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Re:Tesla will soon downgrade software on the entry-level Mod... by paxys on Sunday June 09, 2019 @02:26AM (#20137526)
Manufacturing one single version of the hardware and then crippling the cheaper one is actually very common across cars, electronics and a lot of other consumer goods.
Re:Tesla will soon downgrade software on the entry-level Mod... by jen729w on Sunday June 09, 2019 @08:10AM (#20138699)
I worked for Xerox 25 years ago.

The difference between the 18 page/min and the 45 page/min copier was a DIP switch and $10k.

Re:Tesla will soon downgrade software on the entry-level Mod... by jjeaff on Sunday June 09, 2019 @04:32PM (#20141723)
There must have been quite a few people that figured out how to mod the copiers for themselves then, right?
Re:Tesla will soon downgrade software on the entry-level Mod... by disillusioned on Sunday June 09, 2019 @03:51AM (#20137833)
Hell, isn't the only difference between the normal and "K" Intel processors that the K is unlocked (and, I guess, binned?)

I remember there was an AMD chip that was similarly hobbled, that could be unlocked using a pencil line to jump a pin on the processor.

Re:Tesla will soon downgrade software on the entry-level Mod... by wtallis on Sunday June 09, 2019 @04:27AM (#20137954)
In any given generation, Intel only makes 3-4 different consumer processor chips, and from those they derive dozens of models by selectively disabling features and limiting clock speeds. Sometimes the disabled capabilities are defective, but a lot of it is purely due to market segmentation. Intel even once sold software upgrade codes to unlock extra cache memory on some low-end processors, showing that all of those models had passed QA with the full cache, but shipped with a third or a quarter of it disabled.
Re:Tesla will soon downgrade software on the entry-level Mod... by masonic on Sunday June 09, 2019 @02:57AM (#20137648)
IBM's mainframes used to use that strategy.
Re:Tesla will soon downgrade software on the entry-level Mod... by detaro on Sunday June 09, 2019 @09:28AM (#20139047)
They still do that. Same with the POWER servers: you can buy one with "2 CPUs" that actually has more and then enable additional ones "on-demand".
Re:Tesla will soon downgrade software on the entry-level Mod... by jjeaff on Sunday June 09, 2019 @04:33PM (#20141727)
How do they activate them on demand? Does it require phoning home?
Re:Tesla will soon downgrade software on the entry-level Mod... by detaro on Sunday June 09, 2019 @04:36PM (#20141746)
Not sure, could also be just some locally checked license key you get from them if you buy the upgrade.
Re:Tesla will soon downgrade software on the entry-level Mod... by antaviana on Sunday June 09, 2019 @05:38AM (#20138172)
I think they used hardware loops, not software loops, to reduce performance for the cheaper models.
Re:Tesla will soon downgrade software on the entry-level Mod... by zanny on Sunday June 09, 2019 @02:47AM (#20137605)
What is common or normal does not make it right or ethical.
Re:Tesla will soon downgrade software on the entry-level Mod... by kinkrtyavimoodh on Sunday June 09, 2019 @03:15AM (#20137702)
Why is it unethical? They are upfront about what you are paying for (or not paying for) and they are upfront about the hardware being present in the car.
Re:Tesla will soon downgrade software on the entry-level Mod... by paxys on Sunday June 09, 2019 @02:52AM (#20137636)
What makes it unethical?
Re:Tesla will soon downgrade software on the entry-level Mod... by topmonk on Sunday June 09, 2019 @03:50AM (#20137831)
It turns the idea on its head that the price of something should be related to the cost of making it.

If there were a bunch of viable Tesla-like alternatives out there, they wouldn't be able to afford to leave in disabled features.

So, it's in essence exploiting their monopolistic position which is evil.

Re:Tesla will soon downgrade software on the entry-level Mod... by brianwawok on Sunday June 09, 2019 @10:16AM (#20139330)
The cost of items is based on what you will pay, not what it cost to make. Capitalism 101.
Re:Tesla will soon downgrade software on the entry-level Mod... by topmonk on Sunday June 09, 2019 @07:09PM (#20142507)
Unless you have a competitor making a nearly identical product. That's why I said it was exploitation of a monopolistic position. There is no other car company close to Tesla, so they get to pay these games.

Same as a chip manufacturer, say Intel, developing a process to make say 3x faster chips. But instead of releasing the fastest chip they could make, they titrate their new ability to the market over time. First a chip 50% faster, then 2x, etc., so they can milk the market.

I don't know about what you're willing to accept, but I don't like being treated like a farmer's cow.

Re:Tesla will soon downgrade software on the entry-level Mod... by salawat on Sunday June 09, 2019 @03:37PM (#20141382)
>The cost of items is based on what you will pay...not what it cost to make.

So... Where's my 200 dollar car that costs 4000 to make?

Oh wait, did you mean

>The profit margin of an item is what value the customer is willing to pay over and on top of the cost of initial production + logistics of getting product to the final resales?

Because if you don't take that in to account, you only played enough attention to validate a worldview in which capitalism justifies unbounded exploitation.

Capitalism operates within specific bounds outside of which the axioms on which it is based cease to produce net positive effects for the health of the societal framework in which it operates based on it's tendency to inequitably partition the fundamental means of exchange without active measures in place in order to ensure that the majority of capital continues exchanging hands instead of languishing in accounts chasing after opportunities for growth rendered nigh-impossible to find once a "winner" is established by conservative investment strategies in most industrial verticals, and that winner optimized beyond the reach of meaningful competition by new entrants.

You'll then end up in repetitive cycles of boom and bust as too much capital chases too few opportunities for growth; all the while with the financial industry converging toward whatever form is most able to avoid current regulatory controls.

Re:Tesla will soon downgrade software on the entry-level Mod... by rz2k on Sunday June 09, 2019 @04:15PM (#20141614)
Most of these cost more than $4,000 to make: https://sfbay.craigslist.org/search/cta?min_price=200&max_pr...

Some design or manufacturing flaws can lead to auto makers paying someone to dispose of an otherwise brand new car. Sometimes, such as when they've poorly forecast demand, selling their inventory at a loss is a smaller loss than paying for disposal. Other times they will destroy functioning, new vehicles if that's what's necessary to maximize total revenue.

Re:Tesla will soon downgrade software on the entry-level Mod... by salawat on Sunday June 09, 2019 @05:48PM (#20142160)
With Craigslist you're generally not looking at a good representation of the "well-equipped or dispositioned" seller; and given the market in the SF Bay area, you're optimizing for one of the highest friction automotive ownership locales in the United States.

If anything you're Also to a degree proving my point on the market at large being skewed toward larger actors; as the capability of the "new entrant" to extract value from the market is significantly diminished. Get that same car to a dealership, and they might even be able to extract even more value for it.

Also, if you're taring the sale at last seller, that's not entirely fair. First sale is what we're discussing, generally represented by first change of hands after factory->reseller.

Re:Tesla will soon downgrade software on the entry-level Mod... by jjeaff on Sunday June 09, 2019 @04:36PM (#20141737)
Regulations like emissions limits can also cause this. GM has supposedly been know to sell some of its electrics at a loss simply to help meet the ratio requirements of the EPA so they can sell more big vehicles.
Re:Tesla will soon downgrade software on the entry-level Mod... by salawat on Sunday June 09, 2019 @05:56PM (#20142196)
Again, this is a consequence of the statement I made before regarding

>the financial industry converging on whichever form most effectively sidesteps the current regulatory regime.

I should probably have phrased it to industry in general, but regardless, I stand by my original point. The automotive industry accepts taking a loss through sub-optimal implementations of regulatorally incentivized models in order to optimize on the most profitable model segment.

Capitalism will converge in the direction of a net negative naturally without active efforts to reign in it's tendency toward fiscal optimization at all costs.

I'm not even being controversial and saying socialism/Marxism is the way. (They aren't; in case anyone is wondering). I'm just pointing out what actually happens.