Steve Jobs Dreamt of Building an iCar

Say what you will about him — Steve Jobs dreamt big. He didn’t just set out to change personal computers, or even stop at mobile devices. He clearly wanted Apple‘s influence to extend to all areas of daily life. Case in point: He once seriously considered designing a connected car, probably called the iCar.

The revelation was among the many tidbits coming out of the Samsung-Apple trial underway in San Jose. Although the idea of Apple building some kind of high-tech vehicle has been floated from time to time, it’s usually after someone’s had a few too many martinis for lunch.

However, when Apple Senior Vice President of Marketing Phil Schiller recently took the stand, he says there was discussion about Apple making a car or camera, the New York Times‘ Nick Bilton tweeted. Although he punctuated the comment with “crazy stuff,” the fact that the fact that the revelation is coming out in court testimony indicates it was more serious than just idle chatter. Schiller says the company considered building a car sometime before creating the iPhone.

 

What might an iCar be like? You could probably imagine a very modern interior, with a Ford Sync-like interface that would certainly sync wirelessly with your iPhone, iPad or iPod. Apps would adapt so you could interact with them via the dashboard, and Siri would definitely be present (voice control makes the most sense in the car).

What about the exterior? That’s anyone’s guess, but designers have been creating iCar designs for years. There was the bulbous iMove from Liviu Tudoran that resembled a vehicular iMac (see below) to therecent iCar design from Franco Grassi.

What do you think an Apple iCar would be like?  

How would look like a car invented and designed by Apple? Italy based auto designer Liviu Tudoran has taken inspiration from the Apple Macintosh products and designed a concept car called iMove for the year 2020. This car will be electric, of course, and will feature the same general design lines like all the latest Macintosh products. Most of the car body is covered with transparent materials, so that even under the roof the driver get a cabriolet feeling. This transparent material is also a solar panel. iMove will be able to seat three passengers and will feature an innovative luggage storage space. The concept will also offer various possibilities for customization, so the owners will be able to change the car’s appliance according to its own preferences.

Hood ornament image courtesy DVICE

What do you think of This Post ? Let us know in the comments.