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Posted on 05/05/2021 10:10:29 AM PDT by ameribbean expat
$399 for the basic vest, then if you want it to actually, you know, work, you have to pay a $12/month subscription fee, or you can pay $120 per year for the privilege of having the thing you bought do the thing you bought it for.
*****
Our pal Aaron Gordon over at Vice was looking into this as well, and he found that there’s a weeks’ grace period if a card is declined.
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...I really don’t like the trend in the automotive world to make features subscription-based, like in-app purchases in some dumb phone game.
BMW is trying this with features like heated seats, Volkswagen is considering pay-on-demand extra range options, Tesla is using subscriptions for a number of features, which don’t even necessarily stick around for the lifetime of the car.
On some basic level, all of these types of things suck, because they’re all about blocking access to features already built into your car, which is just a reminder that we’re approaching a world where you don’t really own the things you own.
(Excerpt) Read more at jalopnik.com ...
$399 for the basic vest, then if you want it to actually, you know, work, you have to pay a $12/month subscription fee,
https://webmail.lerctr.org/~transit/healy/chicken.wav
Years ago IBM had two laser printer models. One generated 6 pages a minute, the other, which cost more, made 10 pages per minute. The only difference was the firmware chip. Electronically/mechanically, they were the SAME printer.
And don’t forget the advertising they can leverage based on that “coerced” subscription.
Silly headline. The $12/mo is to LEASE it
I will be commemorating my 50th Biker Year in 2022. I have had 5 bikes, the last one a 93FXR which I have ridden for28 years.
Laconia, Daytona, Countless Toy Runs, Poker Runs, Rallies, and nine Rolling Thunders later, I think I can safely say that I know NOBODY who would even be remotely interested in a stupid scam like that.
Biker Hooligan Ping!
IBM did this with computers too.
In another case study an IBM computer architecture and design team did too good a job and produced a midrange ( cheaper) computer that was faster than expected, so they detuned it. Didn’t want to cannibalize their more expensive hardware.
They more recently had products that could be turned on to enable more hardware execution threads for a price.
See “The Innovators Dilemma”.
—”only difference was the firmware chip.”
You can become ludicrous about that sort of thing if you own a Tesla!
The words “tar” and “feathers” seem to come to mind.
Not accountants, this comes from subscription based web services. Everything has a subscription cost now. Its the pay to play model.
“In the future, you will own nothing.”
I have a boat motor that is rated at 15 hp. A totally identical in every way (but for a different carburetor) motor is rated at 9.9 hp.
I thought paying to keep the electronics functioning in your German brand was already expected.
It sounds ludicrous, but consider this: the company’s liability doesn’t go away, ever.
For as long as the user owns and wears the vest they are potentially liable for any injuries the user sustains while wearing it.
So litigation may be part of the reason for this asinine policy.
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Add this Road King rider to your list please!
Please add me to the ping list!
Whomever invented it had a great idea, and then became a greedy jerk about it.
Let me guess - if you get into a crash, the vest gets on the Internet, contacts home base to see if you’re paid up, and if so, it deploys...about 10 seconds too late, though.
“In the future, you will own nothing.”
You own nothing now. It can all be taken away.
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