Music

Ford and Microsoft Now Have 5 Million SYNC Vehicles on the Road

Alan Cross 1 Comment

Visitors to these pages know that I’ve been obsessively covering the changes to automobile dashboards for a couple of years now.  I’m doing this for two reasons.

(1) As a long time radio person who loves the medium, I believe it’s extremely important that the traditional radio industry wake up to the new realities of in-car listening.  As infotainment systems become more sophisticated, the listening behaviours of drivers and their passengers will change drastically.  More choice = more marginalization for traditional radio–unless radio adapts.

(2) I love cars.

If you’ve never used one of these new infotainment systems–or if you’re just not a gadget person–you’re probably wondering what all the hype is about.  But if you have, you know exactly how cool this technology is.  Hell, my technology-adverse wife has taken to this stuff and can’t do without it.

And while there’s still a long way to go (user interfaces still need lots of work), we’re in the midst of the biggest revolution in car audio since 8-tracks and cassettes started appearing under dashes.  

Ford has been a leader in this area for the last couple of years.  Yes, their Microsoft-powered SYNC system does have its issues, but with 5 million systems on the road, it’s hardly a failure.  And it tells us something about the car-buying publics interest in the new in-dash gizmos.

(Via TechCrunch)

Alan Cross

is an internationally known broadcaster, interviewer, writer, consultant, blogger and speaker. In his 40+ years in the music business, Alan has interviewed the biggest names in rock, from David Bowie and U2 to Pearl Jam and the Foo Fighters. He’s also known as a musicologist and documentarian through programs like The Ongoing History of New Music.

Alan Cross has 38045 posts and counting. See all posts by Alan Cross

One thought on “Ford and Microsoft Now Have 5 Million SYNC Vehicles on the Road”

  • Just having SYNC in the dash doesn't mean it's being used. Do they have any numbers for the people that actually take advantage of the technology? OnStar is in millions of cars as well but A fair percentage of those cars are not active OnStar users.

    If I buy a Focus right now, it will have SYNC in it. Doesn't mean that i will use it in any greater capacity than a basic AM/FM in dash unit.

    The cynic in me suspects 5 million installs translates to 2.5 million users.

    Reply

Let us know what you think!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.