What's surprising is that a company and a CEO with such strong ties to Silicon Valley hasn't considered the software usability and functionality as important as the car's hardware.
Yes, the 17" touchscreen is gigantic - and looks fantastic with Google maps displayed.
Yes, the UI looks nice - with nice buttons and graphics.
But beyond that, the functionality is weak (compared to other vehicles - with many owners mounting their smartphones and using those than the on board software) and the usability creates unnecessary distractions for the driver (while the car is in motion).
While some blame on the state of the released software could fall on the software developers, Tesla's quality assurance team, and Tesla's hand-picked beta testers, ultimately the responsibility falls upward to Tesla management - that they have continued to allow this to happen.
After 4 years, we are still getting releases with less-than-expected functionality for the core apps, and are released with significant bugs, causing a start-stop-resume release distribution process as they find and then fix major problems.
It was understandable Tesla had to make some compromises 4 years ago - in order to get the first Model S cars on the road - but we're 4 years later, and the software situation hasn't improved.
And, I agree with the comments from other posters - Model 3 owners will likely not accept this - they want a car that works - and at that price point provide comparable capabilities to the other cars, and just happens to also be electric.
While I am as frustrated as anyone about media player USB failings, I think your market assessment is incorrect.
Bmw had the most unusable UI with that stupid knob for a decade. Their forums were even more poisonous. But they had the IT car and dominated market share in their class.
Among those who can afford it, the S/X is the IT car right now. If you have one, you are cool. I'm not saying this because that's what I think, I'm saying this because that's always been the magic that puts luxury/sport cars in market share pole position. With Tesla, it's maybe a little about electric, a little about styling, a little about A new marque. Most people shop on emotion and status, with a tip of the hat to feature lists. This is evident in sales vs every other car in class. On my block, there are now 8. There are not 8 of anything else. I talk to these people as ballast to this forum, which none of them frequent. Re UI, they all think it's cool, and they like that they get updates. Then they always ask, but how do you do xxxx? But on the whole, they like.
I project that the 3 will initially have same appeal. It will be the IT car for another financial strata of buyers. Just as the 3 series BMW was in the 80s. From nowhere to top of the charts. Even if Bolt were better in a lot of ways, just isn't sexy and doesn't confer status.
I believe the risk point for tesla is a) if the 3 has significant reliability flaws, and B) around 2020, when true competitors show up.
Unfortunately, this means we cannot rely on market pressure to fix the media player issues, we have to rely on Tesla to do it because they care about perfection and right vs wrong. Hope they do!
