[nerdo]

Context: I recently had a set of lightbulbs lose all functionality a couple nights ago, now insisting I had to get an account, sign in with 15 character password with certain symbols and mixed case, receive constant marketing emails whether I accept them or not, accept terms of service numbering 10000+ words, and then re-pair the bulbs which could no longer be recognized anyway after long failure attempt cycles. Humiliation ritual complete, bulbs are now e-waste I guess.

$1000 Peloton bike signed out of account and insisted on payment to sign back in at all, though still functions as a $20 salvage bike without any functions.

Is it optimal for all companies to completely cripple products once they've been sold? What's holding them back here?

[salawat]

Absolutely nothing.

Welcome to why software clickwrapping and EULA's are a blight to the concept of contract law. Also welcome to why "consideration" has been so dubiously defined as to become meaningless in the modern era.

In a world where everything is gated behind Licensing, and all the mediums of executing software are increasingly headed toward ensuring proprietary lock-in through burning in cryptographic hash locks on firmware; right of First Sale is a vanishing luxury that is simply not being offered anymore.