I'll do you one better !! How about someone offer a flat cradle display dock that can interface with the handlebar controller for setting the bikes parameters (PAS level, On/Off) but that flat dock will accept your phone ?? Your phone already has music stored on it to play, offers GPS to display your route, can accept a phone call while riding, can charge via the cradle (my old ass Windows phone has offered wireless charging and hands free text to speech via my SUVs stereo FOUR YEARS AGO, and yet even today these stupid Iphones and Droid phones are JUST NOW offering wireless charging and text to speech hands free in a vehicle - but I digress).
Anyhoo ... where was I ??? .. oh, how about we have the ability to use your phone to be the display ?? We can trim the price of bikes by $20, AND we can provide a HUGE advance in ability by offering the multitude of options that the phone already supports ?
Bigger screens with better resolutions ?? CHECK
More display options with resizable text for guy like me losing their 20/20 vision ? CHECK
Ability to take the display with us, rendering the bike a non-powered 50+ lb brick that a bike thief now has to try and pedal away on ? CHECK
Ability to customize the display with skins, so we could emulate a DPC-18 or a color Haibike display ? CHECK
Pipe dream ... I know. Manufactureres like to lock us into their own standards so they can control the overall feel of the display. but I think it is a huge missed opportunity when everything else we use in the world is tied to our phone that we use all the time.
I might me in the minority, probably! I don't want an ebike that relies on my smartphone, that I'm using right now. I can hear it, luddite! No, I've been using computers since my IBM 8086 in the early 80's. And working in technology based business since then as well. I've been using a wireless charging phone for 2 years. I'll be happy with a new electric Harley to replace my current HD. I have Alexa in my home, shocked me the first time I called it stupid
. Burned out to a degree? Maybe. Not old yet! I want assist, but I still want to ride a bike, not a computer.
Pause... Had to switch to the laptop, my thumbs don't work like some...
Yeah, I know there's a computer there, but my bike looks like a bike and mostly rides like a bike. Okay, a bike can rely on a smartphone that cannot get any signal, but there are already bikes that cannot survive without getting a signal at some point. If it needs an update, I'll plug it in within the cone of silence around my home or car. Signals are everywhere right? Wrong. I've had all day treks in the mountains of Pennsylvania (45-50 miles) where I never had a signal, not once. There aren't any carriers that have towers in some mountainous areas. If I didn't have AT&T the local rail trail that runs down into Maryland, you couldn't make a call or text. Verizon is nowhere to be found. The big V isn't very good in my entire county, friends say. Once a bike needs a smartphone to operate it will eventually need a signal to operate at all. That's how the device makers make money, control. I'll pay the money when I have to, but I want to maintain some control and I want my e-assist-bike to assist me where I want to ride.
I hope that doesn't confine me to a low tech bike some day.
Sorry to the thread, rant over. I think I've wanted to say that for awhile. And WalkinTarget and I know each other, so I hope no offense is taken because none was meant.