5 ms·

They have an option to buy it outright that appears to be priced at the same level as a typical upgrade. They also have 1 and 3 year subscriptions. This is actu

by sp527 4y ago

They have an option to buy it outright that appears to be priced at the same level as a typical upgrade. They also have 1 and 3 year subscriptions. This is actually a net win for both BMW and for consumers. You can do things like "try extensively before you buy" or even choose to only subscribe during the winter (which they probably expect a lot of people to do). BMW benefits because they're almost certainly expanding the total value they capture in upgrades. It's no longer a single customer decision point. Really savvy and perfectly sensible.

notfromhere 4y ago
You’re paying for the permission to turn on hardware you already paid for
- dexterdog 4y ago
  But you would pay more for it if they had to put it in only certain models based on the packaging. They've done it with satellite radio for a long time now.
  - naasking 4y ago
    Right, so incentivize them to stop trying to reduce competition with software locks. If they can provide the same hardware for cheaper by exploiting economies of scale, that's what we should require them to do. That's what capitalism is good at doing. Software locks are anti-competitive.
_zzaw 4y ago
Haha nope. If I buy the car, I own everything that is in it. Installing extra parts or features? Sure, I'll pay for that. Hardware that's already in the car, and disabled just so the manufacturer can try to squeeze more money out of me? Never. I'll either enable it myself, or refuse to support companies that do such a thing if I can't. Subscription models like this one need to be punished, hard, and/or simply rendered unprofitable. Maybe a few rich chumps are willing to pay, but I think the vast majority of car buyers have no interest in being nickel-and-dimed for the privilege of using hardware they already paid for.
- brewdad 4y ago
  How though? If you buy the car and either don't enable it or bypass it, they still made a sale. Everyone who pays for the feature is pure profit. There's no downside unless potential buyers opt for a Mercedes instead of a BMW. But once they are all doing it, the die is cast.
- privacyking 4y ago
  Your CPU and GPU do the exact same thing
  - vetinari 4y ago
    Your CPU and GPU are binned. You don't purchase keys to rent features that are already there.
  - anakaine 4y ago
    Thats like saying my calculator and my CPU are the same thing. It's a pathetically bad argument, and a false equivalency.
teruakohatu 4y ago
> try extensively before you buy More like try *after* you buy, and then pay a subscription to use.

by sp527 4y ago

notfromhere 4y ago

You’re paying for the permission to turn on hardware you already paid for

dexterdog 4y ago
But you would pay more for it if they had to put it in only certain models based on the packaging. They've done it with satellite radio for a long time now.
- naasking 4y ago
  Right, so incentivize them to stop trying to reduce competition with software locks. If they can provide the same hardware for cheaper by exploiting economies of scale, that's what we should require them to do. That's what capitalism is good at doing. Software locks are anti-competitive.

_zzaw 4y ago

Haha nope. If I buy the car, I own everything that is in it. Installing extra parts or features? Sure, I'll pay for that. Hardware that's already in the car, and disabled just so the manufacturer can try to squeeze more money out of me? Never. I'll either enable it myself, or refuse to support companies that do such a thing if I can't. Subscription models like this one need to be punished, hard, and/or simply rendered unprofitable. Maybe a few rich chumps are willing to pay, but I think the vast majority of car buyers have no interest in being nickel-and-dimed for the privilege of using hardware they already paid for.

brewdad 4y ago
How though? If you buy the car and either don't enable it or bypass it, they still made a sale. Everyone who pays for the feature is pure profit. There's no downside unless potential buyers opt for a Mercedes instead of a BMW. But once they are all doing it, the die is cast.
privacyking 4y ago
Your CPU and GPU do the exact same thing
- vetinari 4y ago
  Your CPU and GPU are binned. You don't purchase keys to rent features that are already there.
- anakaine 4y ago
  Thats like saying my calculator and my CPU are the same thing. It's a pathetically bad argument, and a false equivalency.

teruakohatu 4y ago

> try extensively before you buy More like try *after* you buy, and then pay a subscription to use.