So if media reports are true, Apple wants to join Google in the car business.
Apple, please resist -- for your own good.
It wasn’t so long ago that the Detroit 3 lurched from one diversification project to another. Chrysler, for instance, built corporate jets in the 1980s when it owned Gulfstream. And General Motors manufactured refrigerators with Frigidaire until 1979.
But the automakers wisely decided to stick to their core competence -- cars. Diversification is distracting and expensive. Success means building the best autos. Period.
Apple and Google have changed our world with irresistible gadgets and software. They should keep working solely on what they do best.
If money is left over, send dividend checks to shareholders.
Perhaps Apple is suffering from Elon Musk envy. Musk certainly scored in California by starting Tesla from scratch. More power to him.
But Musk is a once-in-a-lifetime entrepreneur, adept at diverse projects.
Apple and Google may see themselves as go-anywhere entrepreneurs. But they are major corporations with tried-and-true core competencies.
They do gadgets really well. Cars? Not so much.
