"The fact kitschy accessories blatantly devalue the aesthetics of the vehicle leads me to believe that the factory platform is successful. Its a new direction for vehicles, a brutal one at that, but not a car that was designed as an open platform. Let me remind you, planned obsolescence for Tesla is build into software, not hardware."

"You don't agree? 20$/month is about the average if it isn't already integrated in platforms you're already paying for. Or are you criticizing my grammar?"

"Hey Porter, love the article! I'm the Creative Lead at an Automotive Accessory OEM. We work with the leading brands by volume in North America and offer products that run the gamut or cargo organization and vehicle use protection.The Automotive industry is complex! A few challenges hold back progress on physical accessories. Safety, Planning, and Demand. Crash safety is huge and, in most scenarios, it's easier and beneficial to avoid an accessory which could bring demerit points to safety ratings, or lead to recalls/lawsuits. Planning can sometimes run new ideas up the flagpole to the design team, these ideas need to first be vetted out and originate from a credible source to make it worth their effort.The final nail is demand. Priorities change, consumers are most reactive to infotainment and driving experience at the moment, meaning the OEM will put the most effort into these initiatives. Additionally, when OEMs look for accessories, they're looking for volume. They want accessories to have a high penetration rate to again, make it worth their efforts. Ford is doing some interesting things especially in Maverick which hosts Accessory attachment points. This helps mitigate some safety concerns as they act as a form of tether (avoiding the possibility of becoming a projectile). They seem to be outsourcing design ideation which is very cool to see!I hope more OEM's will offer these universal attachment points so we can customize the vehicle in a thoughtful/integrated manner. I've been pushing this in most meetings, hopefully we will see it more often in the future!"

"A friend with a similar screen complained about how challenging it was to keep clean due to the awkwardness of climbing in and reaching while in the tub, lots of chemical blowback as well. The hinged version looks to solve this complaint."

"Alan, I don't get your gripe. What potential does a consumer need, we're already spoon fed in most environments and have the ability to obtain low processing AI for a small overhead. Do you think consumers would have the budget for institutional grade AI or overcome the learning curve to use its capabilities?"