71–80 of 220 posts
You don't own your cellphone, you don't own your tv and now you won't own your car too.
I don't want my car to be a software platform. I want it to be like my microwave. It might have software, but software is only incidental to its operation. I do not want to tweet from my microwave. I do not want ads in traffic. This is non-negotiable for safety reasons alone. I don't care what I have to do to attain that. If that means replacing the radio. I will do it. If you brick my car if I don't have a Manufactu…
Its interesting that we have created a world where the people who build software are often the most skeptical of and aviodant of the software industry.
On the other hand, a pricing model that makes the sale price cheaper and loads more of the profit into optional add-ons is great for me. So long as I can get from A to B, I'm happy with zero options and a cheaper car.
My family recently got a new car, and as part of the sale, the dealer activated trial subscriptions for all sorts of things, blah blah this, blah blah that. I don't even remember.
I do like some of the software features, but they're the ones that are not by subscription, such as the thing that keeps me from driving off a cliff. I'm not getting any younger, and don't mind a little bit of help.
I'm of two minds about this. On the one hand, I certainly don't want to be held hostage by my car. On the other hand, a pricing model that makes the sale price cheaper and loads more of the profit into optional add-ons is great for me. So long as I can get from A to B, I'm happy with zero options and a cheaper car. My family recently got a new car, and as part of the sale, the dealer activated trial subscriptions for…
A car is a huge investment for many. It is better to own one outright than rent it out.
I'm of two minds about this. On the one hand, I certainly don't want to be held hostage by my car. On the other hand, a pricing model that makes the sale price cheaper and loads more of the profit into optional add-ons is great for me. So long as I can get from A to B, I'm happy with zero options and a cheaper car. My family recently got a new car, and as part of the sale, the dealer activated trial subscriptions for…
The problem with optional add ons is that greed eventually makes even necessary ones optional, or worse, add ons with subscription and remote kill switches. A car is a huge investment for many. It is better to own one outright than rent it out.
First off, the companies daft enough to try this without enough subtlety would get quickly knocked off the market, and if it doesn't naturally die out, expect a huge Jailbreaking community to arise in the near future. Either way paywalling critical utilities from a car will never work.
I don't want my car to be a software platform. I want it to be like my microwave. It might have software, but software is only incidental to its operation. I do not want to tweet from my microwave. I do not want ads in traffic. This is non-negotiable for safety reasons alone. I don't care what I have to do to attain that. If that means replacing the radio. I will do it. If you brick my car if I don't have a Manufactu…
Its interesting that we have created a world where the people who build software are often the most skeptical of and aviodant of the software industry.
Not really. And, Not everyone have good intentions.
Risk analysis is part of software development. And, we know where it lands once corrupt forces will take over.
It is only a matter of time before there are jailbreaks and free / open source car operating systems. For related 'food for thought', see Cory Doctorow's "Car Wars" which combines car software hacking with self-driving vehicles for a unique near-future sci-fi story. Edit: downvotes? Instead, you could respond with why you disagree and we can have a discussion. Do you think there will not be jailbreaks? It has been ha…
Yes, but that's a losing game - the manufacturers will continually tighten security until it's infeasible - see how difficult it is to jailbreak current-generation iPhones and game consoles, for instance. The only ways out are social (consumers acting en masse to exert market pressure) or legal (regulation). You can't hack your way around this issue - as the attacker, the strong crypto that exists (and enables things…
My country has (since fall of USSR) been one of the biggest used car markets in Europe, and as cars have added more and more electronics people have started figuring out how they work and developing tools to work around them.
I recently came across (randomly browsing) a device developed here that plugs into the OBD port and disables the AdBlue system (an extra fluid you need to fill up often, which reduces emissions on newer diesel engines, if you don't the vehicle refuses to start). The advertising was targeted at commercial vehicles. It's not illegal for the manufacturer to make, and if the driver of the truck is ever stopped by police they just pull it out. Nobody is any the wiser. But saving ~5% of the fuel costs definitely affects the bottom line of the company.