[creata]

> From the perspective of a customer, what is the difference between a heated seat that doesn't work because it doesn't exist, and one that is locked out by software?

In the former case, I didn't pay you money, so you didn't give me a good / service / whatever. That feels fair, because you need money to provide those things.

In the latter case, I didn't pay you money, so you didn't flip a switch. That seems like a dick move.

So I guess the difference is that in only one of these cases does it feel like the manufacturer is an asshole.

[MetaWhirledPeas]

> In the latter case, I didn't pay you money, so you didn't flip a switch.

This is the case for all software. There is no physical exchange of goods, and nearly zero effort to distribute the bits.

[ImPostingOnHN]

heated seats are hardware, not software, even if they interact with software

a car is hardware, not software, even if it interacts with software

the fact that the switch is implemented via software is irrelevant to the fact that hardware is more analagous, e.g. a printer you want to use off-brand cartridges in, or a cell phone you want to root

I bought a kindle fire at a discount because it was ad-supported, then rooted it and removed all the adware+bloatware, and don't feel even a little bit bad, because all I was doing was using my hardware as I saw fit

sorry not sorry that this breaks amazon's business model (in reality it's so rare it doesn't), but my hardware, my property, my rules

[lanstin]

Which is why Stallman got pissed at the lack of source code and worked so hard to make source code always available. So that the economic limitations line up more closely with the physical limitations.