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A comment on John Deere has turned itself into a poster-child for the DMCA. Parent comment

Re:John Deere has turned itself into a poster-child for the ... by Johnny555 on Sunday April 23, 2017 @01:05AM (#14176618)
This is not an easy market to disrupt... the barrier to entry for manufacturing a $200,000 tractor or $500,000 combine is high, and the market is not that large.

This isn't like coming up with a better lightbulb that cost $2 to manufacture and will sell millions. And while the large farms may cycle through their equipment in 5 years, a small farmer may keep his in operation for 20+ years, so there's not a whole lot of equipment turnover for an upstart to break into.

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Re:John Deere has turned itself into a poster-child for the ... by noonespecial on Sunday April 23, 2017 @02:51AM (#14176900)
Then again, if you come up with a little harvester that autonomously harvests 1/4 acre, fits in a suitcase and costs $100, you just might sell millions. People will want better $500k harvesters like they want Zeppelins with more lift or faster steam ships.
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Re:John Deere has turned itself into a poster-child for the ... by alexvoda on Sunday April 23, 2017 @03:20AM (#14176975)
I do actually want a Zeppelin. Having a residence floating in the air is kinda cool I think.
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Re:John Deere has turned itself into a poster-child for the ... by narrowrail on Sunday April 23, 2017 @03:10AM (#14176951)
John Deere is a brand name in the US. There are several Asian companies that compete with them. When was the last time you bought a tractor? Mahindra, Kubota, New Holland Ag, Case-Farmall and Massey-Ferguson. Have you looked at the competitive landscape?
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Re:John Deere has turned itself into a poster-child for the ... by timthorn on Sunday April 23, 2017 @03:46AM (#14177037)
Most of that list are American or European.
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Re:John Deere has turned itself into a poster-child for the ... by vvanders on Sunday April 23, 2017 @01:20AM (#14176661)
Yup, and longer. Heavy equipment is built to a different standard, our Compact Utility Tractor is ~30 years old and still going strong.
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Re:John Deere has turned itself into a poster-child for the ... by prodmerc on Sunday April 23, 2017 @02:01AM (#14176793)
What about replacing only the software? Or will they claim it's illegal and you still don't own the hardware?
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Re:John Deere has turned itself into a poster-child for the ... by adrianN on Sunday April 23, 2017 @02:41AM (#14176883)
Then they'll only allow signed software to run. Trying to start a business on a hostile platform doesn't sound like a good idea.
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Re:John Deere has turned itself into a poster-child for the ... by askvictor on Sunday April 23, 2017 @02:16AM (#14176833)
How would you make money off this?
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Re:John Deere has turned itself into a poster-child for the ... by RevHaze on Sunday April 23, 2017 @01:42AM (#14176736)
The rich don't understand barriers to entry? Sure, throw enough money at the barrier and you can climb it, but that's not so much a revolutionary state of mind as it is just having enough money to try something expensive.
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Re:John Deere has turned itself into a poster-child for the ... by YCode on Sunday April 23, 2017 @02:42AM (#14176884)
You can think however you like, the barrier doesn't care.
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