Car subscription services have been around for at least a decade now. Until recently, however, they were relegated to services like satellite radio or an onboard Wi-Fi hotspot that require a data connection. When BMW recently decided to charge customers for heated seats via a subscription, the public reaction has been far from positive. If history is about to repeat itself, we could see owners hacking into their cars to enable the feature without paying for it.
The German automaker sparked similar controversy in 2018. At the time, it launched a program that required customers to pay $ 80 annually for the pleasure of using Apple CarPlay wireless. Not long after, he switched things up in an effort to attract more customers and changed the program to include 240 months for just $ 300. He called it a “lifetime” subscription, but at the same time no other automaker charged any kind. of subscription fee. Even there, however, the owners had found a way to hack the software.
And even now it seems like car owners are trying to figure out how to bypass the feature so they can get heated seats without paying. UK-based Litchfield Motors, for example, primarily focuses on optimizing chips or modifying EEPROMs (a type of memory) to boost a car’s performance, but it can also help owners with other digital features, including heated seats for a fee.
Incidentally, BMW’s subscription model also invites long-term reasoning. What happens when BMW decides to stop the service? Will it throw an unlock patch or will it permanently unplug the heated seats? Regardless of the choice you make, relying on corporate goodwill for the continued functionality of a product you have bought and paid for is not a smart or sustainable consumption strategy.
Source: PCGamer
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