Looking Out - The Podcast: Ep. 3

In this episode of Looking Out - The Podcast, we discuss:

The success of Hyundai design and how — to the surprise of many — Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis are becoming aspirational brands.

Sure, Peter Schreyer and his acolytes from VW, Bentley and Lamborghini have had a massive impact.

But we’re also seeing the fruit born form seeds sown much earlier, with Giorgetto Giugiaro’s delightful Pony Coupe concept recently reimagined as the N Vision 74.

For us, the South Korean brands have become some of the standard bearers of genuinely interesting, aspirational design.

The implications of Apple demoting design and how this could affect other companies.

People often talk about the magic pairing that was Steve Jobs (the visionary) and Jony Ive (the designer), but without Tim Cook (the executor), Apple wouldn’t be anything like the success it is today.

But with Jobs and Ive now long gone, and continued churn in the design ranks, there’s been precious little genuinely new — or deeply good — stuff for Tim to ship.

Nonetheless, Apple’s cash pile keeps growing. As Marco Arment, famed independent Apple developer said on Twitter:

Tim Cook is a good business person, Tim Cook does not have good taste. We all want this to not be true, but we know that it is.

The impact on how design is valued at other companies, now that Apple’s growing ever fatter on past successes, could be far reaching.

What’s to become of the small car market as Volkswagen struggles to produce EV’s cheaply and the potential of other transportation methods such as e-bikes.

It’s a recurring theme for us, if only because the impacts of European manufacturers scaling back or terminating their small car programmes has such wide-ranging implications.

Fewer people will be able to afford their cars, which means factories will be producing less of them, which means OEMs will be employing fewer people. The societal consequences are hard to ignore.

The Chinese manufacturers, however, have no such problems and are preparing an onslaught of affordable, class-competitive EVs. And, of course, micromobility is bound to play a role.

The social capital of Mercedes’ new performance upgrade subscription and how that might determine its success.

Why social capital? Because — if we take a lesson from the growth of social networks — the ease with which something allows us accrue social capital or, in simpler terms, to look good in front of our peers, will determine how willing we are to pay for said thing.

Mercedes’ $100/month upgrade for the EQS, EQE, and EQS SUV doesn’t make the car hugely faster, nor can you tell that it’s fitted, so: no social capital.

Drew reckons it’s going to be a tough sell.

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Looking Out - The Podcast: Ep. 2

That’s right, folks! It’s time for another auditory deep dive in to the most popular topics from Looking Out #27.

In this show, we explore:

the EV charging clustercuss,
why a car costs more than your house,
and cars in the cloud.

We also share some thoughts on the end of the age of abundance, and the emergence of AI art.

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Click ‘Read more’ for show links and the transcript

Looking Out - The Podcast: Ep. 1

The first ever Looking Out Podcast!

Joe and Drew offer you an auditory deep dive in to the most popular topics from Looking Out #26.

In this show, we:

cast a critical eye on Apple’s expanded CarPlay offer,
explore some of the challenges facing shared micromobility in Europe,
delight in the importance of getting a car name just right, exploring the legacy of the man who’s created some of the most iconic names in the industry.

Click ‘Read more’ for show links and the transcript