I did a project on John Deere and how they are handling the repair of their tractors. In summary, the software that drives the tractor is a giant black box that

I did a project on John Deere and how they are handling the repair of their tractors. In summary, the software that drives the tractor is a giant black box that the farmers don't own. And they have no way to get around that black box even if something was not wrong. One example that stood out to me was that a sensor that told the machine something was broken was broken. Due to this, the farmer could not use a perfectly operational tractor for two weeks because there was no way to override the sensor. And the John Deere tech would take two weeks to get out there. This line sounds like it is directly targeting John Deere and how they handle the manufacture and repair of their tractors. Farmers are actually paying more for ~10-20 year old equipment that can be repaired. I know WIRED isn't the greatest, but these articles fascinated me. I think after looking at them, that line will make a lot more sense to you. https://www.wired.com/2015/02/new-high-tech-farm-equipment-nightmare-farmers/ https://www.wired.com/2015/02/new-high-tech-farm-equipment-n... https://www.wired.com/2015/04/dmca-ownership-john-deere/ https://www.wired.com/2015/04/dmca-ownership-john-deere/