The Mobile Office... As A Dealer Add-On?
from the talk-about-accessories dept
One of the battles facing the automotive industry is how closely they want to work with computer makers and consumer electronics makers. Historically, accessories for vehicles were made specially for that car, and dealers could offer them as a "dealer add-on." Alternatively, users could buy in the after-market, though, sometimes the equipment wouldn't work as well. However, with more portable electronics coming out, the idea of "in-car electronics" becomes a bit less clear. Many people want to simply use the same gadgets that they use outside of the car -- while having the vehicle work with these devices. In other words, instead of building in fancy features into the dashboard, many carbuyers are making sure new vehicles have Bluetooth and other connectors to let their existing equipment work with the car. With that in mind, it's interesting to see Ford trying to take back some of the control by offering a complete "mobile office" for the Ford F-Series of pickup trucks. The ~$3,000 package includes a ruggedized wireless-enabled (they don't say what kind of wireless) tablet PC, a printer and a GPS system -- and is clearly targeted at contractors and others who do plenty of business on the road. It's an interesting move: focusing on a system that is really designed to work within the truck's cab (the PC also has a touch screen and voice recognition). The real question, though, is whether or not the package itself makes enough sense for buyers not to shop around and buy their own solution. Clearly, Ford has tried to position this as an easy add-on with everything you need, but the competitive "aftermarket" is the entire computer industry, rather than just some specialty shops this time.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
phatbox
They may follow a vertical integration path, meaning that Ford will own aftermarket companies so it can participate in those additional revenue streams.
Of course, they could go batshit insane like so many companies have and try to sell songs online under the Ford brand....
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Making Money?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
come and pay for the shippment of ur product back
MY name is anthony matthew chukwuemeka,the manager and director of new DHL office at idumota lagos nigeria.i greet you happy new year in advance,there are 20 laptops being bought from your company since last 2 years the owners of those containers did not come to claim them and we have tried our best to locate the owner of those containers but we could not get him/her and there was no adress on the containers and we want to ship those containers back to your company and we are not responsible for the shipping payment ,your company will have to pay a sum of 1,000$ for the shippment of the goods back to your company and you have to pay into this account number through western union money transfer ,here is the account number to pay to 1863010095622 and my name is anthony matthew chukwuemeka and send the control/TRACK number to this email ultimate4business@yahoo.com and immediately will get the control number and your name,immediately the containers shall be shipped back to ur company
i am happy to tell you that we are locAting another office at enugu i wish u happy new year again.have a nice day.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Cell phones, Nokia, Samsung, LG, Sony Ericsson, Mo
[ link to this | view in thread ]