet to be that ONE model that defines the brand. When it comes to a smartphone, the iPhone has become the biro or the hoover of its generation. If and when they release their car, I imagine this is what they are shooting for.
Other reports have suggested that Apple are working on a secret project named ‘Titan’ which is meant to be a minivan type vehicle, but again these exist only as heard through the gossip-vine. Do remember of course that Apple has no manufacturing abilities of its own, so even if a design was finalised a whole new infrastructure would need to be set up. Although being Apple I can’t imagine that would be too much of a struggle for them to manage. I was pondering too what they would eventually call their motorised masterpiece; the obvious suggestions would be things such as the iCar or the iDrive. The project may be called Titan, but that would be a rather different route for them to take. Unless this time it was TiTAN, or something just as ridiculous. If they did go with iDrive, I would expect the car to contain some autonomous technologies.
Is this the future of Apple? Image Credit: TechnoBuffalo.com
In order to create THE electric car for the market, Apple would probably have no choice but give the car some autonomous qualities, whether it was self-driving or advanced computer systems (all controlled by Siri of course), otherwise it wouldn’t have that ‘easy user experience’ card to play that it usually does. Imagine though this did come to fruition, as amazing as the car would be, would it suffer from the same problems as a lot of Apple products? The electric motor would probably run out in all of about 30 minutes to start with, while every now and again the whole car would freeze for an inordinate amount of time even if you were in the middle of driving. And most importantly, it would be significantly more expensive than anything else on the market, but would be advertised in such a way as a ‘luxury, trendy, must-have, easiest to use’ car that they would sell in the millions.
As the plans of Apples automotive desires come to light, one question has crossed my mind; is Apple trying to take over the world? The current projections place production to begin in 2020 for the new car, if of course Apple can set up a whole new infrastructure for production sale and distribution. The business reasoning behind this move would without doubt be ‘looking for new sectors to expand into’, but this for all we know could mean that slowly but surely we are transformed into citizens of the iPlanet, with only the small band of Microsoft rebels to liberate us. This does remind me of the film I, Robot (2004) in which the robotics company US Robotics has slowly expanded into every part of our social foundations, becoming the most powerful and influential business in the world.
Image taken from I, Robot (2004)
Perhaps this is the plan Apple has in store for us all. Just maybe Apple have now become the same fruit that poisoned the minds of Adam and Eve through temptation. But then again, as a result of that (if any of that was even true) look at some of the amazing things that have been created. So we should be thanking them for tasting the forbidden fruit, and maybe one day we will thank Apple too.
Either way, I look forward to reading more about the updates on this fascinating new business venture for Apple.
Follow me on Twitter @lewisglynn69
Keep Driving People!
Peace and Love!
Level 2, 9 Help Street