The real question should be: why are vehicle manufacturers inclusing features that they can’t afford to maintain after they have sold it to us? Maybe stop making everything internet-integrated. Nobody in their right mind should be forking over a subscription for something they just spent tens of thousands of dollars on.
That logic might work for GPS service, but the example in the article is a bike where the battery’s discharge rate and capacity are limited by software, and those limits can be increased via software if you pay a subscription.
Unfortunately, it was clear that everybody was going to follow suit after this:
https://www.revzilla.com/common-tread/pay-to-unlock-features-tesla-style-gain-traction-in-motorcycling
The way the article frames it as “why pay for what you don’t need” is so bad.
Nah, you already paid for it, the part is physically in the motorcycle.
The real question should be: why are vehicle manufacturers inclusing features that they can’t afford to maintain after they have sold it to us? Maybe stop making everything internet-integrated. Nobody in their right mind should be forking over a subscription for something they just spent tens of thousands of dollars on.
That logic might work for GPS service, but the example in the article is a bike where the battery’s discharge rate and capacity are limited by software, and those limits can be increased via software if you pay a subscription.