Z-Library is back, alas

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by isarl

How long before, like heated seats in cars, certain features of your power tools are locked out behind a subscription fee?

Isn't Tesla doing that?

[isarl]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

Isn't Tesla doing that?

That's why I used it as an example.

[Apache]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

Isn't Tesla doing that?

All Car Manufacturers are going to subscription-based features. Heated seats, remote start and others. Some are even wanting to have a subscription for Car Play and Android Auto. This article is from The Verge.
https://www.theverge.com/2022/7/13/2...s-remote-start
Apache

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

Isn't Tesla doing that?

I think BMW?

Of topic
Back in the 1970s the Alloy wheels on my dad's Ford Cortina was a kind of subscription service. Park in town at night and when he came out of the hotel pub the wheels were gone

Paying ONCE to unlock a feature goes back to the 1960s and isn't unreasonable, but an ongoing subscription stinks. Allegedly some people now using The GIMP instead of Adobe Photoshop because it's subscription only. They even rent Indesign by the month now.

[John F]

Originally Posted by Fiat_Lux

Both Lowe's and Home Depot are planning to DRM the hardware they sell.
They are doing that to reduce shop-lifiting. The average store loses a million dollars per quarter in shoplifted merchandise, with a projected increase of between 3% and 5% per quarter.

Originally Posted by Deskisamess

"Now Home Depot is experimenting further with DRM at the point of sale. The company has started embedding chips in many of the major tool brands it sells (DeWalt, Milwaukee). And unless the tool is enabled by a Bluetooth-based system at the register, it simply won’t work when you take it home:"

From a 2 year old article:https://www.techdirt.com/2021/08/05/...ibly-go-wrong/

Isn't saying DRM being applied to a physical object an oxymoron?

[graycyn]

Originally Posted by Apache

All Car Manufacturers are going to subscription-based features. Heated seats, remote start and others. Some are even wanting to have a subscription for Car Play and Android Auto. This article is from The Verge.
https://www.theverge.com/2022/7/13/2...s-remote-start
Apache

I lived without heated seats and remote start in NORTH DAKOTA for two winters (my husband for three winters), it's a sure bet I would not "subscribe" to such a thing.

I did, however, have a warming thingamajig installed for the engine block so that I could plug in the car via extension cord and start it in extreme temps since we had no garage. Worked well.

[graycyn]

Originally Posted by Quoth

I think BMW?

Of topic
Back in the 1970s the Alloy wheels on my dad's Ford Cortina was a kind of subscription service. Park in town at night and when he came out of the hotel pub the wheels were gone

Paying ONCE to unlock a feature goes back to the 1960s and isn't unreasonable, but an ongoing subscription stinks. Allegedly some people now using The GIMP instead of Adobe Photoshop because it's subscription only. They even rent Indesign by the month now.

I'm still using my legit copy of Photoshop CS5. And when that goes, and I expect at some point, Adobe will cut it off, I'll probably utilize either GIMP or Affinity Photo. The version of Adobe Acrobat that came with my ScanSnap is still working, but there's likely a limit to that as well. It'll be a pain learning new interfaces, but I'll manage.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by John F

Isn't saying DRM being applied to a physical object an oxymoron?

Depends whether you interpret DRM to mean digitally managing rights, or managing digital rights.
This would be a case of using digital technology to manage property rights.
.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by John F

Isn't saying DRM being applied to a physical object an oxymoron?

Ask people that own John Deere equipment.

https://www.techdirt.com/2021/02/23/...se-completely/

[John F]

Originally Posted by Quoth

Ask people that own John Deere equipment.

https://www.techdirt.com/2021/02/23/...se-completely/

Most definitions I see for DRM do not mention physical objects. For example:

abbreviation for Digital Rights Management: types of technology used to prevent people from illegally copying software, music, movies, etc.:

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/...ry/english/drm

[Quoth]

Out of date definitions

[Kindleing]

Originally Posted by John F

Most definitions I see for DRM do not mention physical objects. For example:

abbreviation for Digital Rights Management: types of technology used to prevent people from illegally copying software, music, movies, etc.:

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/...ry/english/drm

The issue is that software is at the heart of much of today's hardware - automobiles, farm machinery and other physical products. It is almost impossible to repair a modern automobile or major farm machine without accessing the software. And that software is protected by DRM methods. In the US there is a "Right to Repair" movement that is attempting to force manufacturers to provide access to proprietary software for maintenance and repair purposes.

@Quoth's John Deere reference is a case in point. Farmers spend hundreds of thousands of dollars for a piece of farm equipment and cannot do basic maintenance because of software restrictions. Everything has to be done by a John Deere authorized dealer.

[John F]

Originally Posted by Kindleing

The issue is that software is at the heart of much of today's hardware - automobiles, farm machinery and other physical products. It is almost impossible to repair a modern automobile or major farm machine without accessing the software. And that software is protected by DRM methods. In the US there is a "Right to Repair" movement that is attempting to force manufacturers to provide access to proprietary software for maintenance and repair purposes.

...

Personally, I see a distinction. There is software on the things you mentioned go beyond a very basic level. But adding software to a drill for the sole purpose of preventing theft of a physical object seems different to me (as far as calling it DRM). How many drills have software on them. I guess I can see the stretch of saying the DRM is enforcing the copyright of the software on the drill, but it seems like quite a stretch.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by John F

Personally, I see a distinction. There is software on the things you mentioned go beyond a very basic level. But adding software to a drill for the sole purpose of preventing theft of a physical object seems different to me (as far as calling it DRM). How many drills have software on them. I guess I can see the stretch of saying the DRM is enforcing the copyright of the software on the drill, but it seems like quite a stretch.

For the record, I think this is clearly just using digital tech to try to prevent theft, just like one of those inventory control tags on clothes, just leveled up. Nothing to do with protecting IP. I personally wouldn't have called this DRM, but I could see how the meaning could be expanded to cover it. Language tends to do stuff like that, and this at least has some logic to it.


Oh, and also for the record, I think the idea sucks.

[Quoth]

An RFID tag (or less reliable is a dumb RF tag as anti-theft only) can stop shoplifting and do inventory control; those are very cheap and don't need the manufacturer to add something. A BT system is about 100x more expensive and no better, maybe even worse. So there is some other reason for this system than the stated one, or the article is wrong and it's simply an RFID tag to create an alarm and nothing is disabled. Anyway how would BT disable a tool that wouldn't be easily circumvented? I'd think it more believable if it was some expensive gadget that already has embedded BT.