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Cake day: June 20th, 2023

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  • That makes sense. But in that case, why doesn’t apple impose data privacy standards on cars that want to integrate CarPlay? It would still allow car manufacturers to design their own software. I’m not sure I’d trust CarPlay to safely operate all of the sensors and displays in a car. What if the speedometer freezes for example? Or if the car suddenly detects a car in front of it (that doesn’t exist) and brakes because of it? It just seems like a really bad idea to grant such levels of control of the car to CarPlay, which isn’t evaluated to the same level as standard built-in car software is (afaik).

    Or, better yet, Apple should lobby for comprehensive data privacy laws in the style of GDPR, which would at least help resolve these privacy issues industry-wide. And, to their credit, it seems like they are to an extent. My opinion is that hardware car functions, such as air conditioning, windshield wipers, seat warming, etc. should be managed by the car software, and navigation and music should be managed by CarPlay. Though of course opinions may differ here.











  • I’m not just talking about faster. Over long distances flying is often almost an order of magnitude faster, significantly cheaper, more reliable (trans-continental rail journeys often involve tricky connections between different rail carriers), and much easier to book (for example, try booking a flight between Amsterdam and Bucharest, and then a train ticket). There are some connections where rail makes sense right now, but definitely not all connections.

    Airlines are also obligated to pay compensation if their flights are delayed, railway companies are too under certain circumstances but the amounts are far lower and this doesn’t cover separate tickets, which are often needed to travel on these very long railway journeys.

    But I think we’re in agreement that it shouldn’t be this way. In situations where taking the train takes merely 2x as long as flying instead of 10x as long, it should definitely be the preferred option. Now the goal is to expand international railway connections, extend the railway compensation rights to make the trip safer to book, and provide a pan-European ticketing system that shows the lowest prices and allows all connections on a single ticket.







  • Airlines are well known to price flights awkwardly in response to the market. They often price connecting flights lower than direct flights, even if that direct flight is part of the connecting itinerary. It is alleged that they use client data (generic such as time of day or specific such as device/location) to reprice their flights, but I think the limitations of the GDS1 prevent this from happening.

    What companies want to do is sell their product at the maximum price each client is willing to pay. This is already done in some ways by intentionally segmenting the market, such as by having multiple cabins on trains and planes, despite them all providing fundamentally the same service (transportation from point A to point B). More data from each client helps them target the cost of their product to each client and maximize their revenue.

    I wouldn’t be surprised if user data is used more in the future to price products, especially as AI is getting more and more capable.

    [1] https://hostagencyreviews.com/blog/what-is-gds