Forget Netflix, Volkswagen locks horsepower behind paid subscription

Re:Forget Netflix, Volkswagen locks horsepower behind paid s... by reactordev on Saturday August 16, 2025 @06:18PM (#44927318)

No, digital payments didn’t do it, lack of laws did. Courts can’t keep up with the pace of innovation to protect us from greed.

I’m ok with an app charging an install fee if it’s worth it. I’m ok with games selling micro transaction cosmetics. I’m not ok with features being behind yet another paywall or subscription.

It’s plain old false advertising. If I buy a car and it has a turbo, I expect it to go turbo. If I buy an app and it’s supposed to make things pretty, it better make things pretty. If I buy a cheeseburger, I don’t want to be charged extra for the condiments put on it or the onions, pickles, lettuce. I expected that comes included as part of Cogs.

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Re:Forget Netflix, Volkswagen locks horsepower behind paid s... by ryandrake on Saturday August 16, 2025 @07:40PM (#44927740)

> Courts can’t keep up with the pace of innovation to protect us from greed.

I wish we would start getting product innovation and not just Greed Innovation.

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Re:Forget Netflix, Volkswagen locks horsepower behind paid s... by reactordev on Saturday August 16, 2025 @10:10PM (#44928353)

We would need to have laws against enshitification and limit patents to no more than a decade. Then we would be forced to innovate or lose competitive advantage. Greed Innovation will just bring more piñatas to hit.

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Re:Forget Netflix, Volkswagen locks horsepower behind paid s... by culopatin on Sunday August 17, 2025 @02:51AM (#44929480)

We need to learn to protect ourselves by not buying that product.

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