Apple Car - Fact or Fiction?

During the past few weeks, a rumor implying that Apple has been discussing building an autonomous car has made its way around the internet. The rumor has been gaining momentum as reports of Apple meeting with the California Department of Motor Vehicles hit the internet. The Guardian released documents indicating that the purpose of the meeting was to discuss the state's regulations regarding autonomous vehicles; however, a car does not follow Apple's tradition of personal electronic goods, such as iPods and iPhones. A vehicle would most definitely require hiring massive amounts of new employees, due to the fact that most, if not all, of the current employees are well-versed in the smartphone universe, but not so much autonomous vehicles.

All of this talk of a self-driving car raises the question, "Is this a good idea?" Over the past few months, news of Google's autonomous car has been a hot topic of discussion. Google has been developing an autonomous car since 2009. It is now 6 years later, and they have released the first next-generation autonomous vehicle prototype in December of 2014. The team says that they have "self-driven over 1 million miles"[1], which is a huge step in the self-driving vehicle community. If Apple was to join this race now, would they be able to surpass Google? Google has been the pioneer in this space; it would be very tough for Apple to catch up in such a short time frame. Technewsworld states that "The target ship date is 2019"[2], which seems highly improbable if Google has been constructing their vehicle for 6 years, and it is not ready for production yet.

Another perspective to consider is that of finances. Apple has been making massive amounts of revenue since their announcement of the first iPhone in 2007. Research and development of an autonomous vehicle would cost massive amounts of money. How would the consumers feel if Apple poured all of their money into R&D for a car? I believe that some will be okay with it, as autonomous cars would make long-distance travelling more comfortable and safe. On the contrary, educated individuals may not be as accepting of this premise due to Google's current monopoly of the self-driving vehicle space.

The way I see it, Apple is making a mistake becoming involved in the autonomous vehicle community. Google is so far along in their development that it would take Apple several years to come close to where Google currently is. The only way this seems feasible to me is if Apple and Google were to partner for such a program. By combining finances and efforts, autonomous vehicles could potentially be in production within the next few years.

Sources:
[1]: http://www.google.com/selfdrivingcar/where/
[2]: http://www.technewsworld.com/story/Apple-Car-Talk-Starts-Making-Sense-82525.html
Primary source: http://www.technewsworld.com/story/Apple-Car-Talk-Starts-Making-Sense-82525.html