In a move that could backfire badly, car manufacturers are working together to buy control of Nokia maps with the intent of blocking Google's development of software for self-driving vehicles. The auto-makers consider open sourced autonomous vehicles to be an existential threat to their existing business, and are prepared to pay Nokia more than two billion dollars to stymie the disruptive technology.
“The greatest threat to the automobile industry would be if Google developed an operating system for self-driving cars and made it available free to everyone,” said one source speaking with the WSJ.
http://jalopnik.com/bmw-audi-and-mercedes-benz-want-to-buy-nokia-s-maps-t-1702660909
(Score: 2, Interesting) by radu on Friday May 08 2015, @08:54AM
So there's no threat at all. Google doesn't give anything for free. Instead of buying Nokia Maps, I'd use the money for a campaign to educate people on exactly how costly it is to use Google products. There are alarmingly few people who think about the implications of giving all the details about their lives away; or even knowing they do that every minute.