Back in 2020 I was working for an agricultural contractor, driving huge chunks of metal, plastic and rubber around roads and farms (Big Toys for Old Boys). It was a lot of fun – and a lot of hard work.
I discovered how computerised and complex these modern tractors were, incIuding this interesting aspect:
I saw that the big John Deere “choppers” had two thick, heavy plastic “wands” mounted to the central prow of the header and that these could be used to drive the machines through maize fields on automatic pilot. However, when I asked one of the drivers about this feature he scoffed and said they didn’t use it because it meant paying some $US 1500 per year to JD for the related software in the computer system and “It’s not worth it”.
Then today I saw this news.
I’ve heard BMW owners joke that they don’t actually own their cars but merely rent them for an annual service fee, but the above is ridiculous.
It’s also a look into the future, and as I pointed out in that article it may not just apply to cars and tractors:
All of which has had me wondering, as I watch the Big Pharma companies like Pfizer and Moderna gleefully make serious coin from their Covid-19 vaccine shots and now talk of booster shots every few months to maintain immunity, whether the drug industry has moved to the subscription model as well?
No Minister 
with all these subscriptions starting to happen (Microsoft is another example), the alternative is to keep older equipment running, and the simpler this machinery is, the easier it will be to repair and maintain. It would mean going back to the 1980’s before cell phones, eftpos, and basic cars. Just think of it as a ‘Back to the future’ moment.
Heh. I admit that was partly my thinking when I got that old lantern working again.
Given the signals we get from the government, it’s prudent to have alternative arrangements in place for when the power goes out..