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You better be ok with building your own car then, because every major player is adding subscriptions for various features. Remote start and remote lock/unlock a
by ryathal 3y ago
You better be ok with building your own car then, because every major player is adding subscriptions for various features. Remote start and remote lock/unlock are the most common, along with satellite radio.
- liendolucas 3y agoThe way I see it is that you're supposed to own the car and every feature you paid for it.
- stjo 3y agoI could give companies a pass for features that require continuous maintenance from them, like remote unlock (properly secured servers). But there was a car company that tried to sell you your own seat warmers, which definitely crosses my barrier.
- woah 3y agoThe seats get warm by running Javascript single page apps which need to be served from the servers, and frequently updated by the company's front end developers to use newer frameworks that make them get even hotter
- ulamel 3y agobig tech is trying to erase this concept from the consumer mind. Assuming someone tried to do everything legally (not pirating) when was the last time anyone "owned" anything. Music, Movies, TV shows, Software, you don't own any of it you are simply paying for server space.
- liendolucas 3y agoYou couldn't have stated that more clearly. Is a disgrace. We're basically headed to rent features of all kinds. It's terrible.
- tmpX7dMeXU 3y agoIt’s a point repeated practically infinite times daily on this website and any other tech community. It’s not a revelation deserving of accolades. It’s the nerd equivalent of “lower taxes!” at a political rally. This entire back and forth where all participants are clearly on the same side and are clearly regurgitating all the talking points of their shared ideology isn’t a conversation, it’s people patting eachother on the back.
- wpietri 3y agoAmazingly, this corporate desire goes back more than a hundred years. Edison cylinders had a "shrink-wrap" license trying to control what people did with the recordings they bought: https://www.flickr.com/photos/59414209@N00/5072909557/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/59414209@N00/5072909557/ That was later outlawed with the "first-sale doctrine": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First-sale_doctrine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First-sale_doctrine I would say that it seems like it's time for some new legislation that supports consumer freedom. But given the state of American politics, I can only hope that Europe will do some pioneering work on this.
- userbinator 3y agoNot just big tech; there's a reason why "you will own nothing and be happy" is a thing.
- jeffreyq 3y agoInteresting quote. I just came across the exact quote reading the latest of "The Upheaval" by N.S. Lyon
- userbinator 3y agoIt originally came from the WEF: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25068820 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25068820
- afavour 3y agoSure, that’s the way I see it too. Isn’t the way the car manufacturers see it, though. And I’m not able to build my own car. So…
- LeafItAlone 3y agoWhich would you rather have: Option A: A vehicle that lacks the hardware for heated seats, heated steering wheel, and driver assist that costs $25,000 to produce and that you pay $25,000 for. If you want these items next year, you have to buy a new vehicle. Option B: A vehicle that includes the hardware for heated seats, heated steering wheel, and driver assist that costs $27,000 to produce. You can pay $25,000 now and those features aren’t enabled. But next year you can enable them for a nominal fee. Or you can pay $30,000 now and there are enabled for life. Or $27,000 now and a $500/year subscription fee that you can later cancel. If not having two separate designs and production lines means less cost to make that a reality, that seems like a reasonable trade off to me.
- jaclaz 3y agoBut you know how this will end up with you paying 30,000 upfront AND the yearly 500.
- lstodd 3y agoNo you don't have to buy a new vehicle, just aftermarket seats and the wheel for a thousand bucks or so. edit: https://youtu.be/phHZ2HOkn8s?t=14 https://youtu.be/phHZ2HOkn8s?t=14
- nottorp 3y agoSo ... you mean those bmws with the subscription for heated seats were sold for less than the previous models?
- DangitBobby 3y agoHighly doubt they sell at a loss unless you unlock the features. You are paying for the seat warmers whether you get to use them or not.
- forgetfreeman 3y agoI am very ok with building my own car if it comes to that. It's the cretins willing to actually go along with bullshit like this that are the problem.
- beachy 3y agoPeople who are unable to build their own car are not all cretins.
- forgetfreeman 3y agoAgreed. People who willingly purchase a vehicle that includes subscription fee for features built into the car absolutely are cretins however.
- hot_gril 3y agoOr having an older car. Personally this concept doesn't bother me; I'd just not pay for the features. Many old cars have features locked behind buying the physical button to activate them. Hackers find their ways around that, and now it's becoming harder to hack. Fine, whatever. But I just don't trust the crappy software they increasingly put into new cars, so I'm riding out my old one for now.
- eganist 3y agoif everyone is doing it, it's time for the law to step in.
- grishka 3y agoFeatures that need servers — which all remote ones do — have a running cost, so it's fine for them to be a subscription. However, paying to use the hardware you already have installed on your car, like heated seats or smart headlights, is absolutely not fine.