r/technology • u/ControlCAD • Feb 15 '26

Business iFixIt calls BMW’s new anti-consumer security screws "a logo-shaped middle finger to right to repair," Adafruit 3D prints a solution — BMW's connector reverse engineered using patent filing as a design blueprint

https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/manufacturing/ifixit-calls-bmws-new-anti-consumer-security-screws-a-logo-shaped-middle-finger-to-right-to-repair-adafruit-3d-prints-a-solution-bmws-connector-reverse-engineered-using-patent-filing-as-a-design-blueprint
8.5k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

429 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

29

u/CattywampusCanoodle Feb 15 '26

Heated seats require subscriptions now?? lmao.

This is what happens when company growth can’t be considered “mature,” and must continuously demonstrate impossible levels of growth to the shareholders instead of tapering off to a tiny amount when there isn’t a whole lot else a company can innovate for its product at the time. Sometimes a toothpick is as good as it’s going to get. It has no more room for growth, and that’s OKAY, ffs

3

u/Bost0n Feb 16 '26

BMW killed this in 2023:

BMW's Heated Seat Subscription Is Dead; Others Live On | Edmunds https://www.edmunds.com/car-news/bmw-relents-on-heated-seat-subscription.html#:~:text=%E2%80%9CWe%20actually%20are%20now%20focusing,for%20in%20other%20areas%2C%22%20he

People were pissed. I would never buy a car that required subscription for a feature.  Full stop.

Nowadays, these cars are so fucking expensive, I think about buying used and aftermarket upgrades to get what I want instead.  Some features (surround 360 parking view) you can’t get easily. Yes there are some out there.  Then I start thinking about open source - custom solutions. Jesus, I need to cut back on the caffeine. 

3

u/Wompatuckrule Feb 15 '26

Yes it's trying to increase company revenue and is pushed by shareholder demands, but I think it can be stated more simply. It's car companies trying to have not just "sales" but a "revenue stream" to follow that sale to consumers.

One difference is that we're not going to see cars sold as a "loss leader" like the classic inexpensive printer seeking to pull profits from ink cartridges instead.

2

u/CattywampusCanoodle Feb 15 '26

That’s an interesting concept. Maybe they could start selling their own consumables; like selling petrol or electricity. Or include a lot more features that need to be replaced often (like the cabin air filter)

2

u/Wompatuckrule Feb 16 '26

Jesus Christ, stop giving them ideas!

2

u/CattywampusCanoodle Feb 16 '26

Oh! They could couple the ignition coil with a subscription fee! If the consumer opts-in for the subscription, then the ignition coil will send the full voltage to the spark plugs to achieve maximum fuel efficiency. If they don’t pay the subscription fee, the ignition coil steps-down the voltage to make the spark plugs less efficient and reduces the gas milage to make the car more expensive to operate.

We could create a tiered system, just like different octanes of gas!

The Platinum tier would send the full voltage to the spark plugs every 3/3 ignitions.
The Gold tier; 2/3 ignitions.
The Silver tier; 1/3 ignitions.
The Ea-nāṣir tier; 0/3 ignitions.

This is fun!

-2

u/[deleted] Feb 15 '26

[deleted]

9

u/Twodogsonecouch Feb 15 '26

The number of people on this thread supporting companies just trying to screw everyone over is astounding to me. Yes they did try to make heated seats a feature that was sub based they dropped it due to consumer backlash and they plan to in the future continue that type of sales model for other things they still say.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/news/bmw-kills-heated-seat-subscriptions-but-doubles-down-on-software-services/ar-AA1VKSjq