This might seem reasonable. But... this way, capable people will not benefit from markets of scale like they could if they were allowed to tinker with their purchased goods.
> All I see a big market opportunity for hackable, open-platform tractors.
Sadly, there is no big market opportunity for hackable, open-platform tractors.
i'll bet there is. think of what the PTO (power take-off) enabled in general for the common tractor.
i'll bet hydraulics, electrical generation, and other systems can also be leveraged by 3rd-party or custom gear.
in fact, I'll wager that the FUTURE of the tractor INSISTS upon it being open and hackable.
The "Lying EULA that attempts to rebrand a sale a lease"
approach is bad for customers and bad for the world at large. It limits human innovation. Human innovation is what defines humanity. Perhaps we could just return to swinging in the trees and eating bananas unless our EULA allows us to walk upright and cook food with Fire(tm)
Pay attention, Tractor companies!
pay attention to your customers and stop listening to that shortsighted man in the pinstripe suit trying to cheapen your relationships that MATTER!
> i'll bet there is. think of what the PTO (power take-off) enabled in general for the common tractor. i'll bet hydraulics, electrical generation, and other systems can also be leveraged by 3rd-party or custom gear.
You mean a common platform, similar to what iOS is in the computing world? Sounds nice, but I guess we use a different definition of "open".
it will not matter economies of scale as the tinkerer cannot redistribute it. The tinkering is done in product already sold, like after market car parts. The tinkerer can tinker with as many tractors as he wish, even for money, but those modification is done with consent of owner on something that he already owns. If i brick something in process i should be able to replace it with factory stuff, like in case with if the said tractor's axil gets broken
This train of thought leads me back to software practices where all features exist in the software, but the level of license you pay for unlocks certain features (that are already installed), so if you allow hacking of the control module, you could theoretically unlock features you hadn't paid for... this would be a major concern for the developer.
> All I see a big market opportunity for hackable, open-platform tractors.
Sadly, there is no big market opportunity for hackable, open-platform tractors.