Continuing the trend of wild
Cupertino-related rumors, while simultaneously bringing to mind an old joke about Microsoft and GM, a German magazine is claiming that
Apple and
Volkswagen have entered into discussions over a concept vehicle to be dubbed -- you guessed it -- the iCar. If you believe what they say, the two companies are in the early stages of planning for an
entire line of new VWs that would incorporate Apple-sourced designs and features. Given that we've seen the firms
collaborate in the past, this isn't too far out there -- though we wouldn't go wagering on this rumor, either. As you can see below, the Engadget gang chimed in on the news, but what do
you think the iCar would be like?
Ryan: "Can hit 100Mph, can't hit 100Kbps."
Evan: "The scroll wheel would be hard to steer in sharp turns."
Paul: "Give it a few weeks and you should be breaking 25Mph no sweat."
Nilay: "It only uses one kid of gas!"
Josh: "I hear it doesn't have 3G either."
Chris: "Internal combustion engines were stupid until we decided to use them."
Dante: "White."
[Via
AppleInsider, image courtesy of
Chris3D]
posted August 29th 2007 8:26PM
Well, it's especially smart for something that barrels along at highway speeds! :D
If it breaks down at all, just whack something hard on it and it will work again, guaranteed.
-No steering wheel, no dashboard, no pedals, no gear shift. The windshield is a giant touchscreen. You poke at the object you want to drive toward and use sliders and buttons to control how fast.
-Costs much more than all other cars on the market, has less features, and is generally inferior, but for some reason is by far the most popular car there is.
-Cannot be refuelled. You must bring it to an Apple service station to have it exchanged for a new one when the tank dries up.
-Early versions will crash every few hours. Later versions will be more stable, and have all manner of unnecessary eye candy.
-Music may only be played by plugging in your iPod.
-Nintendo will release a shopping cart that copies its look. Firmware hacking will enable it to function as a car, but capable of reaching only 95km/h and occasionally stalling, because nobody who tries to make a replacement firmware will be able to get it quite right. However, given the total cost and additional features, it will be a much better purchase overall. Nintendo will also release a bike that copies the look, but nobody will even try to hack it, despite how much everyone wants to see it hacked.
-Engadget will post hundreds and hundreds of articles about it.
Rhumored 2nd release. The iCar Nanovan
If the battery runs out, you can't replace it and you need to send it back to Apple.
I think it would look just like the show car/ concept car Volkswagen Electronics Research Laboratory made with the Mac mini built into the glove box and/or in the center console in the back seat with a lot of other cool stuff added into it.
http://www.vwerl.com/video/showcar/showcar.html
I really hope that everyone is joking in their comments below, as far as apples repair costs and the OS being "proprietary".
Not being a fanboy, and I do find some of the comments funny, just not the ones that aren't true!
(Btw, I use Windows.)