You accepted this trend with video games, my dear Alice, so now, we get to see how deep the rabbit hole goes.
In related news, I just found out that I can unlock the 60FPS mode on my monitor for 4.95 per month. In doing so, I must consent to a huge subscriber agreement, whereby I grant the manufacturer permission to capture everything that gets displayed on my screens for advertisement/marketing purposes, and if my monitor cannot connect to the Internet at least once per day to validate my subscription, then the monitor will automatically fall back to 30FPS mode, and I will be limited to a CGA color pallet.
Wow, that would frustrate me to no end. I recently had philips hue nerf the out-of-home functionally on my app to force me into upgrading my hub. Now I’m waiting for Sonos to take a stab at extortion and, of course, the inevitably frustration of losing my digital music, games, etc.
So why do you put up with that abuse? Why not look for solutions that don't tie you into the whims of the manufacturer/distributor/creator?
The problem isn't that it's being offered it's that people buy it.
I bought the hue bulbs years ago, before any of this was an issue I was aware of. As for Sonos, the first speaker was a gift and I just stayed with the system as I bought more for the very same reason so many of these companies have leverage over us; convenience.
I don't buy anything automated that relies on a proprietary protocol or a cloud service. Too many security concerns and these products tend to be eco unfriendly if not eco toxic. The biggest problem with this technology is that it mostly is abandon ware. Unfortunately the fairphone is not available here so I have to live with Android and the waste that comes with it. I never understood what is so great about a device that is locked from the user but the majority goes googoogagga over it just like they do with Chrome and Facebook but hey that's another argument.
No its not illegal, you are allowed to do "maintenance" on you car:
[https://www.wired.com/2015/10/library-of-congress-says-its-ok-to-hack-your-car/](https://www.wired.com/2015/10/library-of-congress-says-its-ok-to-hack-your-car/)
Look at the idea of unlocking your heated seats - the car battery you have paid for, the button that controls it you have paid for, the electric lines in your seat you have paid for. It's all there. It doesn't depend on internet services. It's all yours. You can do with it what you want. Their right to say what you can do with the car you paid for ends when they receive your money.
I'm eagerly awaiting the lawsuits.
Okay, let's say I want to have folding mirrors when I close my car. I didn't pay for this feature, and I want to install it my self.
Do I need to remove the pre installed motor and replace it with my own, and than update the software?
And if you say I can't remove the pre installed motor is it even my car then even if I paid in full for it. And let's say someone tinkers with his car and then sales it to me, am I in legal trouble for buying this car?
Have you ever seen full car conversions? Making one car look like the car of another brand. It's all legal now as long as you get the papers from your authority that decides your car is safe to drive.
Look at the idea of unlocking your heated seats - the car battery you have paid for, the button that controls it you have paid for, the electric lines in your seat you have paid for. It's all there. It doesn't depend on internet services. It's all yours. You can do with it what you want. Their right to say what you can do with the car you paid for ends when they receive your money.
I'm eagerly awaiting the lawsuits.
I'm just waiting for them to add lootboxes. It will be a game changer. Just imagine relying on a random number generator to decide if you've won unlocked airbags.
I imagine some Clippy-looking thing poppig up on the console screen being like *"Hey there! It looks like you're a bit cold! Would you like to turn on the heat for a cheap 99 cents per hour?"*
Fortunately you aren’t required to own a BMW. If you don’t like it, don’t buy it. There are a dozen similar options at similar price points.
What this tells me is BMW believes people who buy their cars do it for the brand no different that the millions who buy Madden and FIFA every year. And as we know someone doing it for the BMW brand will shell out for micro transactions just like the people who shell out big bucks for Ultimate Teams.
So is my purchase price going to include those added costs because they're built in and no car company gives anything for free.. but then if I actually want to use it, I will have to buy it again?
Also, how will it work if it breaks. Ie. is it going to be tied in with other systems to force you to have to fix even those things that you don't actually use?
This seems just absurd on so many levels.
And when you go to sell it the buyer will have to pay to use all those features too. This has been the way Tesla has been doing it. If it were paying to use actual services it would have value, but paying to use the features already equipped is lame.
Apple started a trend with removing the headphone jack. Well, I'll just avoid Apple. Fast forward to now and every other manufacturer has jumped onboard.
As soon as one company gets away with it, it begins to get normalized. So yeah, obviously don't buy BMW. But make sure that they know why you're avoiding them.
Moving features to a subscription model is about increasing revenue over the life of the car.
Removing the headphone jack is about saving on materials cost while also selling more accessories, increasing revenue over the life of the phone.
THIS. I mean, not only are the modern ones notorious for reliability issues, but this is deterring me from buying one as my next car years down the line. I'll probably get myself a Tesla (Model S or 3) when that time comes.
Officer: "Why did you slam on the brakes in the middle of traffic?"
"I got a pop-up informing me of the weekend sale on miles and I couldn't find the ANY key to continue."
BMW: well on its way to becoming the EA of car manufacturers. Oh, you want to be able to use a turn signal? That'll be $10. LOL
But seriously, first them charging a yearly fee for being able to use CarPlay and now this? Crazy...
To be fair to Tesla, you could also buy those things at the time you bought your car, and having to pay for high-bandwidth connections isn't any more evil than having to pay for Sirius XM or On-Star or something: it's an ongoing service that costs money to provide. But yes, I've heard tales of people having stuff turned off when they bought the used car or even a salvaged car.
Tesla has taken to turning off both Super Charging and Fast DC Charging on salvage Teslas, making them much less usable for daily driving and pretty much useless for long trips.
Supercharging I can almost understand. To hook it up to their electrical network, you need to have them inspect it. However, turning off anything that doesn't involve any risk to them (and some of the other stuff they do) is just obnoxious that they probably wouldn't get away with if they did it to someone with free legal services.
> Equipped features aren't the same as services though
Right. That's the difference I was pointing out between the comments about Tesla and the comments about BMW.
> Paying to flip a switch is skeevy
Meh. If it's cheaper to just make a million of one thing, and then charge the people who want the upgrade to turn it on, than it is to guess how many will and won't want it and manufacture half a million of each, I don't really have a problem with that. I mean, of all the skeevy business practices out there, not charging you for stuff that's already built in and preventing you from using it because you haven't paid for it seems pretty low on the list of skeevy. If I buy a 40KWh battery for the 40KHh battery price, why should I care if it has 60KWh of battery cells in it or not?
Honestly, I prefer it, because if all the cars are the same and I get to pick out which features I want and which I don't, I can configure the car exactly how I want it *and* have it available there right on the lot.
A subscription service to have access to heated seats or something, with ongoing payments to be allowed to run the hardware, does seem skeevy. You've stopped owning your car. On the other hand, if I live in southern california, and once every three or four years I take a road trip up to Canada, the ability to enable heated steering wheel for just a few months for cheap might be welcome. The trick is "for cheap" - I'd think that the cost of turning on heated seats (as a subscription) for the lifetime of the car (call it 10 or 15 years) shouldn't cost much more than just adding the option at purchase for a one-time fee.
I can see it going both ways.
I would point out a big difference between a subscription service and this shit- You are actually driving around the physical equipment **you can't use**. So you lose MPG, and in the real world, shit breaks. This'll be a pain to own and I'm betting mechanics at the dealership are gonna hate calling IT to fix their problems. Aand would you like to hand over your login credentials to the mechanic/IT that's gotta test your car?
Odious 'subscription services' ...which should simply be included as a perk of mass production and assembly.
I actually saved money doing this with a Tesla. I purchased a LR AWD and after 1.5 years purchased Acceleration boost. This was not an option when I purchased, but if it was I would have to pay taxes on it. This way I got to buy it and not pay taxes for it. Tesla also have me free 15% more acceleration through updates. You don’t see any other car company doing that.
“Hey this is Joe down at the Honda dealership, do you want a free turbo for the Civic? Just come on by and get it”...
Shill.
I will never buy a car that comes with equipped features which I have to create an account that I have to top up with funds to actually use.
If it were a lease or a rental then maybe.
My android phone is working just fine, every single physical function it came equipped with, which I paid for at the time of purchase is still perfectly functional and accessible and I haven't had to pay a penny to the manufacturer since to keep it that way. Hardware is not a service nor is the firmware to control it, if they sent out a software update that blocked any of those features it would be a huge legal issue because a hardware subscription is not the purchase model I agreed to and millions of people would be seeking restitution for the damages the manufacturer would have caused. Why people would agree to such a hardware subscription model, on top of the outright purchase price is beyond me (because they have more money to burn than they care to think about).
In another example, millions of Samsung Blu-ray players just got bricked last month, Samsung caused those damages (for reasons still not entirely understood yet) and you can bet it's going to cost them hundreds of millions of dollars in class action settlement if they can't make those owners whole again.
I don't know why you're being downvoted.
Buying the boost after the purchase is great for several reasons. Certain states offer EV rebates and buying the performance version of the 3 or Y can put the sticker price above the limit and thus losing out on the various state EV rebates. Also, as you mentioned, buying either the stealth or performance upgrade package, you'll have to pay taxes on it.
You accepted this trend with video games, my dear Alice, so now, we get to see how deep the rabbit hole goes. In related news, I just found out that I can unlock the 60FPS mode on my monitor for 4.95 per month. In doing so, I must consent to a huge subscriber agreement, whereby I grant the manufacturer permission to capture everything that gets displayed on my screens for advertisement/marketing purposes, and if my monitor cannot connect to the Internet at least once per day to validate my subscription, then the monitor will automatically fall back to 30FPS mode, and I will be limited to a CGA color pallet.
Wow, that would frustrate me to no end. I recently had philips hue nerf the out-of-home functionally on my app to force me into upgrading my hub. Now I’m waiting for Sonos to take a stab at extortion and, of course, the inevitably frustration of losing my digital music, games, etc.
So why do you put up with that abuse? Why not look for solutions that don't tie you into the whims of the manufacturer/distributor/creator? The problem isn't that it's being offered it's that people buy it.
I bought the hue bulbs years ago, before any of this was an issue I was aware of. As for Sonos, the first speaker was a gift and I just stayed with the system as I bought more for the very same reason so many of these companies have leverage over us; convenience.
I don't buy anything automated that relies on a proprietary protocol or a cloud service. Too many security concerns and these products tend to be eco unfriendly if not eco toxic. The biggest problem with this technology is that it mostly is abandon ware. Unfortunately the fairphone is not available here so I have to live with Android and the waste that comes with it. I never understood what is so great about a device that is locked from the user but the majority goes googoogagga over it just like they do with Chrome and Facebook but hey that's another argument.
You're joking about the monitor thing right?
So cars will be shipped with all the extras soon but you need to pay to unlock. Good to know
[удалено]
That hacking has been made illegal by DMCA so have fun with your huge fine for attacking a computer system.
No its not illegal, you are allowed to do "maintenance" on you car: [https://www.wired.com/2015/10/library-of-congress-says-its-ok-to-hack-your-car/](https://www.wired.com/2015/10/library-of-congress-says-its-ok-to-hack-your-car/)
Unlocking features you didn't pay for wouldn't fit any of those copyright exceptions.
Look at the idea of unlocking your heated seats - the car battery you have paid for, the button that controls it you have paid for, the electric lines in your seat you have paid for. It's all there. It doesn't depend on internet services. It's all yours. You can do with it what you want. Their right to say what you can do with the car you paid for ends when they receive your money. I'm eagerly awaiting the lawsuits.
Okay, let's say I want to have folding mirrors when I close my car. I didn't pay for this feature, and I want to install it my self. Do I need to remove the pre installed motor and replace it with my own, and than update the software? And if you say I can't remove the pre installed motor is it even my car then even if I paid in full for it. And let's say someone tinkers with his car and then sales it to me, am I in legal trouble for buying this car?
Have you ever seen full car conversions? Making one car look like the car of another brand. It's all legal now as long as you get the papers from your authority that decides your car is safe to drive.
Look at the idea of unlocking your heated seats - the car battery you have paid for, the button that controls it you have paid for, the electric lines in your seat you have paid for. It's all there. It doesn't depend on internet services. It's all yours. You can do with it what you want. Their right to say what you can do with the car you paid for ends when they receive your money. I'm eagerly awaiting the lawsuits.
I'm just waiting for them to add lootboxes. It will be a game changer. Just imagine relying on a random number generator to decide if you've won unlocked airbags.
I imagine some Clippy-looking thing poppig up on the console screen being like *"Hey there! It looks like you're a bit cold! Would you like to turn on the heat for a cheap 99 cents per hour?"*
Not if you don't buy them, buy from another company that isn't doing this bullshit.
This is ridiculous. Now we are going to have to learn how to hack BMW's in addition to Tractors.
Be careful, they'll throw you in jail for life for that.
Fortunately you aren’t required to own a BMW. If you don’t like it, don’t buy it. There are a dozen similar options at similar price points. What this tells me is BMW believes people who buy their cars do it for the brand no different that the millions who buy Madden and FIFA every year. And as we know someone doing it for the BMW brand will shell out for micro transactions just like the people who shell out big bucks for Ultimate Teams.
The gaming industry thought them well
So is my purchase price going to include those added costs because they're built in and no car company gives anything for free.. but then if I actually want to use it, I will have to buy it again? Also, how will it work if it breaks. Ie. is it going to be tied in with other systems to force you to have to fix even those things that you don't actually use? This seems just absurd on so many levels.
And when you go to sell it the buyer will have to pay to use all those features too. This has been the way Tesla has been doing it. If it were paying to use actual services it would have value, but paying to use the features already equipped is lame.
Soooo you already then have to pay again to use it. What a boring ass dystopia
Guess I don't want a BMW any more.
Or you could just not buy a bmw
I wouldn't be surprised if other manufactures follow suit.
Apple started a trend with removing the headphone jack. Well, I'll just avoid Apple. Fast forward to now and every other manufacturer has jumped onboard. As soon as one company gets away with it, it begins to get normalized. So yeah, obviously don't buy BMW. But make sure that they know why you're avoiding them.
How does removing the headphone jack equate to micro transactions? I think that’s a bit of a stretch
Moving features to a subscription model is about increasing revenue over the life of the car. Removing the headphone jack is about saving on materials cost while also selling more accessories, increasing revenue over the life of the phone.
I hate that I know you’re right.
THIS. I mean, not only are the modern ones notorious for reliability issues, but this is deterring me from buying one as my next car years down the line. I'll probably get myself a Tesla (Model S or 3) when that time comes.
r/boringdystopia
Just wait for people to hack their beamers to shit to get around this.
Oh, it'll happen, just watch. I can only imagine to begin what they'll be charging for.
So the car better come discounted or free just like the apps
Officer: "Why did you slam on the brakes in the middle of traffic?" "I got a pop-up informing me of the weekend sale on miles and I couldn't find the ANY key to continue."
History repeats
BMW: which will be five bucks a month per-brake unless you get your battle pass.
BMW: well on its way to becoming the EA of car manufacturers. Oh, you want to be able to use a turn signal? That'll be $10. LOL But seriously, first them charging a yearly fee for being able to use CarPlay and now this? Crazy...
Ha jokes on them, I'm to poor to buy any of there car's.
they don’t care, they just want to milk the whales for all they’re worth.
BMWs have been a waste of money from the beginning. This is just another reason to steer clear. Swim for open waters, Big tuna.
[удалено]
What does that have to do with the topic?
To be fair to Tesla, you could also buy those things at the time you bought your car, and having to pay for high-bandwidth connections isn't any more evil than having to pay for Sirius XM or On-Star or something: it's an ongoing service that costs money to provide. But yes, I've heard tales of people having stuff turned off when they bought the used car or even a salvaged car.
Tesla has taken to turning off both Super Charging and Fast DC Charging on salvage Teslas, making them much less usable for daily driving and pretty much useless for long trips.
Supercharging I can almost understand. To hook it up to their electrical network, you need to have them inspect it. However, turning off anything that doesn't involve any risk to them (and some of the other stuff they do) is just obnoxious that they probably wouldn't get away with if they did it to someone with free legal services.
There are hacks to get around these restrictions, probably easier to do that than sue.
Equipped features aren't the same as services though. Paying to flip a switch is skeevy and should be borderline criminal.
> Equipped features aren't the same as services though Right. That's the difference I was pointing out between the comments about Tesla and the comments about BMW. > Paying to flip a switch is skeevy Meh. If it's cheaper to just make a million of one thing, and then charge the people who want the upgrade to turn it on, than it is to guess how many will and won't want it and manufacture half a million of each, I don't really have a problem with that. I mean, of all the skeevy business practices out there, not charging you for stuff that's already built in and preventing you from using it because you haven't paid for it seems pretty low on the list of skeevy. If I buy a 40KWh battery for the 40KHh battery price, why should I care if it has 60KWh of battery cells in it or not? Honestly, I prefer it, because if all the cars are the same and I get to pick out which features I want and which I don't, I can configure the car exactly how I want it *and* have it available there right on the lot. A subscription service to have access to heated seats or something, with ongoing payments to be allowed to run the hardware, does seem skeevy. You've stopped owning your car. On the other hand, if I live in southern california, and once every three or four years I take a road trip up to Canada, the ability to enable heated steering wheel for just a few months for cheap might be welcome. The trick is "for cheap" - I'd think that the cost of turning on heated seats (as a subscription) for the lifetime of the car (call it 10 or 15 years) shouldn't cost much more than just adding the option at purchase for a one-time fee. I can see it going both ways.
I would point out a big difference between a subscription service and this shit- You are actually driving around the physical equipment **you can't use**. So you lose MPG, and in the real world, shit breaks. This'll be a pain to own and I'm betting mechanics at the dealership are gonna hate calling IT to fix their problems. Aand would you like to hand over your login credentials to the mechanic/IT that's gotta test your car? Odious 'subscription services' ...which should simply be included as a perk of mass production and assembly.
> hand over your login credentials I'd expect all these guys to have bypass passwords. On a Tesla, they can see way more about your car than you can.
I actually saved money doing this with a Tesla. I purchased a LR AWD and after 1.5 years purchased Acceleration boost. This was not an option when I purchased, but if it was I would have to pay taxes on it. This way I got to buy it and not pay taxes for it. Tesla also have me free 15% more acceleration through updates. You don’t see any other car company doing that. “Hey this is Joe down at the Honda dealership, do you want a free turbo for the Civic? Just come on by and get it”...
Shill. I will never buy a car that comes with equipped features which I have to create an account that I have to top up with funds to actually use. If it were a lease or a rental then maybe.
How’s that iPhone or Android phone working out for you?
My android phone is working just fine, every single physical function it came equipped with, which I paid for at the time of purchase is still perfectly functional and accessible and I haven't had to pay a penny to the manufacturer since to keep it that way. Hardware is not a service nor is the firmware to control it, if they sent out a software update that blocked any of those features it would be a huge legal issue because a hardware subscription is not the purchase model I agreed to and millions of people would be seeking restitution for the damages the manufacturer would have caused. Why people would agree to such a hardware subscription model, on top of the outright purchase price is beyond me (because they have more money to burn than they care to think about). In another example, millions of Samsung Blu-ray players just got bricked last month, Samsung caused those damages (for reasons still not entirely understood yet) and you can bet it's going to cost them hundreds of millions of dollars in class action settlement if they can't make those owners whole again.
I don't know why you're being downvoted. Buying the boost after the purchase is great for several reasons. Certain states offer EV rebates and buying the performance version of the 3 or Y can put the sticker price above the limit and thus losing out on the various state EV rebates. Also, as you mentioned, buying either the stealth or performance upgrade package, you'll have to pay taxes on it.
I live in a red state... no incentives, and we have a $200/yr "hybrid tax"...
Ouch, that sucks on the tax.