????這種誤解的第一個表現就是，很多廠商誤以為駕駛員坐到方向盤后頭就不需要手機了。實際生活中，駕駛員似乎并不關心那些純粹模仿智能手機或平板電腦的嵌入式技術，比如說屏幕、聲音控制以及五花八門的連接方式，而是更關心他們現在的數碼習慣能不能原封不動地挪到車里。J.D.Power公司2013年的一項新興技術研究顯示，超過80%的駕駛員表示，在他們購車前，“如果有一款車內設備或應用能把他們的智能手機與車內的信息娛樂系統相連接，他們會產生購買興趣。”換句話說，他們把汽車當成了私人數碼網絡的另一個節點，如果一款汽車能擴展這個網絡，那就太好了。如果不能，那就太可惜了。

????這一點非常重要——尤其是隨著各大車企開始把車內科技當成新的角斗場，而不僅僅是在油耗和杯托上做文章。

????斯卡夫說：“汽車公司終于意識到這種東西能產生差異化。消費者對它的評價會影響他們的購車決定。車企必須對它進行規劃，要把這種技術當成一個平臺，而不僅僅把它當成一個單一目標的設備。”斯卡夫一年前剛加盟通用汽車，在此之前，他是南加利福尼亞的一名應用開發者。

????斯卡夫認為，這意味著新一波的車內科技必須更注重軟件而非硬件。不妨暢想一下，未來的車內科技平臺可以充分兼容你已經在其它設備上使用的各種操作系統和應用。

????目前已經有了一些進步的跡象：通用汽車在今年的消費電子展上宣布，搭載安吉星系統的2015款雪佛蘭車型將可以連接4G LTE網絡。這個消息的意義十分重大，因為它意味著這些車型將可以運行那些在智能手機或平板電腦上非常流行的服務。同時它不僅讓蘋果的CarPlay也重要了起來，還惠及了今年成立的開放汽車聯盟（Open Automotive Alliance）。這個組織的成員包括奧迪、通用、本田和現代等車企，它將采用谷歌的Android操作系統作為車內信息娛樂系統的通用平臺。

????斯卡夫說：“不能直接把移動設備的應用體驗照搬到汽車環境里。因為人在駕駛時需要不一樣的用戶體驗。我們正在讓開發者把車內科技打造成一種不同的體驗，以一種非常不同的方式把品牌和產品體驗擴展到汽車里。”

????汽車的終極目標是把一個人從A點送到B點，這個目標是亙古不變的。但是科技如何能讓這趟旅程變得更美好？

????科斯洛夫斯基認為：“現在還沒有人能完全解開這個秘密。”

????艾布拉姆認為，現在就斷言這些車企聯盟會造成怎樣的影響還為時過早。比如通用汽車雖然是開放汽車聯盟的創始成員之一，但它現在也在考慮未來把蘋果的CarPlay整合到雪佛蘭的車型里。

????現在所有車企都把視線投到了一波新的顧客身上。上世紀５０年代，汽車曾是“酷”的象征，現在它仍有潛力再次成為“互聯一代”的裝酷利器。

????科斯洛夫斯基說：“我認為隨著汽車業的發展，由于有了新的車內科技系統，汽車將成為人們能想象的最酷的設備。它甚至會比智能手機更酷，比平板電腦更創新。”（財富中文網）

????譯者：樸成奎

????That starts with the assumption that drivers want to give up their smartphones in the first place. In practice, drivers seem to care less about embedded technology that replicates their phone or tablet's functionality -- multiple screens, voice-activated controls, all manner of connectivity -- and more about whether their current digital habits remain intact once they get behind the wheel. A 2013 study of emerging technologies in the auto industry conducted by J.D. Power identified that more than 80% of drivers "cite pre-purchase interest in an in-vehicle device/app link that would connect their smartphone to their vehicle's infotainment system." In other words, they see the vehicle as another node in their personal digital network -- if it connects to extend that network, great; if not, too bad.

????The distinction is important as car companies begin to compete on technology, not just gas mileage or cup-holders.

????"Car companies finally realized that this type of stuff is differentiating," says Scalf, who joined GM a year ago after working as an app developer in southern California. "It is something that customers value in their new car purchase decision. And they need to plan for this -- they need to treat this technology as a platform as opposed to a single-purpose device."

????Which means that the new wave of in-car technology must, according to Scalf, be focused more on software than hardware. Imagine an in-car tech platform that is fully compatible with whatever mobile operating system and apps a driver already uses on other connected devices.

????There are signs of progress: GM's CES announcement that the 2015 line of OnStar-equipped Chevrolet vehicles will have 4G LTE connectivity is significant because it means that the connected car can handle the same types of services popular on a smartphone or tablet. This is what makes the introduction of Apple's CarPlay important. This is why the 2014 creation of an Open Automotive Alliance -- with Audi, GM, Honda (HMC), and Hyundai as members -- to make Google's Android (GOOG) operating system a common platform for in-car infotainment systems is important.

????"You can't take just a mobile app experience and cut and copy that exact experience into the automotive context," Scalf says. "Because I'm driving ... the user experience really needs to be different. [We're] trying to get developers to think of automotive as a different experience, as a way to extend your brand and your product experience into the car in a very different way."

????The core purpose of a car -- to shuttle a passenger from point A to B -- remains intact. But how does technology improve that trip?

????"Nobody has cracked the code completely," Koslowski says.

????It's too early to determine how these tech alliances will add up. For example, though GM is a founding member of the OAA, it is also looking into incorporating Apple's CarPlay in future Chevrolet models, Abram says.

????But all automakers have their sights set on a new wave of customers -- and perhaps the potential to be as cool to the connected generation as they were to their grandparents in the 1950s.

????"I believe that the car companies will get to the point that the automobile will become the coolest device you can think of," Koslowski says. "Cooler than a smartphone. More innovative than a tablet. Because of all the real estate in the car."