Once-Popular Car Technologies at the End of the Road
The
 history of in-car technology is littered with obsolete artifacts — 
including eight-track players and briefcase-size cellphones. What is 
next to be left behind?
With
 technology inside the automobile becoming ever more sophisticated, 
Ronald Montoya of the auto research site Edmunds.com shared his 
predictions for which products are destined for the trash heap.
 NAVIGATION SYSTEMS GPS devices by Garmin
 and TomTom were all the rage seemingly just a few years ago. Now, most 
consumers are more likely to put their map-equipped smartphone in the 
cup holder, Mr. Montoya said. Google’s Android Autodashboard system 
means Google Maps will now be on a car’s main screen, making a separate 
GPS device unnecessary. Automakers’ efforts to build proprietary 
navigation systems will also be obsolete. Many tend to be clunky, and 
the maps they contain are often outdated. They will seem even more so 
when compared with the continually updated mapping and traffic reports 
from Android Auto or CarPlay.
 AUTOMAKER APP SYSTEMS
 In recent years, car companies have tried to capitalize on the app 
craze, with mixed results. That experimentation is likely to stop, Mr. 
Montoya said. Who needs a version of Pandora just for a Chevrolet or a 
Ford, when consumers will already have that app on their phone-powered 
screen? Instead, car companies are likely to work within the 
architecture of Google or Apple to offer vehicle-specific features.
 MUSIC PLAYERS
 Android Auto and CarPlay feature streaming music from their extensive 
libraries, and services like Pandora and iHeartRadio will offer apps on 
the platforms as well. So is it time to say goodbye to the MP3 music 
player, or even songs stored on your phone? Not so fast, Mr. Montoya 
said. “It costs you under data plans to stream music. So if you’re going
 to be streaming every single day and you’ve got an hour commute, that 
adds up fast,” he said. Of course, if data becomes cheap, that could 
change.
 CD PLAYERS
 These still come included in many new cars. Why? “They’re super cheap 
to produce and for car companies to install, so they’re still in a lot 
of vehicles even as consumers’ actual use of CDs is on a steep decline,”
 Mr. Montoya said. Most consumers buying a new car these days already 
want to see connectivity for their smartphone-based music, whether via 
Bluetooth or a cord. With Android Auto and CarPlay, the CD player’s days
 may finally be numbered. But it may not die out as quickly as some 
think. After all, until 2010, Lexus still offered a sedan with a 
cassette player.
 
 
 
 
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