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I think its totally fine for a car maker to charge for OTA updates in a Saas/subscription model. The reality is that software requires long term maintenance and
by 0xB31B1B 5y ago
I think its totally fine for a car maker to charge for OTA updates in a Saas/subscription model. The reality is that software requires long term maintenance and charging subscriptions is the only way to get a lot of the features to work out for the life time of the car. What I am NOT ok with is charging for normal things that do not need to be OTA updated or are not upgrades, like apple carplay (the example in the article). The way I see this working out is that if I buy a MY 2021 car, I should not have to pay a subscription to maintain the features I bought it with, but if I then want upgrades in subsequent model years, I should pay a monthly fee for those upgrades.
- nightski 5y agoIf the software in a car requires long term maintenance beyond the extremely rare bug fix update, then it does too much imho. That's the point, keep it very simple. I don't need an entertainment system, maps, games, or any of that crap. Just an aux port or bluetooth with audio output. Maybe an am/fm radio at most.
- falcolas 5y ago> charging subscriptions is the only way to get a lot of the features to work out for the life time of the car. No, no, no. I'm purchasing a car for upwards of $30,000 (and it's always more, between dealer fees, the cars just happening to only have the priciest interiors, salesmen and their pushy pitches, interest on loans, etc.); they don't need another $5 a month for fucking software updates. They can mange it today just fine (my car desires a wi-fi connection so it can get these updates), they're just being greedy if they charge.
- tdsamardzhiev 5y agoAll the manufacturers will seek innovative ways to milk users, and whenever any of them succeeds, all the rest will follow suit.