With CarPlay, Apple Looks to Upend Tradition
APPLE’S widely anticipated CarPlay software is making its mainstream debut this summer in models from Hyundai and Chevrolet, but Apple is already looking ahead to leverage its potential in a way that could turn the automotive industry’s current approach to connected cars on its head.
Aimed at streamlining the welter of apps from smartphones that play on some dashboards into a more cohesive — and less distracting — arrangement, CarPlay combines iPhone-based programs, including maps, messages and music, into a single interface. It makes adroit use of Siri voice commands and familiar touch controls.
But it cannot control standard car functions, like switching FM radio stations or checking a vehicle’s engine status. To use those features, drivers will have to switch out of CarPlay.
What Information Do Fleet Managers Need?
AFLA’s Education Committee looks strategically at what’s happening within the industry - with the aim of providing fleet managers with the information they need to do a better job of operating their fleets.
Strategically Reducing Fleet and Insurance Budgets
Strategically focusing on fleet safety and insurance can save organizations many hundreds of dollars, per vehicle, per year.
A Call to Action: Leads Don’t Matter Anymore?
By Ed Pierce, Founder, ITA Fleet Communications
Michael Surkan, Group Manager for Better Marketing with Analytics, recently pointed to a study of 1,700 chief marketing officers that found 59% of them have been unable to implement their planned digital marketing strategies and that 82% of CMOs felt unable to deal with the explosion of data that is being thrown at them.
The real problem uncovered in the study, however, is that CMOs are saying that they are now being judged on the revenue their marketing activities generate, NOT on the leads they find.
During my marketing career, a lead was marketing’s goal, and it was the job of sales to convert that lead into revenue. Remember the quote from Glengarry Glen Ross?
“These are the new leads. And to you they're gold, and you don't get them. Why? Because to give them to you would be throwing them away. They're for closers.”
Making It Possible For the Modern Mobile Worker to Concentrate On the Task At Hand – DRIVING
By Matthew Betz, Vice President Business Development, Fleet at Motus, LLC
“Your conscious brain cannot multitask. If I’m speaking to you and checking my iPhone at the same time, I’m doing neither. This is why our society is frazzled; this misconception that we can consciously do more than one thing at a time effectively” – Deepak Chopra
No matter your role in the organization – driver, fleet manager, executive or CEO, our modern world is making it possible to do more, while at the same time increasing the demands on our time and talents. And, as the quote from Deepak Chopra states, we’re becoming distracted and more frazzled. Sometimes, that’s not a major issue, but trying to multitask while driving could be inviting a catastrophe. The question becomes “How do we get The Modern Mobile Worker to focus on the task at hand?”
