A few years from now, in addition to deciding your next vehicle’s make and model, you may have another tough choice: the Google model or the Apple one? Other options may include “car maker generic” and even, I’m spitballing the name here: Amazon Prime Edition.
Now that cars, especially electric ones, are becoming something like smartphones on wheels, some of the dynamics that played out in the early days of the mobile industry are playing out in the auto industry. Competition between the two kingpins of the smartphone industry has in the past couple of years gained new momentum, with Google racking up auto-maker partnerships for the automobile-based version of its Android operating system, and Apple teasing plans to expand its software capabilities in the car.
