Model S 1.5?

[rabar10]

Neat. Worked on similar stuff in HP Labs 20 years ago. Nice to see it hitting the streets. Hope they have good patent lawyers in Senseg... they could do very well.

Agreed on the patent lawyer comment, for sure.

I like the no-moving-parts approach that Senseg takes -- just add another transparent layer to the screen and you're done. Found some more specifics in a 5-minute GameSpot video released on 11-January 2012 (from Senseg's company news page).

Another thought after watching that -- if it's hard to convey the usability of a normal tablet or touch-screen without actually touching it and using it, then the effect of haptic tech on the UI experience must be 100x harder to convey in a video, heh. "Wow, I really feel it..."

 

[mgemmell]

Agreed on the patent lawyer comment, for sure.

I like the no-moving-parts approach that Senseg takes -- just add another transparent layer to the screen and you're done. Found some more specifics in a 5-minute GameSpot video released on 11-January 2012 (from Senseg's company news page).

Another thought after watching that -- if it's hard to convey the usability of a normal tablet or touch-screen without actually touching it and using it, then the effect of haptic tech on the UI experience must be 100x harder to convey in a video, heh. "Wow, I really feel it..."

This is getting seriously off topic, but agreed... it would need to be someone performing a task that was impossible without tactile feedback such as manipulating a map on a GPS without looking. It is in this kind of situation where the biggest advantages will be found IMHO.

 

[neroden]

Ehh, not quite. Remember it ended up that 2.0 corresponded with the model year change. People who ordered a 2010 MY Roadster (which at one point was called as 2009MY) ended up with Roadster 2.0. The main difference with 2.0 as far as Tesla was concerned was that it was cheaper to produce, yet had a higher base price, and thus had better margins.

Around the time of the infamous price increase, people who had a 2008MY (1.5) reservation (some of which had deposits down for years) were given the option of switching to Roadster 2.0, but still would have to pay the higher 2.0 base price. While people who held 2009/10MY reservations were given the option to "upgrade" to a 2008MY (promoted by Tesla to have additional value since it was the first model year). IIRC switching to the 2008MY came at about a $15K premium.

That's actually a fairly spectacular piece of successful price-gouging on Tesla's part -- a premium to switch from 2.0 to 1.5 and a premium to switch from 1.5 to 2.0!

I guess we can assume that whatever changes are made during model S production will make more money for Tesla. I doubt there are any other certainties. I'll just be happy with what I get.