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BMW starts selling heated seat subscriptions for $18 a month
theverge.com ^ | July 12, 2022 | James Vincent

Posted on 07/13/2022 4:09:55 AM PDT by lowbridge

click here to read article


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To: lowbridge

OK software engineers, I have a business plan to serve the aftermarket market.


81 posted on 07/13/2022 7:03:47 AM PDT by NativeSon ( *<~ <*)
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To: oldtech
Not a lot different than buying ONSTAR or other such devices on American cars & then pay a subscription for using it.

I disagree. ONSTAR is a service that involves communicating with actual human beings who need to be paid for their time.

Heated seats are completely different. There's no interaction with another human involved. You flip a switch and the electricity flows to the seat heater - that's it. A subscription for that feature is ludicrous.

82 posted on 07/13/2022 7:03:55 AM PDT by vrwc1
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To: meowmeow

It’s not my butt that would need warming :P


83 posted on 07/13/2022 7:04:21 AM PDT by Bikkuri (I am proud to be a PureBlood.)
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To: lowbridge

Just wait until they charge $30 a month to use the brakes.


84 posted on 07/13/2022 7:05:43 AM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: Lazamataz

And will BMW be charging monthly fees for the bong* we will all need to use to get through these trying times?

*Marijuana not included.


85 posted on 07/13/2022 7:06:16 AM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks (Bus No. 2525)
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To: Qwapisking

Open source computer/controllers.

More effective to just punish the brand by buying something else.


86 posted on 07/13/2022 7:07:29 AM PDT by larrytown (A Cadet will not lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those who do. Then they graduate...)
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To: ground_fog
Subscriptions for everything these days. Something very sinister going on.

Coming soon, WEF Citizenship Subscriptions. If you want that happiness the "owning nothing" promises, then keep your paperwork up to date and your Social Credits topped off!

'cause you know, without your Citizenship Subscription, you're benefits and rights will lapse. And remember, non-persons are unhappy and harmful to the collective, and will be repurposed.

87 posted on 07/13/2022 7:28:38 AM PDT by Tellurian (Your phone is your cattle tag. 2/4/2004: DARPA Lifelog terminated, Facebook initiated. )
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To: Will88

It’s simple you download the their app on your phone then enroll with your name, address, email, cell phone, and scan the vin #. You then pay by credit card through the app. They then can track where you go, how fast you drive, and offer more “services” to you. The salesman has to enroll you and he gets nothing for it or he gets punished. Soon all OEM’s are going to compel“subscription based services”.


88 posted on 07/13/2022 7:31:34 AM PDT by bonehead4freedom
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To: Lockbox

The tire subscription is useless if you don’t get the engine and transmission package subscription.


89 posted on 07/13/2022 7:33:13 AM PDT by Flying Circus (God help us )
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To: lowbridge

I bought a BMW X1 SUV in 2017 with FREE heated seats!!!! Think of the money I’ve saved!!!


90 posted on 07/13/2022 7:35:46 AM PDT by LizzieD
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To: lowbridge

You don’t even own the car you bought! Clauss is more right than we know.


91 posted on 07/13/2022 7:42:31 AM PDT by stevio
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To: vrwc1

A subscription for that feature is ludicrous.
___________________________________________________________

BMW becoming the leech that won’t quit sucking.


92 posted on 07/13/2022 8:12:01 AM PDT by JCL3 (As Richard Feynman might have said, this is reality taking precedence over public relations.)
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To: bonehead4freedom; Pilsner

This is really bizarre. Probably with existing technology and coming advances, companies with have the capability to do the same with most all devices: your lawn mower, your TV, your cell phone, most anything we could name.

Consumers really need to punch back on this one and stop doing business with firms that try to charge, what amount to royalties, for the use of equipment and devices already fully paid for.

They act like obtaining heat for your car seat is the equivalent of obtaining copyrighted music or printed material.


93 posted on 07/13/2022 8:58:20 AM PDT by Will88 (The only people opposing voter ID are those benefiting from voter fraud.)
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To: Qwapisking

In all likelihood, the manufacturer would have the software written in such a way that you couldn’t force the options to work without disabling the car or at least triggering a Check Engine Light that causes it to fail smog check. A more likely cottage industry would be installing an after market seat heater into a base level car that just turns on and off without talking to the computer. We are not talking complicated tech here, just some low power heating elements and a selector switch. The OEM system can be fancier with the seat heaters integrated to the climate control system, but that is just more ways to fail and break.

The amount and complexity of code that goes into a modern car in incredible. Cars are so software dependent now the companies think they can follow the same model as software and online services that charge to turn options on and off in the code at no incremental cost to them. The problem for car companies is they are building a physical object with parts that cost money. People get pissed when they feel like they have to pay twice for the same thing.


94 posted on 07/13/2022 9:39:23 AM PDT by Flying Circus (God help us )
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To: lowbridge

They must have attended a John Deere workshop somewhere.


95 posted on 07/13/2022 10:12:28 AM PDT by servo1969
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To: lowbridge

No surprise I see those things on flat bed wreckers being taken back to the dealer here on a weekly basis. All that eloctronic bauble crap always breaking down.

Had budget give me a F-type Jaguar last week as they were out of compacts. What a fiasco trying to operate that thing. EVERYTHING is motorized, even the door handles. Never did find the outside mirror adjustment. Fast sucker, but in Honolulu entirely wasted.


96 posted on 07/13/2022 11:48:41 AM PDT by doorgunner69 (Let's go Brandon)
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To: lowbridge
I have a 2016 Chevy Colorado. When I bought it, there was a choice of subscriptions for the OnStar package. The free package only included a few features, one of them being a remote start with the app (there is a remote start on the key fob, but only within a short range).

Once my subscription ran out, I could no longer start my truck with the app. It's not something that I did very often, but it showed me how much control GM has over my truck, even though I own it. They could actually shut it down at any moment, and render it a hunk of steel and glass. Not that they would, but just knowing the could is frightening.

97 posted on 07/13/2022 11:59:29 AM PDT by Repealthe17thAmendment
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