Not an EV, not a "something smart (OTA)" car — a "somewhere ('ooo')" car
There used to be a saying: "not a smartphone but the iPhone."
Before smartphones, there were PDA phones.
Right now the car market is changing in a pattern similar to the smartphone market of the past.
Though we're still at the first entry stage.
A powertrain shift is happening, from petroleum to electricity.
As the drivetrain gear falls away, the space inside the car is changing with it.
As a ripple effect, the car market as a whole is moving.
Personally, I think the PDA phone maps to the EV,
the smartphone maps to the OTA car,
and the iPhone has a pattern similar to the new something ('ooo') car.
That's why I think Tesla gets likened to Apple.
What's worth watching here is that the object of that analogy—Apple—is jumping into the car market.
Can Apple really cause the same sensation as when the iPod or iPhone first appeared in the world?
An operating system based on electricity alone won't get past the PDA-phone stage, I think.
Then, the next-gen EV? Smart car?.. something ('ooo') car — how should we approach it? That insight
suddenly came in and started churning around in my head without any order, so in the spirit of traffic control
I'm posting to sort it out.
Fragments of the phenomenon
The iPhone, which started as the iPod, was not simply born out of a combination or edit of various technologies.
Tech medleys existed plenty in the past too.
What matters is what base you start from.
(For instance, virus contagion: digestive-tract propagation vs respiratory-tract propagation)
The iPhone started from the "portable" mp3 or CD player base that most people were already carrying around at the time.
Like the mp3 of the past, the approach should be: "What do most people already have?! What does that 'what' mean, and how much influence does it have?"
The iPod, unlike its competitors, wasn't merely a large-capacity music storage device.
The iPod (music) ecosystem, which became the foundation of the iPhone, offered a "sailing base" that went beyond just "something."
The iPod, on top of the online app store (iTunes), expanded into an ecosystem where various somethings (tangible and intangible) could be traded.
Therefore the something ('ooo') car, unlike its competitors, should not be merely a large-capacity battery or a means of movement.
Going further, we shouldn't be satisfied with just evolving into an OS that supports OTA.
Reasoning
So, where should the something ('ooo') car start from?
Battery and sensor issues are only market-entry conditions. They're necessary, not sufficient.
To gain differentiation, survival, or market dominance, rather than focusing on ultra-light or high-efficiency batteries,
you should start from something people are happy to carry or be seen with—like the "music player" of yesteryear.
On that basis, the so-called EV should be approached not as a "something" but as a "somewhere."
An OTA-based electric or hydrogen car is no longer a "means of transport (a something)."
In other words, it should be reorganized onto the somewhere ('ooo') base where most people actually dwell.
*This insight also surfaced instinctively, but honestly I still haven't adjusted to it myself. That's probably the noise from past experience. How can you imagine a car while riding a horse carriage, or a smartphone while using a feature phone..? Thinking back, when global conglomerates that used to flaunt their technology launched PDA phones, early adopters and tech specialists cheered—look how far the world has come. But most people's reactions weren't great. Why would you draw pictures, take photos, or play games on that tiny, slow phone? It's inefficient, too much.. the negative opinions piled up.
So, before the insights I just bumped into fade, let me spell them out a bit more concretely
It should be not merely a "means (or tool)" of transport but a third "space."
This third space can evolve into a living space, an office, a powder room, or even a hotel room.
If autonomous driving becomes possible with minimal power,
humans no longer have a reason to stay in expensive, fixed spaces.
We can evolve a bit more Sapiens-style.
We'll be able to live "apart yet together" in more varied spaces with more varied people.
Of course this won't replace the home.
For the same reason that laptops and desktops haven't disappeared even after ultra-high-performance smartphones and smart pads.
Today it's obvious that a smartphone is no longer just a phone.
Going forward, EVs—and further, OTA cars (so-called smart cars)—won't just be cars.
"Sitting still" for the sake of transport is so natural.
No—used to be natural (past tense).
"Sitting" reads as "staying," and staying means "time."
At first, services and technologies that let you use your sitting-for-transport time will get stuck together and fused in patchwork fashion.
Then, looking at that medley, people will start to think, "do we really need this..?"
Just like the PDA phones of the past.
And one day the somewhere('ooo') car will appear.
The moment you arrive at the airport, you arrive at your travel or business destination.
The moment you leave the house, you arrive at the office or the mart,
and the moment you leave the office, you arrive home.
Literally, the era of "door-to-door" opens up.
This so-called "door-to-door"
expands and gets applied as the base structure for life design in space.
On Earth, it will be used as an experience space for holograms, AR, or VR.
Maybe the closest thing is a minimal version of a spaceship.
...
Camping cars? The changes produced by the restrictive structure of petroleum-based drivetrains — a prime example of the medley, I think.
