The Off Topic Topic

[Syt]

 

[Duque de Bragança]

And this. I blame Duque.

Yo nigga, it ain't my hood, it ain't my homies. 

Besides, I'm in Brigantia now.  Very far from that very bourgeois hyper-centre. 

[viper37]

Volkswagen gates a new vehicle's full horsepower behind monthly subscription


It ain't new, but it's becoming a trend for car makers.

[Josquius]

Strikes me as an experiment to see how many idiots there are out there.
As its not like this is something anyone would ever practically need.

[celedhring]

The whole "as a service" thing is annoying. They just discontinued the tablet counterpart of the industry-standard screenwriting software I use, which they sold conventionally, and instead replaced it with a different app, with the same features, that is subscription only.

I still get to use the old one, which I paid for, but they'll stop updating it so eventually I'll also have to get the suscription one. 

[Syt]

It's why I think if we had replicator technology and limitless energy like in Star Trek, corporations would still milk consumers. "Tesla X Replicator - only works with Original Tesla Base Matter." "Fancy a burger? Subscribe to Burger King today for only 12.99 a month!" "The new iPhone LXIX - directly to your Apple Replicator for only 1299.99 or free with your 5 year subscription to Apple Holofeed!"

[Tonitrus]

As it pertains to vehicles, having a subscription for thing that require maintaining a software team to support is probably fair.  Subscriptions for things that already fully exist, but are simply gate-kept, especially for a purchased vehicle (leases might be more sketchy), I think is preposterous.

A good thought experiment I heard came up (such as, in the earlier case relating to BMW charging a subscription for heated seat)...does this mean if I pay a subscription for a mechanical feature on a vehicle...then the manufacturer will pay to repair/replace said function if it mechanically fails?

I tend to doubt it, and expect they would shield themselves behind contracts and legal barriers...as in the case of horsepower/performance...this would theoretically mean taking on responsibility for the cost of engine repair.

[HVC]

Wonder what the legal situation is for "jail breaking" these gates. Probably voids the warranty at a minimum.

[Tonitrus]

One might hope (as I do), that there is enough competition in the automobile space that one would be able to vote with their wallet on some thing like this.  But the history of similar trends (i.e. one airline company starts charging extra fees...next thing you know, they are all doing it, and we just accept it) of gouging the consumer tell me that once enough of them start doing it without significant outrage, it'll just become "normal".

[Zanza]

My car has a plethora of digital features with subscriptions and some use hardware features. E.g. opening the car doors, window or sunroof with the phone is a subscription feature. Opening them with the key or the buttons inside the car is part of the purchase price if the car.

[crazy canuck]

Same, my car has a number of things I will never use, like self parking, if I subscribe to the app that does those things for me.

[Grey Fox]

I'm considering subscribing to the paid app features for my car after my 3 year trial is up. Locking the car remotely is something I use often.

[Sheilbh]

It was free but my re-usable water bottle came with an app and I have never been so baffled.

[Zanza]

I have almost all of the subscriptions activated as it is included in my monthly rate anyway.

[Josquius]

If it wasn't a painfully middle class enough appliance my dishwasher has an app.
Because you know, pressing the button to turn it on is the hardest part.
It has a small bit of utility maybe in seeing when it finished during the night?.... But....couldn't the screen just say that....

On my car it's GPS sucks. So much worse than Google maps so I never use it. Wouldn't pay for it.
It's dashcam I've never got working. It seemed it's software only worked with android for a year after release and was never updated since.