iNavigate: Why Apple Should Develop a Media Center for Today's Cars

Apple is no longer just a computer company. They're also doing entertainment - media in general.

They've got the new iMac G5 with Front Row that lets you watch DVDs, view video files, and listen to music using a remote control (see last week's Video iPods and iSight in the iMac Put Apple Firmly at the Hub of the Digital Lifestyle). With the addition of a tuner, this iMac could replace a television for some people.

Apple also has the iPod, with which it has gained considerable MP3 player market share - as well as a good reputation for the company. It's also worked with many top automakers in order to integrate the iPod into their car audio systems.

However, the car audio experience leaves a bit to be desired. Some car manufacturers have done a good job and allow you to view track information right on the stereo system's display. Others (like BMW) show only track information (track 1, 2, 3, etc.).

Some manufacturers are starting to develop computer-like systems to deal with the car's entertainment functionality, handling CDs, MP3s, radio, and, in many cases, navigation and climate control.

Some of these systems are a bit clumsy - BMW's iDrive uses a single knob to control the whole unit. That's great for your passenger to play with while you're driving, but it's not too practical for the driver, even though the absence of controls looks very pleasing to the eye.

Audi's system is very similar - it's got a single knob, but there are separate controls for adjusting certain things, such as the temperature inside the car. Both Acura and Mercedes-Benz' systems are confusing with endless buttons below (in Acura's case) or next to (in Mercedes) the screen that actually displays the information.

All of this - followed by a notice that displays each time you start the car that you just might die if you dare touch anything but the steering wheel - is almost enough to make you wish for a regular stereo with a volume knob and a tuning knob.

This is where Apple comes in. Apple is great at simplifying an otherwise complicated product. Getting on the Internet was fairly complex until Apple released the iMac in 1998. MP3 players were often hard to use (with lots of controls and various complicated interfaces) until Apple designed the iPod. Downloading music legally wasn't simple until the iTunes Music Store came out.

Perhaps these auto companies should have Apple help develop a computer system - perhaps using a touch screen of some sort - that would allow the average nontechnical soccer mom and dad to use the media features of their new cars instead of having the dealer preset one radio station for them to listen to.

What I'm thinking of is a touch screen that has the basic options on it - audio, climate control, and navigation - with icons symbolizing each, sort of like Front Row on the new iMac, but with one difference. A colored box would surround each icon - maybe green for audio, red for climate control, and yellow for navigation. This way there's immediate visual recognition of the function, much like the green iTunes icon tells the user what it is before you move your mouse pointer over it.

This would hopefully stand out over the solid color of the car's instrument panel.

The system should allow for direct integration with an iPod - but it should also have a built-in hard drive for storing MP3s ripped from CD (when you insert a CD, the option "copy CD to car" might be displayed on the screen along with the standard track list). This would eliminate the need for keeping CDs in the car.

Making it easy to access this music library would be the challenge, but I have a feeling Apple would come up with a fairly simple solution to the problem - most likely the solution is something visual, not more text, as that distracts you from the road for longer.

The radio would have to have the advanced options available for those who want to access them - like Apple offers with iTunes. Yes, there is an equalizer, but you don't have to play with it if you don't want. The volume controls should be simple and easy to access. Perhaps two squares: "up" surrounded by an orange square and "down" surrounded by a blue one.

This is only an idea (I see it as a vast improvement over some of the systems that are out there), and Apple could probably develop something better. And then there's the selling point of having an Apple-developed device in the car. Apple has a good reputation these days, and having an Audi with an Apple Media System would only serve to enhance both of the company's images.

Audi wants the image of a sporty, up-to-date performance car for people who live a slightly more adventurous life, than say, your typical Mercedes-Benz driver. Then again, Mercedes is trying to bring it's image closer to that of Audi and BMW, so perhaps having an Apple-designed entertainment system (especially for playing DVDs in the back seat of their new R-class crossover, perhaps they could even make the system run a basic version of OS X so that kids could play computer games) might serve to promote this new image better.

And more basic cars like Hondas and Toyotas (and especially American cars) - while many have said they will offer integration with the iPod, their audio systems aren't exactly computer-controlled yet. Perhaps Apple could work with one of them to offer an added option to make one model really stand out from the crowd. Who knows, if Apple were to work with GM, it might actually give them an advantage over the imports (then again, Apple might feel that an Apple entertainment system in a Chevy Malibu would hurt their image).

Regardless, it seems that there's an opportunity out there for a company familiar with interface design in media products to start working with automakers on an improved in-car media system - and Apple would be a great company to do this.