The Wall Street Journal’s resident technology columnist Walter S. Mossberg calls Apple and BMW’s iPod integration “a brilliant concept,” but calls the current implementation “crude.” His remarks appear in a new Personal Technology column.
Apple and BMW have introduced an interface for late-model BMW models that provides a direct interface for the iPod’s dock connector in the glove compartment. The technology provides the ability to play songs and shuffle, skip and repeat, and users can create special custom playlists that the BMW stereo can switch through, but Mossberg is disappointed that the system does little more than “trick the car’s audio system into thinking that the iPod is a giant CD changer.”
Mossberg notes Alpine’s forthcoming iPod integration system, but says that it will require most users to install a new head unit in their automobile. “For all its limitations, the BMW adapter is a welcome development. But it’s frustrating that the car industry can’t do better,” Mossberg concluded.