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I actually think this makes some sense, based on my own experiences owning various cars. The first was a Mercedes A200 that had been imported from the Netherla
by jacobgorm 3y ago
I actually think this makes some sense, based on my own experiences owning various cars.
The first was a Mercedes A200 that had been imported from the Netherlands to Denmark. It did not have heated seats, something I overlooked when I bought it, supposedly not a deal breaker in NL, but a big issue during cold Danish winters. I would have gladly payed a subscription fee to activate seat heating had it been possible, but the car was originally made for another market, so there was nothing I could do except sell it and buy another one.
The second is my current car, a Volvo, which came with a wifi hotspot. For some reason, the hotspot stopped working after a the car was out of warranty, and I found that I am able to live without it, by using my phone as a hotspot instead. In this case I could have stopped paying for a feature that I no longer need. As cars get more laden with tech, I think it is quite feasible that some initially "fashionable" features will get irrelevant over time, and users might like to have to option to stop paying for features that have lost their relevance. If Volvo would upgrade my current sat-nav to Apple Carplay I would gladly pay for that too.
Having users pay recurring would also incentivize car makers to keep investing in updating their software, and perhaps even install hardware upgrades "free" of charge, in the hope that the user would keep paying a recurring fee to have them.
- tguvot 3y agovolvo hotspot has independent sim card for internet (different from the one that is used for volvo oncall). usually first few years of service included but after this you need to create account with internet provider in order to get service
- jacobgorm 3y agoI know, but the SIM-card reader broke.
- jocaal 3y ago> Having users pay recurring would also incentivize car makers to keep investing in updating their software... Please no. I don't want fancy software that hides essential features 4 layers deep and stops working when the internet is bad and the billing service can't be reached. I want buttons for the features and a display that works with android auto. Nothing more, nothing less.
- lsaferite 3y agoWorse, I don't want them moving the fucking UI components around because this 'new thing' is so much better. Just leave the UI alone!
- jimbob45 3y agoI would have gladly payed a subscription fee to activate seat heating had it been possible You would've just had heated seats, no fee required.
- fragmede 3y ago> so there was nothing I could do except sell it and buy another one. You could also have bought a heated seat warmer seat cover*, or taken it to an independent service shop to have them install heated seats. Buying a different car was just the solution you choose. Having the hardware but having to pay for it in software wrankles those with a Marxist understanding of value and pricing things, but most of us don't live in such a world. * https://a.co/d/fnDQRBv https://a.co/d/fnDQRBv