[MRSallee]

It sort of is.

The Wired article mentions that some farmers are preferring to buy old tractors without the electronics. This demand increases the value for the used market and should depress the value of new tractors. There will likely be a growth in the business of maintaining old tractors and, potentially, enough public awareness of the benefits of tractors without electronics that another manufacturer can step in.

Or it might fizzle. Markets don't solve every problem, but they usually solve the problems people are willing to pay for.

[Kluny]

Maybe tractor hacking will become a thing, too. I know lots of guys who circumvent the computers in their cars with pirated software, to make them racier. Might be a career in it for some of them.

[redblacktree]

I've recently become interested in this, since I bought a 2015 vehicle with a computer in the console. Do you have any advice/resources for a budding car hacker?

[Kluny]

I don't have much personal experience other than watching my friends laptopping from underneath a car. www.dorikaze.com is a forum for drift racing that a lot of my friends frequent, and there's bound to be at least a couple knowledgeable people in there. Be warned though, there's a lot of grade-school antics, meming, and sexism, and the smart guys are used to curtly fending off stupid questions. So do a lot of reading before you start typing.

[dublinben]

The best way to start is to not buy a vehicle with a hundred proprietary computers in it.

[a3n]

How do you search for and verify one of those vehicles without a computer?

Also, I haven't bought a new car in many years. Is there something like a EULA buried in the small print? And I don't imagine buyers on the secondary market sign anything. Or will it become illegal to sell used cars because the software license doesn't allow for transfer?

[pluma]

In the US? Possibly.

In the EU? Only if TTIP gets signed.

[bucky]

I'd search for forums for your make and model of car. Those are usually good starting places for getting information.

[galago]

Recreational farmers probably do/will. However, its more problematic for farms functioning as a business.

[jaskerr]

As and aside, farmers aren't the only ones interested in old farm equipment. There's a vibrant community of collectors. Both communities tune and refurb the equipment to working order, tho' the collectors go further for appearance. So there are two groups vying for old equipment, driving prices even further.