## 23 Connected services and subscription

What have we done of this world ? That's a good question. And I remember an old novel of Philip K. Dick where everything is under subscription. Even in our houses and apartments for every small service. Imagine if you had to pay to use your microwave oven, your toilets, your shower because everything is on subscriptions. Science-fiction ? Not at all, it's what we have for software now with Microsoft or Adobe Products. "We" were dumb to accept that because it seemed cheaper than the amount of money for the full product. A trap...because you become captive of a subscription and of your work on their cloud. But now, it's for your car and for supposed additional services like a GPS, an auto-pilot (with many issues), a better Air-conditioner, a heating or massaging seat, ...If everything looks too expensive to buy, rent it. But everyone is not calculating the full amount of money you will spend on all those subscriptions. It's often more expensive for the whole life of the product.

You're maybe using Spotify, Deezer, Disney+, Netflix, HBO, etc...I have only a subscription to go to the movies and it's more expensive than a single subscription for Netflix...not all the subscriptions. To see a movie on TV is not the same, even if I have a big Screen and a home cinema. You're often disturbed by "Life" at home...Not in a Cinema because you made the choice to take a break for that. But I'm not sure that my subscription is the better choice : It's good if you see 2 movies per month, maybe 2 if you are going in a cheaper Cinema. Sometimes, I can't do that, sometimes it's 1 or 2 movies per week. I'm a movie fan so it's maybe good for me...not for everyone and it was a good choice for Cinema owners. For music, it's a question of generation and of freedom. I'm free to do what I want if I buy a CD or a downloaded music from Bandcamp without DRM. I'm not free of what can be done with my music library of services like Spotify or Deezer. The catalog is not so big, with editorial choices to put the wh
ole discography or not for an artist, to have a contract or not with a record company. Some band can decide to leave such a service and you would have to change or to contract another suscription. And sometimes, you will have to change your device to have access to the library.

That's exactly the same problem with cars. You have a version of Google or Apple for the hardware in the car. It managed many things but what do you think will happen in 5 years with new versions and limitations from Google and Apple. Exactly the same thing that happened with the first connected cars of GM : No more services and I'm not sure they will suspend your subscription for that. But the other part of the deal is written when you accepted THEIR rules about data. You send money and data, often with that subscription and it defines customer profiles, analyzed to sell you other services or to keep you in that privatized world. My old car is not connected and I'm only using my smartphone with a "free" GPS app. But my next car would be connected because of systems to locate charging stations and probably google and apple systems installed. Do I have to allow it to work? No if the UI is correctly made but it will be interesting to verify that before buying the car. I'm not sure that the seller will know tha
t. And if it is a used car, don't forget to erase all your data and account recorded inside, as you do when your selling a smartphone...or you believe to have done. Data are persistent, sometimes.

Our digital world is becoming a trap for consumers, because many of them don't understand how everything works. If you count on the Media to inform you, don't forget that they are the main target with education for these evil firms. Microsoft, Google and Apple have a strong policy to make you believe that there's nothing but them and their product. Young programmers in my Car manufacturer company are GAFAM-friendly and all the ecosystem goind with that. It's very difficult to imagine something different, from scratch, when it's quicker and cheaper to buy that to GAFAM. Recently we saw many issues on software in Ford EV cars. Less time to do new things in the automotive industry and you have this result. It's a real challenge for the future to go out of this trap....Vintage car won't be the solution too and I hope it won't be an issue for EV bikes. Our solution is in our brain, to be able to calculate and understand what a subscription of a connected service involves. And sometimes, we'll have to help other p
eople to understand that.

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