
Heated seats as a service? BMW wants to sell car features on demand - aronpye
https://arstechnica.com/cars/2020/07/heated-seats-as-a-service-bmw-wants-to-sell-car-features-on-demand/
======
retox
I'm reminded of the apartment doors and coffee machines in a Philip K. Dick
story that charged a fee each time they were used, and refused to operate when
the protagonist was behind on his rent.

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 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."

...he found the contract. 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 Ubik, by Philip K. Dick. Published by Doubleday in 1969
[http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/content.asp?Bnum=1615](http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/content.asp?Bnum=1615)

~~~
gen3
It also reminds me of “Unauthorized Bread”
[https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2020/01/unauthorized-
bread-a-...](https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2020/01/unauthorized-bread-a-near-
future-tale-of-refugees-and-sinister-iot-appliances/)

------
pacamara619
No wonder BMW drivers are often seen as assholes. Being nickel and dimed for
minor things after spending such huge amounts of money on a new car would
certainly make me bitter and resentful.

------
uncoder0
Tesla really is changing the auto industry quite a bit. I wonder how much they
would save if they made every 3 series with the fully loaded specs and locked
them behind software? I imagine you could gain a lot of efficiency in the
supply chain and the manufacturing process as the cars become a lot more
fungible.

~~~
ganoushoreilly
Oddly enough in 2010 I did some consulting with a Manufacturer in Spartanburg
(;D). It took 24 hours to _hack_ the control system and unlock all the
features. Last I heard they'd decided not to go that path. I often wonder
though, if it will come back. What I fear though is, Additional monthly
service fees (ala their annual Car Play fee they were charging) ultimately
adding to the cost of the vehicle.

------
tzs
At least with software features that require a subscription to work you don't
pay any penalty if you don't subscribe, assuming the software is running on
hardware that would be there anyway for non-subscription purposes.

With a feature like this which involved hardware that is useless to non-
subscribers those non-subscribers are paying a penalty of the extra energy
their car uses to haul around the extra hardware.

As a matter of principle, I'd be fine with making it illegal to include such
features on new cars. Any hardware you include in the car has to be functional
without a subscription.

They could still sell a subscription seat warmer. They just could not include
the hardware with the car. They would have to wait for the customer to
actually order the subscription and then install the hardware.

------
m0zg
Wonderful feature: to get nickel and dimed for everything after you spent $80K
on a car. Best of luck with that, BMW.

~~~
KMnO4
I was under the impression that BMW already did that, and not many people were
willing to pay extra for the turn signals package.

~~~
m0zg
Brilliant business idea, IMO. Do you work in their marketing team? Round
wheels, brakes, windshield wipers, window transparency - those could also
easily become options costing hundreds of dollars each month.

------
gentleman11
The real problem is how we don’t own our things anymore. We don’t own the car
or the heated seats - they are licensed to us under non-negotiable terms that
are awful - how many stories in the first 3 pages today about apps snooping
our clipboards and microphones?

Where do private property enthusiasts stand on this? Do they support the idea
of these contracts as voluntary, or oppose them because it erodes the whole
concept of private property and ownership?

------
quantified
In-app purchases of $500/sec for anti-lock brake engagement coming soon?

And $10k to wipe the last 8 hours of location data...

------
jp0d
Stick to mainstream manufacturers even if you've the money. My Mitsubishi SUV
has all the safety features I need that don't even come standard in the some
of the mid-range BMW models that cost twice as much. Buy a Lexus if you want
luxury!

------
randompwd
I'm so tired of pretty much every car manufacturer offering jacked up extras
that should just come as standard.

Trying to sell us on the idea that we can customise the car to our liking. Put
out one version of every model car and just look people pick the color &
engine size.

Don't own Tesla but god-damn do I like that every model is gonna be the same
tech wise (excluding the Full Self Driving and battery size)

Not 300 different possible combinations.

------
rasz
Even Racing transponders run on subscription service now :/
[https://www.mylaps.com/transponders/](https://www.mylaps.com/transponders/)

