RichardJensen Posted October 29, 2013 Share Posted October 29, 2013 In this week's column, he draws this conclusion about MFT: The bottom line is this: There are still pockets of “NIHS” (Not Invented Here Syndrome) rampant throughout this industry. Even though there are brighter technical solutions ready to plug and play into vehicles - especially when it comes to electronics - some entrenched company silos insist they can develop things better, faster and cheaper on their own. But when the resulting product is years late and the performance is underwhelming and too often annoying, what have these companies gained by doing that? Do I really have to say how about a big fat zero? Apparently so. How is this an even *remotely* accurate characterization of Ford's MFT issues? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fordmantpw Posted October 29, 2013 Share Posted October 29, 2013 In this week's column, he draws this conclusion about MFT: How is this an even *remotely* accurate characterization of Ford's MFT issues? What exactly was ready to "plug and play" 5 - 7 years ago when Ford started building MFT? Or 8-9 years ago with Sync was beginning development? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sullynd Posted October 29, 2013 Share Posted October 29, 2013 It is interesting that Hyundai/KIA is apparently going Android for their next version of UVO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickF1011 Posted October 29, 2013 Share Posted October 29, 2013 What exactly was ready to "plug and play" 5 - 7 years ago when Ford started building MFT? Or 8-9 years ago with Sync was beginning development? Or today for that matter? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fordmantpw Posted October 29, 2013 Share Posted October 29, 2013 Or today for that matter? Good point! There will never be anything that is truly "plug and play" unless all automakers conform to a single communication system for things such as heated seats, climate control, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted October 29, 2013 Share Posted October 29, 2013 Or today for that matter? Exactly. Even today it's not plug-n-play, even for cell phones. And designing a system for a vehicle that has a potential lifespan of decades is a lot different than a cell phone designed to be replaced every 2-3 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mackinaw Posted October 29, 2013 Share Posted October 29, 2013 Peter had the same rant last Thursday on Autoline After Hours. Maybe listen to the episode to get a better feel for what he's trying to say. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EBFlex Posted October 29, 2013 Share Posted October 29, 2013 And yet...Chrysler's uConnect is almost universally praised. Here's an idea, don't let your customers beta test your fancy, convoluted system when they buy the product. Maybe do an ounce of testing prior to it hitting the showroom and you'll have better results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickF1011 Posted October 29, 2013 Share Posted October 29, 2013 And yet...Chrysler's uConnect is almost universally praised. Really? https://www.google.com/search?q=uconnect+problem&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardJensen Posted October 29, 2013 Author Share Posted October 29, 2013 Peter had the same rant last Thursday on Autoline After Hours. Maybe listen to the episode to get a better feel for what he's trying to say. I'm not going to waste my time on that. I already waste enough time here. I can't see how greater context would resolve the fundamental issues with what he posted. Arguing that MFT was 'years late' is one of, if not THE stupidest criticism of MFT that I have ever seen in my life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted October 29, 2013 Share Posted October 29, 2013 Here's an idea, don't let your customers beta test your fancy, convoluted system when they buy the product. Maybe do an ounce of testing prior to it hitting the showroom and you'll have better results. You're showing your ignorance again. MFT problems were not due to lack of testing. Quite the opposite - at one time there were 1500 bugs identified. The code was so buggy that the vendor couldn't fix it in time and there was no backup plan for the 2011 Edge. Ford is responsible for choosing the wrong vendor and for not having a good backup plan when MFT wasn't ready. This forced them to release buggy code and it took a long time to stabilize it. It's been relatively stable since early 2012 and my 2013 Fusion has been rock solid for 8 months with no lockups or freezes or reboots. Only complaint is a lag between voice commands to play a song or playlist and starting to play (about 10 seconds). This is not kool-aid - these are facts about what happened and why. Anybody can lean basic operation of the climate control, radio, navigation and phone in 5 minutes. It's not nearly as diffiicult as some people want you to believe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickF1011 Posted October 29, 2013 Share Posted October 29, 2013 You're showing your ignorance again. MFT problems were not due to lack of testing. Quite the opposite - at one time there were 1500 bugs identified. The code was so buggy that the vendor couldn't fix it in time and there was no backup plan for the 2011 Edge. Ford is responsible for choosing the wrong vendor and for not having a good backup plan when MFT wasn't ready. This forced them to release buggy code and it took a long time to stabilize it. It's been relatively stable since early 2012 and my 2013 Fusion has been rock solid for 8 months with no lockups or freezes or reboots. Only complaint is a lag between voice commands to play a song or playlist and starting to play (about 10 seconds). This is not kool-aid - these are facts about what happened and why. Anybody can lean basic operation of the climate control, radio, navigation and phone in 5 minutes. It's not nearly as diffiicult as some people want you to believe. They could have just launched the 2011 Edge without navigation, heated seats, ambient lighting, and all the other MFT-specific options. I wouldn't have bought one, but they could have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted October 29, 2013 Share Posted October 29, 2013 They could have just launched the 2011 Edge without navigation, heated seats, ambient lighting, and all the other MFT-specific options. I wouldn't have bought one, but they could have. In retrospect that might have been better, although sales haven't really seemed to suffer through all of the MFT woes. I'm sure that Ford was told (and believed) that the problems could be fixed and the system stabilized within a month or two. And gosh knows they tried - releasing new software about once every 2 months for the next year plus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickF1011 Posted October 29, 2013 Share Posted October 29, 2013 In retrospect that might have been better, although sales haven't really seemed to suffer through all of the MFT woes. I'm sure that Ford was told (and believed) that the problems could be fixed and the system stabilized within a month or two. And gosh knows they tried - releasing new software about once every 2 months for the next year plus. For most of those early adopters it was fixed to their satisfaction too. What was the number that would still recommend it? 76% or something? Ford has taken a beating in the media for MyFord Touch, but I think overall it has been a windfall as far as bringing in customers. You know, the ones who actually pay Ford's bills. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted October 29, 2013 Share Posted October 29, 2013 For most of those early adopters it was fixed to their satisfaction too. What was the number that would still recommend it? 76% or something? Ford has taken a beating in the media for MyFord Touch, but I think overall it has been a windfall as far as bringing in customers. You know, the ones who actually pay Ford's bills. To be fair it's currently at 70% but I don't think it was nearly that high a year or two ago. And sales data is precisely why Ford thinks they made the right decision to release it because it has helped sales even if the media hates it. Yet another reason not to listen to the media. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
351cid Posted October 29, 2013 Share Posted October 29, 2013 MFT in our 2013 Fusion works exactly as I think it should...and in my sisters 2012 Escape. These guys that are still harping on MFT must not have much common sense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chucky2 Posted October 29, 2013 Share Posted October 29, 2013 I'd be interested how he came to the "years late" metric. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chevys Posted October 29, 2013 Share Posted October 29, 2013 Tell me exactly how many upgrades MFT has gone through since its inception. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fordmantpw Posted October 29, 2013 Share Posted October 29, 2013 (edited) Tell me exactly how many upgrades MFT has gone through since its inception. Not sure what difference it makes, but MFT has had more updates since its first release than iOS has in that same time frame. That tells me that Ford is busting butt trying to make it better. Don't you agree? MFT: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MyFord_Touch#Versions) CCPU In-vehicle Image Part No. Suffix SyncMyRide.com Version Generation Comment 10212 -AJ 1.8 10308 -BD 2.3 SYNCGen2_4.22.10308_PRODUCT 10337 -BE 2.4 SYNCGen2_4.22.10337_PRODUCT 11038 -BH 2.7 SYNCGen2_4.23.11038_PRODUCT 11063 -BJ 2.8 SYNCGen2_4.23.11063_PRODUCT 11081 -BL 2.10 SYNCGen2_4.23.11081_PRODUCT Focus only 11134 -BM 2.11 SYNCGen2_4.23.11134_PRODUCT Released 26 Oct 2011 unknown unknown 3.0.2 SYNCGen2 Released 05 Mar 2012 unknown unknown 3.1.3 SYNCGen2 Released September 2012 (BEV vehicles only) unknown unknown 3.5.1 SYNCGen2 Released December 2012 + GPS Update (A4) new SD card required unknown unknown 3.6.2 SYNCGen2 Released August 2013 iOS: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IOS_version_history) Version Build Release date Highest version for 3.1.3 7E18 February 2, 2010; 3 years ago iPhone (1st generation); iPod Touch (1st generation) 4.2.1 8C148 November 22, 2010; 2 years ago iPhone 3G; iPod Touch (2nd generation) 5.1.1 9B206 May 7, 2012; 17 months ago iPod Touch (3rd generation); iPad (1st generation) 6.1.3 10B329 March 19, 2013; 7 months ago iPhone 3GS; iPod Touch (4th generation) 7.0.3 11B511 October 22, 2013; 7 days ago iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPhone 5C, iPhone 5S; iPod Touch (5th generation); iPad 2, iPad (3rd generation), iPad (4th generation), iPad Air; iPad Mini (1st generation), iPad Mini (2nd generation) 7.0.3 (Apple TV Software version 6.0.1) 11B511d October 24, 2013; 5 days ago Apple TV (2nd & 3rd generation) EDIT: The fancy formatting from Wikipedia didn't hold...just click the links. Edited October 29, 2013 by fordmantpw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted October 29, 2013 Share Posted October 29, 2013 7 in the first year alone (from Oct. 2010 to Oct. 2012) as shown above. 3.0.2 was the one that finally stabilized the majority of installations (outside of some lingering hardware issues). 3.5.1 got rid of most of the annoyances and remaining issues and sped up performance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted October 29, 2013 Share Posted October 29, 2013 (edited) I'm less concerned about "buggy" tech infotainment than I am about all the other basic things being right and not needing safety recalls for major problems. We're now at the stage of picking on much smaller but possibly more annoying issues to the consumers than anything that would have rated a mention in quality ratings a decade ago, we're now blurring the lines between rating a car's dynamics, safety and quality with how easy the infotainment system is to use. This is what happens when you outsource a showcase item for your vehicles and the supplier fouls up the delivery, Ford then suffers a legacy of years of software upgrades that could have, should have been totally unnecessary under different circumstances. Had MFT worked faultlessly and effectively, then I'd say that Ford's ratings would have bee 180 degrees, probably near the top with CR ect instead of back in the pack...... Peter D is just piling on with crap, he things people won't notice that some of his statements about years late don't gel with reality, MFT is difficult for some buyers but others seem to be fine with it...another case of noisy objections drowning out the silence of the satisfied. Edited October 29, 2013 by jpd80 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EBFlex Posted October 30, 2013 Share Posted October 30, 2013 Really? https://www.google.com/search?q=uconnect+problem&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a Unreal. THAT is your proof? Funny though, when I googled "uconnect problem" I got about 175k results. When I googled "my ford touch problem", I got over 28 million. Funny how that works isn't it? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fordtech1 Posted October 30, 2013 Share Posted October 30, 2013 The whole MFT mess is spilled milk at this point. Version 3.6.2 has dropped complaints to about none for us. It was a big mess at first. So many bugs and people didn't know how to use it plus device compatibility. It was not a picnic for anyone. However it's turned the corner and let's move on. Next generation will be out with more buttons. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickF1011 Posted October 30, 2013 Share Posted October 30, 2013 (edited) Unreal. THAT is your proof? Funny though, when I googled "uconnect problem" I got about 175k results. When I googled "my ford touch problem", I got over 28 million. Funny how that works isn't it? Way to miss the point. It was a simple illustration that people are having issues with UConnect too. FACT remains, no infotainment system is without problems. And there's a couple very logical reasons MFT comes back with far more results: 1. It's been out quite a bit longer. 2. It's available in many more vehicles. 3. Most of those results likely reference earlier releases. When I Google "iPhone problem" it comes back 616,000,000 results. Does that mean the iPhone is even crappier than MFT? Edited October 30, 2013 by NickF1011 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chevys Posted October 30, 2013 Share Posted October 30, 2013 People have trouble with toilet seats too but Ford had been plagued with issues with MFT. ITs the gift that keeps giving to CR. When are they going to fix it or do away with it and go to something else. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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