Now, iCar

The 'i' prefix could mean 'Intelligent', but it doesn't. Apple and some car manufacturers have been colluding to make the cars of the future more pleasant (like they made the mp3 player and phone pleasant).

There's a rumor that Jaguar and Apple may be collaborating on improving the car's control interfaces. This post on Autoblog is about how the JaguarDrive system may be redesigned by Apple to make it more contoured (read soothing and pleasant) and driver-responsive.

GigaOm reported here earlier on how the Mini Cooper and BMW are planning to add support for the iPhone in their new cars to be launched in Europe this year.

Do you see the future of the car yet? Traditionally, electronics have a shorter life-span than most cars. While we may buy a new phone every two years (conservative estimates), we usually don't buy every new car that fancies us. So what happens when you upgrade to the new version of iPhone (which should be out in the next two years at least)? Remember the old iPod Shuffle? See how much difference there is between that and the new Shuffle? If you bought a scooter designed around the old shuffle, you can't let the big clunky Shuffle go. Will it be the same with the cars of tomorrow? Maybe we will need to keep the iPhone as long as we want to use the new Mini.

My question to you is, then, do you think Apple may inadvertently be harming their business by integrating iPhone support in cars? I will also try to put the question across to Fake Steve to get his comments.