The "web" link just links to a google search for the phrase "Apple Veteran Overseeing Electric-Car Project Leaving Company". At the moment Google is surfacing the WSJ article as the first link in a section called "In the news", but that may not be true for anyone looking at this story in the future.
For every article I've ever tried, entering the exact phrase of the WSJ article results in the top Google result being the article in question. I think it's pretty safe given WSJ's SEO work.
Highly unlikely, producing a phone is very different to producing a car. Car manufacturing line is extremely automated. It is highly likely that Apple will built its plant in US.
Humans are cheaper than robots for things the size of a phone. You would need a lot of humans to pick up and move a unibody car frame so the economics and ergonomics don't work out the same.
They can be, and have been. Motorola and Nokia had very automated production facilities.[1] Even Foxconn in Shentzen is converting to automated assembly.
Iphones were not originally designed for easy automated assembly; early ones had internal discrete wires which had to be soldered. Newer ones use custom flexible printed wiring, which is more suited to automated assembly.
There were news about BMW and Apple meeting in Germany. There are also manufacturing companies without an actual brand like Magna Steyr building Minis for BMW.
Never a good sign of someone like this leaving the company, regardless of the reason.
I would probably say he's either burned out or was tasked with something that he feels the company can't deliver on and has decided to just cut bait and move on. I'm sure it will be spun by Apple's PR as a "mutual" parting of the ways and something about "leaving to focus more on his family". A few years from now, we'll get a clearer picture. Even in the article they mentioned unrealistic time lines.
I'm still not sure how I feel about Apple getting into electric cars. It's kind of like your favorite metal band suddenly decides to make pop music.
> Never a good sign of someone like this leaving the company, regardless of the reason.
I wouldn't necessarily read more into it. The article states that this person was with Apple for 16 years and worked on iPhones/iPods before the car project. 16 years is a long time, so it could legitimately be personal reasons.
I'd feel differently if this was someone they poached from Tesla or Detroit specifically to run the car project. But, an insider who had car experience prior to Apple (at Ford) who was already with Apple when the car project started... it could be anything.
Sometimes people realize they have enough money to live the rest of their lives and would rather focus on more immediate pleasures. It is likely that they won't regret the decision on their death bed either.
You know, I've heard the phrase "fish or cut bait" as a way to tell people to quit vacillating, and I've heard the phrase "cut and run" meaning to cut loose what is holding you back, eg an anchor.
Apple getting into electric cars hasn't gotten an official word on that yet. They are still trying to invent the technology for self driving electric cars, with a goal for 2019. They might just license the IP to the other car makers if they find they can't make the cars themselves.
Some states like Michigan have laws that if you sell cars in their state you have to make the car in their state. So Apple would have to build a factory in Michigan to sell cars there like all of the rest. Smart phones, tablets, computers don't have that requirement and can still be made in China.
About 6 years ago I tried to get money for what I called the iAuto device that ran Android and replaced a car stereo and did GPS and played music and videos and other stuff. But I couldn't get it crowdfunded. I figure if Apple can't make electronic cars, they'll make a device like the iAuto based in iOS that replaces a stereo in cars and runs apps and can even use smart cars to auto park and collision detection and other stuff.
"There was a competing bicycle dealership next door (Apple) that one day began selling motorized vehicles--expensive but attractively styled cars with their innards hermetically sealed, so that how they worked was something of a mystery." _In the Beginning, was the Command Line_
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[ 2.9 ms ] story [ 104 ms ] threadHN don't take kindly to flagging. But really, either play social or go home.
There's a quid pro quo here.
And no, actually, I'm not interested in supporting Murdoch/NewsCorp in the least.
Iphones were not originally designed for easy automated assembly; early ones had internal discrete wires which had to be soldered. Newer ones use custom flexible printed wiring, which is more suited to automated assembly.
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-fLzrTVQjg
I would probably say he's either burned out or was tasked with something that he feels the company can't deliver on and has decided to just cut bait and move on. I'm sure it will be spun by Apple's PR as a "mutual" parting of the ways and something about "leaving to focus more on his family". A few years from now, we'll get a clearer picture. Even in the article they mentioned unrealistic time lines.
I'm still not sure how I feel about Apple getting into electric cars. It's kind of like your favorite metal band suddenly decides to make pop music.
They got into music, then they got into phones.
It seems like they get into a new area when that area stops being what it was and starts becoming computers.
I think autonomous cars are probably going to be like that, Apple certainly has the capital to pull it off (and the example of Tesla).
It does happen you know. Family or friends get sick, pass away etc.
I wouldn't necessarily read more into it. The article states that this person was with Apple for 16 years and worked on iPhones/iPods before the car project. 16 years is a long time, so it could legitimately be personal reasons.
I'd feel differently if this was someone they poached from Tesla or Detroit specifically to run the car project. But, an insider who had car experience prior to Apple (at Ford) who was already with Apple when the car project started... it could be anything.
Never seen the two conflated like that though.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fish_or_cut_bait#The_changing_...
Some states like Michigan have laws that if you sell cars in their state you have to make the car in their state. So Apple would have to build a factory in Michigan to sell cars there like all of the rest. Smart phones, tablets, computers don't have that requirement and can still be made in China.
About 6 years ago I tried to get money for what I called the iAuto device that ran Android and replaced a car stereo and did GPS and played music and videos and other stuff. But I couldn't get it crowdfunded. I figure if Apple can't make electronic cars, they'll make a device like the iAuto based in iOS that replaces a stereo in cars and runs apps and can even use smart cars to auto park and collision detection and other stuff.
Are you sure this is about manufacture and not dealership?
so, Metallica? I'll have to agree with you.
"There was a competing bicycle dealership next door (Apple) that one day began selling motorized vehicles--expensive but attractively styled cars with their innards hermetically sealed, so that how they worked was something of a mystery." _In the Beginning, was the Command Line_
http://garote.bdmonkeys.net/commandline/