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BMW wants to charge a subscription fee to enable heated steering wheel

edition.cnn.com

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Re: BMW wants to charge a subscription fee to enable heated steering wheel

#31

Post by _alex_ »

popotamonga wrote: post #18
ajhurliman wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It bothers me that they're intertwining a subscription model for something that shouldn't need a subscription (steering wheel heaters). If the car came with one, it should just be available. Adding this layer of abstraction complicates things and puts an unnecessary burden on to the user to consider a complex pricing structure of what features they want for what duration of time. Between healthcare, airlines, music,…

I stopped buying. Rent a nice bmw 300/mo taxes and full insurance included. Peace of mind.

how?

Re: BMW wants to charge a subscription fee to enable heated steering wheel

#32

Post by klyrs »

magicnubs wrote: post #9
magicnubs wrote: post #8

This is interesting. It seems like everything is going subscription-based. It sort if makes sense in that software can be improved upon after sale and needs to be maintained, but on the other hand a single but fix can be sent to an arbitrarily large number of units, so with this model only the largest companies will be able to compete in features and price. With so many purchases to consider, and less and less time d…

Oh and also from the article: > In some markets, BMW owners may also be able to pay for "authentic" BMW engine sounds that will come through the car stereo. In many BMW cars today, the engine sound is augmented inside the cabin with pre-recorded sounds from the stereo. These are tuned to match the engine speed and performance so they sound like actual sounds coming directly from the engine. This is done so that the c…

It might feel post-scarcity if you can afford a BMW.

Re: BMW wants to charge a subscription fee to enable heated steering wheel

#33

Post by johnklos »

This is the dumbest shit ever. Of course it'll work for them because so many of their cars are leased, so people won't want to bypass computer control with a relay or custom firmware.

But the idea of installing hardware, then charging a recurring fee to use it is just horrible. It's a sign of how capitalism is simply broken. It was one thing when IBM did it on their computers when there were a few hundred or perhaps a few thousand of them on the planet, but now we're intentionally using resources to make things that may never get used, with no consideration for the environmental impact?

So who's going to be running the "feature activation" servers for older models when they're no longer "supported" by BMW? Do we really think BMW will simply unlock the features on cars about to go out of "support", or do we think they'll lock everything off regardless of what people have paid?

Re: BMW wants to charge a subscription fee to enable heated steering wheel

#34

Post by cromka »

yostrovs wrote: post #3

Hyundai charges a subscription fee for remote start built into their cars. First three years are free, paid subscription thereafter. You have to use their app to remote start. There's no button on the key fob.

I guess it's because cover the cost of the data plan, so after the first 3 years you have to start paying for it yourself. Tough but fair, imho.

Re: BMW wants to charge a subscription fee to enable heated steering wheel

#35

Post by hotwire »

In Ubik by Philip K Dick, the door of his apartment won't open unless he pays it five cents each time. Life imitates art.

“The door refused to open. It said, “Five cents, please.” He searched his pockets. No more coins; nothing. “I’ll pay you tomorrow,” he told the door. Again he tried the knob. Again it remained locked tight. “What I pay you,” he informed it, “is in the nature of a gratuity; I don’t have to pay you.” “I think otherwise,” the door said. “Look in the purchase contract you signed when you bought this conapt.” In his desk drawer he found the contract; since signing it he had found it necessary to refer to the document many times. Sure enough; payment to his door for opening and shutting constituted a mandatory fee. Not a tip. “You discover I’m right,” the door said. It sounded smug. From the drawer beside the sink Joe Chip got a stainless steel knife; with it he began systematically to unscrew the bolt assembly of his apt’s money-gulping door. “I’ll sue you,” the door said as the first screw fell out. Joe Chip said, “I’ve never been sued by a door. But I guess I can live through it.”

Re: BMW wants to charge a subscription fee to enable heated steering wheel

#36

Post by mdocherty »

magicnubs wrote: post #8

This is interesting. It seems like everything is going subscription-based. It sort if makes sense in that software can be improved upon after sale and needs to be maintained, but on the other hand a single but fix can be sent to an arbitrarily large number of units, so with this model only the largest companies will be able to compete in features and price. With so many purchases to consider, and less and less time d…

This is how retirement communities work

Re: BMW wants to charge a subscription fee to enable heated steering wheel

#37

Post by [deleted] »

sneak wrote: post #29
m463 wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not that I don't think the trend is terrible, but isn't rent-seeking when you charge extra for something but make no discernible improvements?

The cars in TFA ship with the hardware to do things like lane assist and heated steering wheels. The functionality is already there. They are charging subscription fees to flip an enable bit in software. Correspondingly, they remotely disable functionality in your vehicle if you stop paying them. I'm not sure of a better example of rent seeking.

[deleted]

Re: BMW wants to charge a subscription fee to enable heated steering wheel

#38

Post by duskwuff »

sneak wrote: post #13

The inability to receive future (prepaid) self-driving software updates on a Tesla if I remove the GSM interface to prevent corporate tracking my driving movement 24/7 is the main reason I am likely never going to buy a new one. This sort of rent-seeking is really terrible.

Is there something I'm missing here, or are you really complaining that your car can't download updates after you disabled its network interface?

Re: BMW wants to charge a subscription fee to enable heated steering wheel

#39

Post by smabie »

magicnubs wrote: post #8

This is interesting. It seems like everything is going subscription-based. It sort if makes sense in that software can be improved upon after sale and needs to be maintained, but on the other hand a single but fix can be sent to an arbitrarily large number of units, so with this model only the largest companies will be able to compete in features and price. With so many purchases to consider, and less and less time d…

That's a really great idea, actually. The majority of people worry about money not because they literally can't survive, but because there are too many, complex, choices to make about money. Maybe I want a nice car but a shitty apartment, I could get the gold transport package and the bronze apartment package, or whatever.

Re: BMW wants to charge a subscription fee to enable heated steering wheel

#40

Post by usefulcat »

sneak wrote: post #29
m463 wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not that I don't think the trend is terrible, but isn't rent-seeking when you charge extra for something but make no discernible improvements?

The cars in TFA ship with the hardware to do things like lane assist and heated steering wheels. The functionality is already there. They are charging subscription fees to flip an enable bit in software. Correspondingly, they remotely disable functionality in your vehicle if you stop paying them. I'm not sure of a better example of rent seeking.

Presumably if it’s not being used then it also doesn’t have to ever be fixed (either by the owner or the manufacturer).
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