> why fault them for profiting from their groundbreaking work?
Oh sure, I get that. Problem is, they came on at first promising affordable transportation. Then the Musk-cult mentality took over, and now they produce high-end vehicles for people with disposable income who don't mind laying it out for something most of the rest of us can't -or won't- afford.
Then there's the little problem of who actually owns the rights to the car. Otmar is the poster child of this question. You might own the hardware, but "they" own the software, you're only purchasing a license to use it. A license they can revoke at will.
A recent purchase for my current project was a FM broadcast transmitter. I bought the "basic" version offered, as I didn't need all the bells and whistles. The manufacturer only builds one hardware product, and then releases access to the additional features when licenses are purchased. The license allows use of the features, some permanently functional, although others are on a subscription basis and must be renewed.
Makes sense from the manufacturers standpoint, uniform production and construction, designs and costs, etc. As an end user, I probably paid more for this transmitter than necessary, as I'm helping pay out the total of R&D and parts and labor, etc. What it came down to is what was available to ship right now, the "supply chain" jamb-up has hit the broadcast industry pretty hard.
So it goes with full featured EV's and I assume even ICE vehicles, as the model for turning on features through software is more than likely to catch on hard with the rest of the industry. My understanding is the this is already the norm in some Class 8 truck engines.
At the end of the day, Teslas are just cars. And cars aren't going to save the world, even if they are EVs.
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