????

????等到2015款梅塞德斯奔馳C級(jí)轎車(chē)于今年秋天發(fā)布時(shí),，與它一同面世的將還有蘋(píng)果的CarPlay車(chē)內(nèi)科技系統(tǒng)。這套系統(tǒng)使用了一個(gè)模仿智能手機(jī)的界面,，還包括一塊觸屏,，一眼看去，和人們每天都使用的智能手機(jī)相差無(wú)幾,。

????從幾個(gè)方面看,，蘋(píng)果進(jìn)軍汽車(chē)界都非常值得注意。每當(dāng)蘋(píng)果謹(jǐn)慎而無(wú)情地殺入一個(gè)新市場(chǎng),，基本上意味著這個(gè)市場(chǎng)就要重新洗牌。汽車(chē)行業(yè)是一個(gè)規(guī)模龐大,、利潤(rùn)豐厚的市場(chǎng),，這個(gè)行業(yè)的主宰者的地位基本都很穩(wěn)固，有些公司主導(dǎo)汽車(chē)行業(yè)的歷史甚至比泰坦尼克號(hào)還悠久,。但更重要的是,，汽車(chē)行業(yè)的消費(fèi)技術(shù)在體驗(yàn)上一直是一塊短板。與此同時(shí),，智能手機(jī)在汽車(chē)導(dǎo)航和回復(fù)信息等方面的簡(jiǎn)潔性卻深得消費(fèi)者的歡心,，因此他們自然會(huì)抱怨汽車(chē)在執(zhí)行同樣任務(wù)時(shí)的復(fù)雜?？梢韵胍?jiàn),，在消費(fèi)技術(shù)被整合進(jìn)這個(gè)一噸多重的大鐵塊的過(guò)程中，一定是缺失了點(diǎn)什么東西,。

????汽車(chē)業(yè)并不缺少這樣的嘗試,。通用汽車(chē)公司（General Motors）在2012年的車(chē)型上就推出了它的MyLink車(chē)載信息系統(tǒng)；福特（Ford）更是在之前一年就推出了MyFordTouch系統(tǒng),，另外它早在2007年（也就是iPhone問(wèn)世的同年）就推出了自己的Sync系統(tǒng),。奧迪（Audi）有自己的Connect系統(tǒng)，豐田（Toyota）也有自家的Entune系統(tǒng),。起亞用的是基于微軟的Uvo系統(tǒng),，它的大哥現(xiàn)代則有一個(gè)叫做Blue Link的系統(tǒng)。

????但是似乎沒(méi)有哪一家汽車(chē)廠商的車(chē)內(nèi)系統(tǒng)擁有自己的粉絲,。這些系統(tǒng)都很復(fù)雜,，好像只是一堆硬件按鈕的堆砌，它們的界面連最會(huì)玩智能手機(jī)的用戶(hù)都覺(jué)得頭痛,。這些系統(tǒng)都處在各自的雛型階段,，還很不完美,，經(jīng)常挑戰(zhàn)用戶(hù)的耐心。而且它們還給駕駛這樣一項(xiàng)單純的工作增加了一項(xiàng)新的工作量——光為給軟件升級(jí)值不值得跑一趟4S店,？

????從事車(chē)內(nèi)科技研究的高德納咨詢(xún)公司（Gartner）分析師蒂洛?科斯洛夫斯基說(shuō)：“它還沒(méi)有優(yōu)化好,，還沒(méi)有真正捕捉到它應(yīng)有的體驗(yàn)?！?/p>

????通用汽車(chē)的子公司安吉星公司負(fù)責(zé)產(chǎn)品和應(yīng)用研發(fā)的工程組經(jīng)理馬克?斯卡夫認(rèn)為,，這種局面有一部分原因是汽車(chē)的工程周期造成的。一輛今天在市面上銷(xiāo)售的汽車(chē),，它的車(chē)內(nèi)技術(shù)都是三到五年前研制成的,。這就意味著今天的工程師們都在為2018年、2019年甚至2020年才能上市的汽車(chē)“打包整合規(guī)格和設(shè)計(jì)”,。

????但這并不是說(shuō)這些系統(tǒng)的唯一問(wèn)題就是它們的年齡,。

????通用汽車(chē)全球顧客互聯(lián)集團(tuán)（Global Connected Customer Group）信息娛樂(lè)系統(tǒng)總監(jiān)菲爾?艾布拉姆指出：“我們目前的集成水平還比較原始，剩下的技術(shù)已經(jīng)達(dá)到了即將可以整合到汽車(chē)?yán)锏呐R界點(diǎn),，要靠蘋(píng)果,、谷歌和移動(dòng)運(yùn)營(yíng)商們推出行得通的系統(tǒng)和標(biāo)準(zhǔn)。我們現(xiàn)在才剛剛進(jìn)入這個(gè)階段,?！?/p>

????換句話(huà)說(shuō)，車(chē)內(nèi)科技系統(tǒng)本身并不是特別復(fù)雜的東西,，只不過(guò)他們還沒(méi)有領(lǐng)會(huì)到應(yīng)該為駕駛員提供什么樣的技術(shù)體驗(yàn),，因?yàn)楣こ處熒踔涟{駛員自己現(xiàn)在都還沒(méi)有搞清楚那種體驗(yàn)應(yīng)該是什么樣的。高德納公司的科斯洛夫斯基也認(rèn)為,，今天的車(chē)內(nèi)科技系統(tǒng)之所以很不好用,，部分原因就是由于汽車(chē)廠商誤解了什么是消費(fèi)者想要的東西。

????他說(shuō)：“對(duì)于消費(fèi)者來(lái)說(shuō),，車(chē)內(nèi)科技應(yīng)該能幫助他們把數(shù)字化的生活方式擴(kuò)展到汽車(chē)?yán)?。而汽?chē)公司并不是非常了解數(shù)碼世界?！?/p>

????When the 2015 Mercedes-Benz C-Class is unveiled this fall, making its proper debut with it will be Apple's CarPlay, an in-car technology system that will mimic the smartphone interface -- including the touch-screen, if present -- that legions of people carry in their pockets every day.

????Apple's (AAPL) entry into the world of automobiles is noteworthy for several reasons. The company enters markets deliberately and ruthlessly, for one, rarely doing so without readjusting the playing field. The automotive industry is large and lucrative, dominated by players so established that some predate the sinking of the Titanic. And above all, the application of consumer technology to the automotive industry has been sorely and frustratingly lacking in terms of the experience to which drivers and passengers are subject. As consumers marvel at the phone's simplicity in summoning driving directions or responding to a friend's message, they scowl at the car's complexity in doing the same. Something is surely lost in translation with the addition of 3,000 lbs. of steel in motion.

????It's not for lack of trying. General Motors (GM) introduced its MyLink telematics system in its 2012 models; Ford (F) rolled out its MyFordTouch system the year prior and its Sync system in 2007, the same year that the iPhone was introduced. Audi has its Connect system. Toyota (TM) has its Entune. Kia has its Microsoft-powered Uvo (MSFT) and big brother Hyundai its Blue Link.

????What none of these carmakers seem to have is fans of their in-car technology. The systems are complex, a nest of hardware buttons and interface flows that confound even the savviest of smartphone users. They can be imperfect in their relative infancy, challenging the patience of drivers who know better than to look away from the road. And they add a new dynamic -- does a software update warrant a dealer visit? -- to the relatively straightforward driving experience.

????"It's not optimal," says Thilo Koslowski, a Gartner analyst who studies in-car technology. "It hasn't really captured the experience that it should look like."

????Part of this has to do with the engineering cycle of cars, says Mark Scalf, the OnStar engineering group manager for developer products and applications at General Motors. The technology available in cars today was finished in production three to five years ago, he says. That means that engineers today are "wrapping up specifications and designs" for technology in vehicles scheduled to hit showrooms in 2018, 2019, and 2020.

????Not that frustration with these systems is derived solely from their age.

????"The level of integration we have right now is rather primitive," says Phil Abram, chief infotainment officer for GM's Global Connected Customer Group. "The rest of the technology is getting to the point where it's ready to be integrated into a car. That's on Apple and Google and ... the [wireless] carriers to bring forth systems and standards that make sense. We're just entering that phase right now."

????In other words, it isn't so much that in-car technology systems are especially complicated; they just haven't captured what a technology experience for a driver ought to look like because engineers and drivers alike are still learning what that experience should be. Gartner's Koslowski partly attributes the unwieldy experience of today's in-car tech to automakers' misunderstandings of what consumers want.

????"[In-car technology] should be for consumers to extend their digital lifestyle into an automobile," he says. "Car companies are not understanding this digital world really well."