[edulix]

So farmers would buy in mass simple tractors, making the manufacturer that does it alone rich amasing a huge segment of the market.

But no manufacturer wants to do it. And no venture capital wants to finance such thing. Because.. I guess.. these evil capitalists just don't want to make more money.

Is that the argument? That capitalists don't want to make more money?

[MikeUt]

From another comment: "Deere is the worst in this, but the rest of the industry isn't anywhere near as good as it should be."

So no, the argument isn't that they don't want to make money. The argument is that they do, and realize that tacitly colluding will make them more money than undercutting each-other.

[xxs]

Most of the time it's not possible to produce new equipment without patent licenses even if everything else came into places. Assuming a new honest player that won't collude...