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The pattern is that hardware is sold but software is now rented, it must be a 'revenue stream', not a one-off sale. Cars were hardware. But now contain ever-in

The pattern is that hardware is sold but software is now rented, it must be a 'revenue stream', not a one-off sale. Cars were hardware. But now contain ever-increasing amounts of software. With self-driving cars, the software is the main feature.

shagie 3y ago
Software that is a one off sale is rarely profitable to do as that comes with the additional cost of updates and patches. The development cost of the updates and patches has to come from somewhere - either significantly marking up the initial purchase cost to fund the on going development (side bit: when a one time purchase server shuts down people are up in arms about that) or with some form of subscription model. If a driverless car maker can be liable for the software that they released some time ago and didn't update, then the funding of that development effort has to come from somewhere. If some of the compute or data updates is in the cloud, that comes with an ongoing cost. Compare with getting a DVD with a database of road updates once a year ( https://ford.navigation.com/product/Catalog/2023-Green-DVD-Map-Update/sku/Honda%20Green%202023/en_US/HondaNA/USD https://ford.navigation.com/product/Catalog/2023-Green-DVD-M... ) and the "this road is closed" ( https://www.wyoroad.info/pls/Browse/WRR.STATIC5?SelectedDistrict=1#Baggs https://www.wyoroad.info/pls/Browse/WRR.STATIC5?SelectedDist... ) or "there is heavy traffic, a different route is suggested" services. Those come with an ongoing cost somewhere.
- gamblor956 3y ago
  Software sold as a one-off sale can be, and usually is, very profitable. See e.g., most software companies pre-SaaS-era. This is in fact how most software was sold...and is still sold today. SaaS is the plague on software development, because the subscription model demands a shift to constant feature "upgrades" and other frequently-useless "updates" intended to justify the perpetual subscription costs to customers.

shagie 3y ago

Software that is a one off sale is rarely profitable to do as that comes with the additional cost of updates and patches. The development cost of the updates and patches has to come from somewhere - either significantly marking up the initial purchase cost to fund the on going development (side bit: when a one time purchase server shuts down people are up in arms about that) or with some form of subscription model. If a driverless car maker can be liable for the software that they released some time ago and didn't update, then the funding of that development effort has to come from somewhere. If some of the compute or data updates is in the cloud, that comes with an ongoing cost. Compare with getting a DVD with a database of road updates once a year ( https://ford.navigation.com/product/Catalog/2023-Green-DVD-Map-Update/sku/Honda%20Green%202023/en_US/HondaNA/USD https://ford.navigation.com/product/Catalog/2023-Green-DVD-M... ) and the "this road is closed" ( https://www.wyoroad.info/pls/Browse/WRR.STATIC5?SelectedDistrict=1#Baggs https://www.wyoroad.info/pls/Browse/WRR.STATIC5?SelectedDist... ) or "there is heavy traffic, a different route is suggested" services. Those come with an ongoing cost somewhere.

gamblor956 3y ago
Software sold as a one-off sale can be, and usually is, very profitable. See e.g., most software companies pre-SaaS-era. This is in fact how most software was sold...and is still sold today. SaaS is the plague on software development, because the subscription model demands a shift to constant feature "upgrades" and other frequently-useless "updates" intended to justify the perpetual subscription costs to customers.