[bcx]

I still think it's reasonable to have Apple consider building a car. Their core competency is in design, integrated platforms/ecosystems, and outsourced manufacturing.

Assuming that they could use their supply chain expertise to simplify and outsource manufacturing, the cars of the future likely looks more like a software enabled consumer electronics device than a consumer mechanical device, and there are some really neat things you could do in that ecosystem that only apple could pull off (cutting edge design coupled with high end finishes, and a software ecosystem with a self-driving car as a new platform).

That said, it's likely not the right market timing for Apple to bring an electric car to market.

[skmurphy]

It's a highly regulated product, something they have no experience with.

[hprotagonist]

they're growing experience with regulated markets -- but with a privacy/medtech slant.

Of the two, I'd probably rather fight with the FDA versus the NTSB, though.

[asadotzler]

the thing about regulation is you don't get good at it. You get good at a specific area of regulation but that rarely transfers to some entirely different set of regulations from different authorities in different places.

Saying "they're getting good at regulation" is like saying a paleontologist is "getting good at science". Sure some concepts cross, but actual understanding and competence needed to do the new job at hand don't.