ThatGuyLando

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I don't understand this logic. They installed the hardware... and you're saying they should make activating installed hardware a subscription service... because...?
You'd be surprised how conditioned people are to pay extra for things they've already paid for. Pay walls are everywhere from cars to watches to phones. It's sad.

I for one am super glad there are people who devote their time to jail breaking/hacking past all this nonsense.
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RedOctobrrr

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You'd be surprised how conditioned people are to pay extra for things they've already paid for. Pay walls are everywhere from cars to watches to phones. It's sad.

I for one am super glad there are people who devote their time to jail breaking/hacking past all this nonsense.
I never considered that - do you know if that was a thing with the BMW seats? Seems like the toggle of a bit through the OBDII port.
 

Guss-E 2021

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I have a big smile on my face because the automotive world has just gone crazy. I guess I should say the transportation world. Step back and think about the debates we are now having. 360 cameras, free or subscription? Wait are you talking about your house or your car? 🤣

I'm a tech nerd but I'm also an old enough to remember when cars didn't even have computers in them. I take none of this stuff for granted. Our MME's are technological marvels. It's cool we even have camera systems to debate over. Okay, I'm done. As you were. 😁
 

21st Century Pony

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Just because it’s there doesn’t mean you get free access to it.

Like they said, it’s easier to build all vehicles the same but unlock features to those that paid for them. For example, a optional part may cost them $5 more to put on but the change over or keeping track of whether it was ordered or not on the production line is worth more than that $5. So they just put the part in all the vehicles and let the customer unlock them. Now multiply that across a ton of optional parts per vehicle and the simplicity gain increases.

This is where everything electronic is headed. Especially stuff that is strongly software related.
This is exactly why I learned to use ForScan... to unlock already built-in features which are locked out / dormant because of trim and model line corporate differentiation marketing.

Almost all the Lincoln MKZ fancy features were / are present yet dormant in the Fusion / Mondeo line... until ForScan let us unwashed commoner Fusion owners unlock them in our cars.
 

Ride_the_lightning

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I mean, if it helps them build vehicles quicker I don’t see the problem for paywalling features that others paid more for
Charging for them sure, it’s the subscription I hate. If it’s a one time hardware activation , it should be a one time charge. If it’s an ongoing service a small ongoing fee is fine. Tesla charged me $250 one time to unlock the rear heated seats and I think $350 for the heated steering wheel in my base model 3. That seemed fair. It was included in the higher trims and I didn’t even know they were there, so it was a nice surprise after I bought the car. It beat paying $3500 for a tech/cold weather package that most cars would have required.

I refuse to pay an ongoing fee for hardware though. I already have the option to do that by leasing a car. If I buy it for $60,000 I’m not going to pay a subscription fee to use it.

I could complain all day about the trend of moving basic hardware functions we’ve had forever to cloud services to force consumers to pay subscription fees (such as taking the remote start button off the key fob and making it an app that requires ongoing payment). My Roomba is a $1000 vaccum held hostage by Amazon. If they ever put the app behind a paywall, the hardware becomes useless and it’s not open source, so there is no competition. I can’t even turn it on without the app.
 


Logal727

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Charging for them sure, it’s the subscription I hate. If it’s a one time hardware activation , it should be a one time charge. If it’s an ongoing service a small ongoing fee is fine. Tesla charged me $250 one time to unlock the rear heated seats and I think $350 for the heated steering wheel in my base model 3. That seemed fair. It was included in the higher trims and I didn’t even know they were there, so it was a nice surprise after I bought the car. It beat paying $3500 for a tech/cold weather package that most cars would have required.

I refuse to pay an ongoing fee for hardware though. I already have the option to do that by leasing a car. If I buy it for $60,000 I’m not going to pay a subscription fee to use it.

I could complain all day about the trend of moving basic hardware functions we’ve had forever to cloud services to force consumers to pay subscription fees (such as taking the remote start button off the key fob and making it an app that requires ongoing payment). My Roomba is a $1000 vaccum held hostage by Amazon. If they ever put the app behind a paywall, the hardware becomes useless and it’s not open source, so there is no competition. I can’t even turn it on without the app.
Yeah, what is the cost of the subscription? I'd prefer a one-time fee as well. I just think this is gonna be the nature of production and streamlining processes.
 

ChuckA

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Because they can.

Honestly kinda shocked they’re giving it away.

And yeah, does kinda suck for those who paid for it.

I am happy paying for ice cream……. Until I find out everyone else gets their ice cream for FREE!
Kinda like Tesla dropping prices after others paid full price. Loyalty doesn’t pay!
 

MachEMaster

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You can still use your 360 camera for "parking" and such, but won't have BlueCruise if you don't have a subscription. I was led to believe the BlueCruise is $600 for 3 years.
Ford Mustang Mach-E 360° Degree Camera feature is now FREE! Free Trial Extended to Permanent*! 5A258F82-1F7C-4D00-8E71-758A1274BF97
 
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RedOctobrrr

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You can still use your 360 camera for "parking" and such, but won't have BlueCruise if you don't have a subscription. I was led to believe the BlueCruise is $600 for 3 years.
Prior to this, the 360° camera wasn't a parking or reverse feature, it was lumped into the Blue Cruise subscription, so if you didn't activate or stay current with Blue Cruise, you lost 360° even if the hardware is already there and working. From my understanding, stitching cameras together to get a 360° view is NOT a cloud computing service, there's nothing about it that requires a data streaming or computing service. It's local to the car.

As for me, they gave me a $1900 activation fee + 3yr subscription (I didn't opt in to this), so idk if they'll let me start a 3yr Blue Cruise ONLY for just $600, but at the same time "activation" is bullshit because I currently have Blue Cruise on free trial, so it's activated and fully functional. What more can they "activate" if it's already fully installed and working for me? Sounds like a bullshit arbitrary charge to me.
 

whatisacar

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Canadian buyer here; as per my dealer, Ford Canada hasn't issued any news about 360 being a free permanent activation on 2023s... but I imagine it will likely be announced later

Have you received any news on what would happen if you signed up for the 1900$ "full activation" package?

Also a fun tidbit: Canadian Selects will have heated seats/steering along with powered passenger seats.
 

generaltso

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Prior to this, the 360° camera wasn't a parking or reverse feature, it was lumped into the Blue Cruise subscription, so if you didn't activate or stay current with Blue Cruise, you lost 360°
Just to be clear, this only applied to 2023 Select trim cars.
 
 




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