Apple Co-Founder Slams Prius Software Problem

[mdillenbeck]

[citation][nom]djackson_dba[/nom]A real software engineer would have decompiled the system, fixed the software and emailed the patch to Toyota.[/citation]

In the least, the person would make sure to test the bug on more than a single system... after all, a faulty component and not faulty software may be behind the issue if it cannot be reproduced on another machine.

Oh yeah, and then record another person following the said procedure on the same machine to reproduce the error.

Now, I do believe his error does exist, and that Toyota's quality has fallen a bit (I had an 80s Camry at 180k miles that leaked transmission fluid and oil - despite my wife forgetting the 3rd day level checks, she'd drive it near bone dry for a month and it never failed... gave it to my brother in law, who gave it to a friend... so there may be an Undead Camry out there on the highways still, probably looking for Christine.) However, I generally find American cars lacking several things - like a decent fuel efficient engine.

 

[deadlockedworld]

I bet it really pisses Steve jobs off that people still refer to Woz as "apple co-founder" especially when he does really crazy shit.

Woz hasnt been part of apple for decades, and really should just be called by his name...

 

[milktea]

Lucky I hold back on buying a Prius. I always had a strange feeling about it. And with news like that it looks like it would take me "Man Century" to buy a Toyota.

 

[Guest]

My Apple computer stopped working when I tried to install a new hard drive manufactured by a company that is not Apple. It doesn't work right. I bet that tees Woz off.

 

[falchard]

Hmm, the Prius that has to drive 60k miles until it saved more fuel then a Semi-Truck due to its manufacturing costs has some design problem? Preposterous.

 

[falchard]

[citation][nom]sickofsoyo[/nom]Fail... Hopefully a few people will try out Ford's and GM's newer cars, they seem to be getting on the right foot now.[/citation]

Ford and GM aren't on the right foot. The only US car maker on the right foot is Chrysler because they went bankrupt. They won't be on the right foot until they make a car they can sell in the green. It doesn't matter how good the car is or how many they sell if they lose money on each car.

 

[Pei-chen]

Wozniak's gas pedal is suffering from his massive foot. If he lost 200lb the problem will resolve itself.

 

[Guest]

Being a co-founder is like being a father: you just have to make the baby, not raise it, even if raising it is what really takes more time and effort.

 

[cookoy]

He says the problem can be repeated over and over again so it's not an intermittent thing. Toyota better look into the claim. Programmers hate those users from hell who can crash just about any system. But they are very helpful in uncovering the hidden bugs.

 

[JofaMang]

Automatic transmissions in low torque vehicles have ALWAYS had a problem with finding the right gear at certain speeds and changing gradients. He might be a computer guy, but his fat ass probably wouldn't be able to find a dipstick, let alone change the fluids on his overpriced "green" car that does more damage to the environment in production than it will save in fuel over the life of it's battery.

My bet is his issue is entirely based on stuffing his girth into a tiny car that barely has the torque to run itself at highway speeds (where the electric motor does nothing, and the only place one would use cruise control). Yes, a bucking transmission searching for the right gear through elevation changes might feel like an acceleration problem to an idiot like him. Someone give him a dozen donuts to shut his hole with.

 

[JofaMang]

On that note, I would trusk Wozniak on the topic of vehicles about as far as I would trust Carrol Shelby to educate me on overclocing my PC. Not at all, that is.

 

[Guest]

"I don't get upset and teed off at things in life, except computers that don't work right"

What, did your Prius' screen go all yellowish or something?

 

[vvhocare5]

After hearing Woz speak its clear that Jobs was the brilliance in the team.

go back to dancing with the stars....

 

[esquire468]

[citation][nom]darkknight22[/nom]Did I miss something where Apple decided to come out of the closet guns blazing? Seems like anyone associated with apple have declared war on just about everyone...[/citation]

It's called the Kansas City Shuffle. You should be looking in one direction, but they got you looking in another direction. Their criticizing of everyone is to draw attention away from their own problems, namely that of the criticism given to the iPad and the AT&T contract issues.

 

[Guest]

He probably has the cruise control set at like 90mph trying to go up a 20% incline. And the poor little Prius is dropping gears and flooring it trying to maintain speed.

 

[notsleep]

[citation][nom]jossrik[/nom]I like the part about the man years.[/citation]

don't be sexist! xD

 

[datawrecker]

JofaMang +1000 FTW!!! I'm sorry but Woz is the last person you want to listen to about a vehicle. You can reproduce this error in nearly any low torque car. Honestly though, I can't believe anyone that says the Prius' accelerator "goes wild." What's the 0-60 on a Prius 9.8, how could you possibly notice the accelerator going wild?

 

[one-shot]

[citation][nom]climber[/nom]If Americans needed an excuse to buy American over the supposed superiority of foreign cars, this is just the tip of the iceberg. I will admit that foreign cars spent years creating high quality products to gain market share, but now they're in the position of trying to squeeze out profits from a decelerating profit margin (pardon the pun) and they're hit with the same shoddy workmanship issues that the American automakers had to deal with and "may have" corrected to some degree. After all they are in the business of making money, and making a perfect piece of engineering is not profitable.[/citation]

Like your American Ford F-150 that's made in Mexico? That American vehicle? How about my Honda that's made in the USA?

 

[mikepaul]

I may have missed this, but did he say what the top speed was when the car accelerated faster than he thought was prudent? I don't expect that the cruise control going *too* far past the setpoint but I wasn't there.

My 2004 will rev up really high when the cruise control decides I'm not going fast enough. It makes a lot of other Prius owners stick with manual pedal control since that's extra gas being burned. I don't really care because if I wanted to WORK at driving I'd have bought a manual transmission car...

 

[Yoder54]

[citation][nom]extremepcs[/nom]Woz is having LSD related flashbacks, kicked off by a Krispy Kreme overdose. God I hate hippies![/citation]

Well, it was the hippie community and their concept of sharing that brought the home computer as we know it into existence. If it had been left to corporate America and the likes of Xerox, we might still be using slide rules.