Travoli's prediction of "everything will be subscription"

[rcjordan]

Toyota owners have to pay $8/mo to keep using their key fob for remote start | Ars Technica
https://arstechnica.com/cars/2021/12/toyota-owners-have-to-pay-8-mo-to-keep-using-their-key-fob-for-remote-start/

[Travoli]

Shareholders love those sweet automatic monthly debits.

[ergophobe]

What would you pay for autonomous driving? Volkswagen hopes $8.50 per hour
https://arstechnica.com/cars/2021/06/volkswagen-plans-to-offer-subscriptions-for-autonomous-driving-extra-ev-range/

The German automaker is considering charging an hourly fee for access to autonomous driving features once those features are ready. The company is also exploring a range of subscription features for its electric vehicles, including "range or performance" increases... Tesla once offered Model S cars with a 75 kWh battery that was software-restricted to output only 60 or 70 kWh, depending on when the car was purchased. In the case of the 70 kWh models, customers could pay $3,250 to unlock the last 9.33 percent.

Charging for a feature that is already built in and requires no intervention from the automaker (like remote start or using the full battery capacity) feels less like a service charge and more like ransom.

[rcjordan]

New Cars Will Nickel-and-Dime You – It's Automotive As A Service | Hackaday
https://hackaday.com/2021/12/30/new-cars-will-nickle-and-dime-you-its-automotive-as-a-service/

[rcjordan]

Taco Bell is selling a $10 monthly taco subscription
https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/06/business/taco-bell-subscription/index.html

[Travoli]

Panera has $8.99/month unlimited coffee and tea:

https://www.panerabread.com/en-us/mypanera/mypanera-coffee-subscription.html

[rcjordan]

We've Upgraded Your Toilet to a Subscription-Based Model - McSweeney's
https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/weve-upgraded-your-toilet-to-a-subscription-based-model

[ergophobe]

>>toilet

Nicely done :-)

Do you think as we see more and more of that, we will see companies backing off from subscriptions in ridiculous and egregious cases or is the profit incentive just way too high? That is, is this a "moment" or a new normal?

[rcjordan]

> is the profit incentive just way too high?

On the whole, 'everything subscription by everyone' seems ludicrous. But Debbie thinks that businesses will go for the profit ---particularly since subscriptions tend to bind the customer to the brand.  AND millennials & genX didn't want to own, so this is what we get. In spades. 

[Travoli]

iPhone subscription service coming soon.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-03-24/apple-is-working-on-a-hardware-subscription-service-for-iphones

[Travoli]

BMW starts selling heated seat subscriptions for $18 a month. BMW owners already have all the necessary components, but BMW has simply placed a software block on their functionality that buyers then have to pay to remove.

https://www.theverge.com/2022/7/12/23204950/bmw-subscriptions-microtransactions-heated-seats-feature

[ergophobe]

A car friend and former BMW owner told me they floated this before and there was so much pushback they had to backtrack. I guess they're trying again.

To be fair, they have an "unlimited plan" (what we used to call "heated seats") for $415. So if you keep the car for two years, you come out ahead an then it's yours for life (but what about the next owner?)

So this feels less like a forced subscription than a hidden payment plan to reduce sticker shock.

I see that sort of like the airlines. Everyone complains about how they pack you in like sardines, but very few of those people bump up to first class where you get a lot more room.

[rcjordan]

"GM has approximately 16 million vehicles on the road in the US, about a quarter of which include features for which customers are paying subscriptions. "Our research indicates that with the right mix of compelling offerings, customers are willing to spend $135 per month on average for products and services," Alan Wexler, SVP of innovation and growth at GM, said during a presentation at the company's investor event in December 2021."


The future of cars is a subscription nightmare - The Verge
https://www.theverge.com/2022/7/13/23206999/car-subscription-nightmare-heated-seats-remote-start

[rcjordan]

GM Makes $1,500 OnStar Subscription Mandatory on GMC, Buick, Cadillac Models
https://www.thedrive.com/news/gm-makes-1500-onstar-subscription-mandatory-on-gmc-buick-cadillac-models

[ergophobe]

It's the new "resort fee" model which is just a way to hide sticker price.

I don't necessarily have a problem with that as long as it's all disclosed. But it's a little like having a base price and a mandatory "wheel charge" to cover the cost of the wheels.