John Deere Announces Strategic Partnership with SpaceX

Post by philwelch » Tue, Jan 30, 2024, 5:46 PM UTC

mrangle wrote: post #94

idiotsecant wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This comment still doesn't answer parent question. I design critical infrastructure control systems for a living. Every single component of my systems is user servicable and replaceable with an alternative COTS available component with a little bit of work. There is literally no reason a tractor can't also do that. Other than market moats and rent seeking.

Rent seeking is right. Farmers shouldn't be subjected to landlord economics via their equipment. That is, equipment cost shouldn't scale simply to eat farming profit (as rent costs quickly rise to eat rising incomes). I'd want to see the numbers on exaclty how much supposed always-up farming equipment saves in crop production, compared to farmers that don't use it. In fact, I know for certain that the most productive…

Post by dogman144 » Tue, Jan 30, 2024, 5:48 PM UTC

bluGill wrote: post #72

mathgradthrow wrote: post #34

It is of incredible strategic importance that tractors not become "online only". Some fucking John Deere licensing server should not become a single point of failure for the nations agriculture.

Farmers do not want that. John Deere collects a lot of opt-in data from tractors. That is the owner of the tractors chooses to upload that data because they get value from it. If the tractor is not online or the GPS isn't working the farmer will stay home to fix things as the data is too valuable to risk not having it uploaded. (you can export the data to USB, but that is a hassle). Farmers who don't get a good cell…

Post by tcmart14 » Tue, Jan 30, 2024, 5:50 PM UTC

kube-system wrote: post #42

mathgradthrow wrote: post #34

It is of incredible strategic importance that tractors not become "online only". Some fucking John Deere licensing server should not become a single point of failure for the nations agriculture.

Already too late. Farmers already use quite a bit of connected technology in the field. Modern high-output farming and the cheap food we have really wouldn't be possible without it. e.g. https://www.smh.com.au/national/farmers-crippled-by-satellit...

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Jan 30, 2024, 5:53 PM UTC

Larrikin wrote: post #81

iancmceachern wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They're not really tractors. They sell land prep, crop sowing, and harvesting solutions. It's not like a car. These things are used for a few weeks a year, and if they don't do their job during that time the farm looses all their income for the year. A better way to think of them is like construction equipment that you rent. Even big construction companies rent their equipment.

Why can't the farm have the server on premise instead of needing a subscription. So somebody can say they're meeting their KPIs and request more money?

Post by sixstringtheory » Tue, Jan 30, 2024, 5:54 PM UTC

idiotsecant wrote: post #80

bluGill wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Farmers do not want that. John Deere collects a lot of opt-in data from tractors. That is the owner of the tractors chooses to upload that data because they get value from it. If the tractor is not online or the GPS isn't working the farmer will stay home to fix things as the data is too valuable to risk not having it uploaded. (you can export the data to USB, but that is a hassle). Farmers who don't get a good cell…

Lol farmers absolutely want their tractor to work when the cell network doesn't what are you talking about. Sounds like you might have drank a little too much of the company koolaid. It's not surprising, I know engineers at Deere and it sounds like quite a toxic environment.