• 0x4E4F@lemmy.fmhy.ml
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    1 year ago

    Welcome to the world of digital subscriptions boys. It used to be a PC only thing… not any more.

      • 0x4E4F@lemmy.fmhy.ml
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        1 year ago

        We might be laughing about this now, but I bet someone already is working on something like this.

    • somnuz@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      Well… Plenty of cars are actually becoming a rideable PC where “ride” is just an option too. This is one of this things where I can’t decide, is it more sad, scary or stupid.

      • grue@lemmy.ml
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        1 year ago

        This is one of this things where I can’t decide, is it more sad, scary or stupid.

        It’s criminal. Locking up capabilities of hardware you already bought and trying to extract rents for them is literally no different than a mafia protection racket. These car company execs deserve to go go prison for racketeering.

      • 0x4E4F@lemmy.fmhy.ml
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        1 year ago

        It’s moneeeyy. That’s all there is to it, money. They finally have an easy way to control what you can or can’t do with the things that (at least on paper) you own.

        I just knew this was gonna happen… I warned about these things ever since music/movie subscriptions became a thing. You don’t own a copy of what you (allegidly) bought, thus, it’s not yours.

        Now, you do own the thing… at least on paper, but you can’t do much with it unless you pay extra cash to the one who sold it to you, so it can… you know, do the things it’s supposed to do. It’s basically extortion, no matter how you slice it. It’s malware, period.

  • bacondragonoverlord@feddit.de
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    1 year ago

    This might be an unpopular opinion but I think this is basically ok. I mean more power = more drain on the battery and thus they need to make more money to offset the possible increase in Warranty cases. Also this would only really affect a tiny little subset of Buyers.

  • Archmage Azor@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Somebody will figure out how to get past it, even if the manufacturer protests. It’s happened with Iphones, it’s happened with John Deere tractors, it will happen here

  • narnach@feddit.nl
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    1 year ago

    We’re getting closer to “you wouldn’t download a car” being outdated, if more cars start pushing most of their functionality from behind a paywall.

    It’s not something I’m happy to see.

    • conneru64@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      1 year ago

      You might not have a choice if they all decide to do it. Companies are actually kinda good at that kind of collective actions sometimes.

      • vaultdweller013@sh.itjust.works
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        1 year ago

        In my area it would take a whole 5 seconds before people either jenk mod it or otherwise jailbreak it. Ive seen VW vans from the 50s with fucking V8 diesel engines around here, folks dont need the guts just the frame.

      • johnthedoe@lemmy.ml
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        1 year ago

        When this becomes the norm. I look to the jailbreak community for hope.

        I WILL download a car!

    • Kyrgizion@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Neither would I, but the majority of these cars are going into corporate fleets. I’ll have one at the end of the year. I assume corporate isn’t going to pay for the optionals so I’ll be stuck with a crippled car through no choice of my own.

        • Kyrgizion@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          IT in Flanders, Belgium. Company cars are almost a given for white collar jobs and even many blue collar ones here since regular income from work is taxed to high heavens. Companies look for other ways to compensate employees without actually having to raise their base salary. Just recently this shifted to electric-only, so most company fleets now are stopping leases on diesel & gas cars and replacing them with EV’s.

    • Chariotwheel@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      We said that when the Oblivion horse armor released. And look where we are now.

      At some point basically everyone will do it and marketing will fo the rest.

  • Temple Square@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    A fool and his money are soon parted. From the same class of vehicles that tried to lock heated seats behind a monthly subscription.

    You know what’s nice? Those cars can F right off. I won’t buy one new. And never will buy one used.

    Always will be “budget” cars (Corolla, Civic, Versa, etc.) that won’t screw around with this crap because the buyers can’t afford to screw around with it.

    TRY to paywall a heated seat in a Civic. I dare Honda. It won’t be more than 10 minutes before someone has it badly wired up like an aftermarket subwoofer.

    • kurosawaa@programming.dev
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      1 year ago

      Even Toyota is doing this now. They locked features like the digital tire pressure gauge behind a paywall on their app.

      • ScoobyDoo27@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        I can see the tire pressure of my truck though the app and I don’t pay for any Toyota subscriptions. The only thing I’m aware they lock behind a paywall in the app is remote start, but you can still do that from the key fob for free too.

        On the newer vehicles they do also lock the navigation behind a paywall but you can just use CarPlay or android auto for free.

        • oatscoop@midwest.social
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          1 year ago

          It is, but the minimum requirement is a “low pressure” notification when tire pressure drops past a certain point. So instead of a gauge you’d get a warning light.

          • deadsenator@lemmy.ca
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            1 year ago

            warning light

            No longer an idiot/warning light. It’ll now be called a “poor’s light”.

      • 432hz@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Yup, remote start is only free for a limited time then you have to subscribe. They make great cars but they’re no angels.

    • BigNote@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      Cars and trucks are one of the best examples of how effective things like marketing can be. It’s unreal what people are willing to pay for in order to have a vehicle that fits their self-image.

  • gronjo45@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    To what extent could companies wreck my freedom in cars even more? I have heard of heated seats being pay walled, despite the technology to heat the seat being installed in the factory… Computer controlled locking systems where if my key fob breaks I can’t get into my car, or worse, the electronic control system fails and I’m up shit creek without a paddle.

    As to education, how can I even learn to repair something like that? My ignorance makes me think soldering may be useful, but how can an individual have greater control on the freedom to repair and own their automobile. The generality of my question lays in my ignorance to the inner workings of most cars.

    • Rodeo@lemmy.ca
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      1 year ago

      You have to buy special $3000 computer handhelds that plug into the car and let you interface with it completely. Often you can only buy those with a business account direct from the manufacturer.

      You cand do a little bit with OBD II using a $10 Bluetooth dongle and free app. But that’s basically limited to reading and clearing codes.

    • slaacaa@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Everything is paywalled. I’m leasing a less than 2 years old BMW, and now everything is included (e.g. phone app, carplay, guarantee), but after a while these run out, and you have to pay for even navigation.

      This is also why I think it’s not worth to buy these cars, lease/rent it at the most. If you want to own smg, buy a reliable Jap/Korean option - when looking at used cars I’ve seen Mazdas hold their value incredibly (unlike the fancy German cars).

    • marmo7ade@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      The venn diagram of “people who will root a car” and “people who own a $150,000 benz” is 2 circles on opposite sides of the solar system.

      • slaacaa@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        I heard of a guy who tuned his already 500 hp Benz to get it over 600 (now he is under arrest in my country for street racing).

        They also do this a lot with BMWs, e.g. the 318i and 320i engine is the same, so if you just change/hack some software setting on the 318i, you can get more hp out of the same car.

        But these are of course the minority of people, and mostly targeting sport cars, not luxury sedans.

      • boonhet@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        They won’t do it themselves, they’ll pay for it. People already do it with brand new ICE cars, they get a performance package from a third party.

        Also in 10 years, that $150000 Benz will be a $15000 Benz and owned by someone a fair bit younger than the original owner, probably. Much more likely to get the controller flashed for additional power at that point.

  • KingSnorky@lemmy.ml
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    1 year ago

    We are getting closer to Mitch Hedberg’s vision of each car getting only 3 honks per month

  • nayminlwin@lemmy.ml
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    1 year ago

    IOTs are pushing us towards subscription hell-scape. We must demand dumb, non-connected machines and devices.

    • xthexder@l.sw0.com
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      1 year ago

      I’m a hobbyist mechanic and I absolutely love how simple older vehicles are. There’s one wire for each thing. The door doesn’t need it’s own computer module like modern vehicles…

      In my newest vehicle (a Ford truck), I pulled the fuse for the cellular modem, since I don’t need the manufacturer tracking my every move. Checking my tire pressure or fuel level from my phone is not a feature I care about. Remote start still works fine with the key fob.

      There’s getting to be fewer and fewer new vehicles I would even consider buying because of all this interconnected nonsense.