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Mercedes EVs can go faster for $60 a month

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191–200 of 555 posts

Re: Mercedes EVs can go faster for $60 a month

#191
post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The "you will own nothing" advocates will continue to keep pushing for stuff like this. Who are these "advocates"?

The original phrase was coined by the World Economic Forum. What the critics leave out is that the WEF was saying that people would be happier not owning anything. >You will own nothing and you will be happy. Alternatively it could have a darker interpretation: you will be a slave and you will be happy, because that's all you're going to get. I suppose it depends if you look at the WEF as a benevolent institution loo…

> What the critics leave out is that the WEF was saying that people would be happier not owning anything.

Given that happiness is often a cultural construct (wildly different things make people happy dependent on the cultural context), and that many WEF members are cultural influencers the critics response is that the current people will not really be happy, but the WEF will arrange the culture so that future people are. Any outside group conspiring to change your culture is a normal cause for alarm.

Re: Mercedes EVs can go faster for $60 a month

#192
post #165

I grew up around cars, and car builders. I've worked on quite a few very famous cars. My father built custom cars and ran "Barris Kustom" for years. I learned how to build custom cars, including race cars. I also spent years designing and building cars (vans) that quadriplegics could drive and lots of those were for guys who crashed, or got ran into by cars/motorcycle, at high speeds. Personally, I think if anyone cr…

[dead]

Re: Mercedes EVs can go faster for $60 a month

#193
post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

likewise. sadly people will still buy this shite, which in turn encourages manufacturers.

A lot of people don't follow these developments, don't know how they're harmful, and don't really care. The car companies may be aware that there is growing resentment, but as long as it's legal and there are still enough people buying this for it to be worth continuing, they will do it.

Until they discover it isn't. I'm predicting a lot of this gets rolled back as used cars buyers are more sensitive.

Used car buys will look at this as the without model. Maybe this will work out as a lot of used car buyers don't care about speeds they won't go anyway (though they should ask if this was ever on as that does put more wear and tear on a car). I don't think this will work out for things like heated seats: the buyer will want a car with heated seats and one with a subscription for heated seats is worth less money to price sensitive buyers.

Re: Mercedes EVs can go faster for $60 a month

#194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you don't like it, just don't buy cars whose performance is artificially limited. Let the market decide the issue.

It's curious that the market (almost?) always decides what is bad for the consumer and profitable for the companies. As a person who is a person not a company, I would rather we don't let the market decide so much about our lives. Examples: Smart (spying ad-showing) TVs, non-compete agreements, water heater rentals, not-really-unlimited "unlimited data" cell plans, surveillance economy, only-rentable-not-buyable soft…

Yeah, the market doesn't decide when there are only a few major players.

The "market" didn't decide to exclude headphone jacks and SD cards on mobile phones. Apple went that direction and other companies followed suit. Customers had no real choice in those matters.

Re: Mercedes EVs can go faster for $60 a month

#195
post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I don’t want [my car] to be connected [...] to the internet Really? No remote access, security notifications, navigation facilities? No watching TV while charging? No OTA updates that obviate the need to take it to the dealership for routine fixes? No open source location analytic API? I mean, I'm sure there's some bad stuff that happens too. But this is very much throwing out the baby with the bathwater. I won't t…

IT. IS. A. CAR! It takes you from Point A to Point B! Nobody needs to watch TV in their car! Nobody needs subscription services for heated seats or 0.2s off your 0-60mph time! Nobody needs cameras replacing their sideview mirrors! Get rid off all this bullshit in vehicles. 6-speed manual, adjustable seats, a GPS/nav screen and radio/aux, and a damn cupholder is all anyone needs from a car. Everything else is just a b…

I don't even want the GPS: my phone already has maps that are better than what is in the car: they update in real time for current traffic.

Re: Mercedes EVs can go faster for $60 a month

#196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you don't like it, just don't buy cars whose performance is artificially limited. Let the market decide the issue.

Seriously. It isn't like anyone needs a Mercedes. There whole brand is around flashing wealth around and crap like this is inline with that. Buy something else.

You are correct that nobody needs a luxury vehicle but those are the brands that the Fords and Chevys of the world will emulate in their mid to lower priced tiers.

Re: Mercedes EVs can go faster for $60 a month

#197
post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thank you for being a voice of righteousness in a sea of simps. It’s hard to tell on this site, are people really this devoted to corps or are they shills? Even with what you said there are still so many people defending this behavior. The world is full of weak and/or deceitful people.

Take a look at the profit margin (and market valuation) of automotive companies and compare them to tech companies. Now also make a comparison of average developer/engineer salaries at both. Is it not OK for the automotive folks to get to the same level as their FAANG brethren? Disclaimer: I work for an automotive OEM.

It's fine if they get more profit from having a better and more unique product for some sub-market. Everyone is happy in that case.

Not by locking features.

Re: Mercedes EVs can go faster for $60 a month

#198
post #86

I've had this (cough) "opportunity" in my Tesla for as long as I can remember. (Dual-motor Model 3, it's well-known that it's mostly software differences to make it the performance version.) Guess what: My Tesla is fast enough. I don't feel any need to pay more money to make it go faster. (I'm not going to whine about rent-seeking or how I own it and I should be able to do what I want with it. Instead, I'm going to p…

> it's well-known that it's mostly software differences to make it the performance version. Do you have a source of this, news to me

https://ingenext.ca/products/ghost-upgrade

Re: Mercedes EVs can go faster for $60 a month

#199
post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I don’t want [my car] to be connected [...] to the internet Really? No remote access, security notifications, navigation facilities? No watching TV while charging? No OTA updates that obviate the need to take it to the dealership for routine fixes? No open source location analytic API? I mean, I'm sure there's some bad stuff that happens too. But this is very much throwing out the baby with the bathwater. I won't t…

IT. IS. A. CAR! It takes you from Point A to Point B! Nobody needs to watch TV in their car! Nobody needs subscription services for heated seats or 0.2s off your 0-60mph time! Nobody needs cameras replacing their sideview mirrors! Get rid off all this bullshit in vehicles. 6-speed manual, adjustable seats, a GPS/nav screen and radio/aux, and a damn cupholder is all anyone needs from a car. Everything else is just a b…

If that were true then we'd all still be driving 2-cylinder air cooled put-puts.

I'm not telling you what to desire in a vehicle. I'm just saying that reactionary ludditism makes for poor market analysis. People want connected cars, period. I don't make the rules.

Re: Mercedes EVs can go faster for $60 a month

#200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you don't like it, just don't buy cars whose performance is artificially limited. Let the market decide the issue.

Seriously. It isn't like anyone needs a Mercedes. There whole brand is around flashing wealth around and crap like this is inline with that. Buy something else.

When every available "something else" needs a subscription just to start in the morning, what then?

Drive an old car and maintain it forever, I suppose.

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