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Deere to allow farmers to repair their own equipment

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61–70 of 229 posts

Re: Deere to allow farmers to repair their own equipment

#61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The damage is already done. MBAs had no long-term vision, so in each company they infested, they made poor strategic decisions such as moving manufacturing overseas, which then forced other companies to move their manufacturing overseas. The countries they chose have zero respect for intellectual property. So now what's left are zombie companies milking their cash cows dry as international competitors arise and take…

Solid argument. No chief executive with an MBA has ever contributed positively to the company they run. ::eyeroll::

Well cant botch it that hard, the pals from ivy that are now in government, wont bail you out. So, guess we will never know the good from the bad >> eyescroll <<

Re: Deere to allow farmers to repair their own equipment

#62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Solid argument. No chief executive with an MBA has ever contributed positively to the company they run. ::eyeroll::

well arguments like these are of course all about the statistical tendency because outliers are, by definition, not that important. But I notice you didn't actually give an example of an outlier MBA that did not behave this way and contributed positively to the company they ran?

I assumed in 2023 we're beyond simply applying negative stereotypes to people based on perceptions of a group, but apparently you aren't

Re: Deere to allow farmers to repair their own equipment

#64

Too little too late. They have burned good faith, and this move stinks of more manipulation. As others suggested, this probably aims to thwart legislative action, and they will make everything available at an inaccessibly exorbitant price point and inexcusable lead times. Seriously, Deere has been a market leader in alienating customers for years. There is no possibility that this is being done for the benefit of the…

This is the smart money take. They ran an EV calculation on the cost of half heartedly allowing self repair (but in a sneaky way in which surely favors them) with a reduced probability of legislation vs the probability of legislation being imposed on them and figured they can milk more money out of this scenario.

They will surely allow DIY in the most convoluted, inaccessible way humanly possible and try to keep this scenario as close as possible to the tractors being unrepairable.

Re: Deere to allow farmers to repair their own equipment

#65
post #54
post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's Australian for the most privileged account on a computer? Is there a verb for when you get access to it?

It’s the same verb but it raises a smile every single time. Yes I am a child in an adult’s body. Slightly OT, they pronounce router “rowter” over here, presumably to avoid the same issue.

Interestingly this seems to be one of those unusual cases where the US by and large uses the British pronunciation while Australia does its own thing.

On the plus side for Australia, we never have to hear the classic form:

> Rooter? I hardly even know 'er!

Re: Deere to allow farmers to repair their own equipment

#66
post #47
post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hell If I had my way I'd add a "right to root" in the Constitution itself. You should have control over your hardware, period.

"right to root" does not translate very well here in (nominally-English-speaking) Australia!

Sounds like the tagline of r/aussieincels

Re: Deere to allow farmers to repair their own equipment

#67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's ridiculous that we live in a world where the manufacturer is in the position to set terms of repairs. Once someone buys a piece of equipment it's theirs and they should be allowed to repair and modify it however they see fit.

Deere rose up to being one of the top equipment brands because they put extra effort into ensuring the equipment was repairable. There is a lot of equipment in the scrap heap from other brands that you can't get parts for. Theoretically you can repair them, but the cost to hire someone to recreate/design a one-off part can be extraordinarily expensive. Deere likes to boast that they have parts in stock for equipment…

But if the software is just a feature flag, I can write my own one of those and not pirate their software at all

It sounds more like artificially inflating the price for hardware

Re: Deere to allow farmers to repair their own equipment

#68
I'm not a farmer but harvest time can be pretty intense. You might only have a narrow window to get certain crops in where the crops are ready and the weather has been right and your onward destination can accept them physically and contractually. So have all the other farms. And that crop represents your yearly income. So you have all this demand in this time window and you have equipment sitting there cause computer says no. Very frustrating.

Re: Deere to allow farmers to repair their own equipment

#69
post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You basically already have a Constitution-esque "right to root", as changing the software on hardware you own is not illegal. What we're actually dealing with is technical measures that can effectively prevent us from doing so. There are a few legal hooks that augment the natural landscape (DMCA, contract terms, etc), but remove those and the problem would remain. So unfortunately, what we're really looking for is so…

changing the software on hardware you own is not illegal Not true. The DMCA makes it illegal to "circumvent" DRM schemes. It's also illegal to carrier-unlock your phone without your carrier's permission.

Only if the DRM protects a copyrighted work, and even then only if the "protection" goes beyond protecting the software from being executed/used. (Chamberlain v. Skylink)

Re: Deere to allow farmers to repair their own equipment

#70
post #44

Amazing that there are businesses that do so well financially they can abuse their customers to the point of hatred, yet remain in business.

That's all social media companies, basically.

Honestly, the only people who hate social media are tech journalists who have an article deadline coming up fast, politicians during election years, and of course HN users.
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