i liked the quotation in the bbc article:

"on the other hand, it may feel like buying a mug and having to rent the handle"

and yet this is how things are moving in all things that have digital controllability

hopefully car customer will be smarter... ? possibly not, they (companies that want this) are not interested in customers who are not used to this idea - the next generation is being trained to not actually own the thing they pay for

Problem is, whatever people boycott or not, other big companies will likely follow trend.
And just like in the gaming industry, people will push at first, but little by little this will become "normal".
I really don't know what will happen to society in the future.

Spyware (a.k.a. eCall) built into every new car...
Volvo artificially limiting their cars to 180 km/h...
Probable ban on petrol/diesel cars, to force people into buying electric poor excuses for cars...

There's plenty of retarded ideas, and very little resistance.
Sheeple are sheeple.

https://youtu.be/64eEcz5dj1s

Grzyb wrote on 2022-07-15, 13:48:

Volvo artificially limiting their cars to 180 km/h...

BMW did that for a long time, only they limited them to 250km/h.

RandomStranger wrote on 2022-07-15, 14:01:

BMW did that for a long time, only they limited them to 250km/h.

Actually, the 250 km/h (or thereabouts) limit is common in many brands.
And this is not much of a problem - hard to find a road where it's possible to drive faster anyway, and it would severely impact car's reliability.

180 km/h, however, is a completely different thing.
One would expect Volvo already gone bankrupt, or their management lynched by the shareholders...
...but no, it didn't happen.
Sheeple are sheeple.

Grzyb wrote on 2022-07-15, 14:18:

Actually, the 250 km/h (or thereabouts) limit is common in many brands.
And this is not much of a problem - hard to find a road where it's possible to drive faster anyway, and it would severely impact car's reliability.

I think you can buy race track passes in most countries. There you could drive faster than 250. As for public roads, 180 is already a lot faster than the highest speed limit in most countries.

I remember how Amiga fans were milked for software unlock for their new shiny accelerators. Although it's nothing new in the server market. RAID controllers had paid features for decades now, recently Intel jumped that wagon too.

Grzyb wrote on 2022-07-15, 14:18:

180 km/h, however, is a completely different thing. One would expect Volvo already gone bankrupt, or their management lynched by […]
Show full quote

180 km/h, however, is a completely different thing.
One would expect Volvo already gone bankrupt, or their management lynched by the shareholders...
...but no, it didn't happen.
Sheeple are sheeple.

Well it makes sense if you look at it from a safety perspective.
180 km/h vs 250 means you can design with "softer" crash zones making the car safer even safer at lower speeds.
And you don't have to design the car with enormous expensive brakes that for all normal uses are just a waste of space/money.
Plus you don't need tires with high speed rating (and cost).
Also 180 km/h is way faster then the max speed-limit in any country I can think of except unrestricted autobahn.
Plus i mean its a Volvo, its not like you get behind the wheel just for the fun of it 🤣

The Serpent Rider wrote on 2022-07-15, 14:31:

I remember how Amiga fans were milked for software unlock for their new shiny accelerators. Although it's nothing new in the server market. RAID controllers had paid features for decades now, recently Intel jumped that wagon too.

And never forget Pentium G6951->G6952 🤣
Thankfully that was short lived

bofh.fromhell wrote on 2022-07-15, 14:44:

Also 180 km/h is way faster then the max speed-limit in any country I can think of except unrestricted autobahn.

Oh yeah, and the speed limits, completely detached from reality.
NOBODY obeys them!
One would think that in a democratic country, it's impossible to impose a law that nobody obeys...
...but no, sheeple are sheeple.

Grzyb wrote on 2022-07-15, 15:08:

Oh yeah, and the speed limits, completely detached from reality. NOBODY obeys them! One would think that in a democratic country […]
Show full quote

bofh.fromhell wrote on 2022-07-15, 14:44:

Also 180 km/h is way faster then the max speed-limit in any country I can think of except unrestricted autobahn.

Oh yeah, and the speed limits, completely detached from reality.
NOBODY obeys them!
One would think that in a democratic country, it's impossible to impose a law that nobody obeys...
...but no, sheeple are sheeple.

People are "Sheeple" because they obey laws and regulations? =)
I mean i like my cars unregulated, but I also see why some regulations are necessary.
For instance I really enjoy cars with ABS braking, and if ABS was not mandatory in all cars since forever you would absolutely have new cars without it.
Same goes for anti collision systems, mandatory for a while now and it has dramatically reduced one of the most common accidents: the rear end.
And as I live in a country with snow and Ice parts of the year cars with anti-skid also saves a lot of lives.

All these small upgrades are good.
Not only because they save lives.
But also that they fend of the Big One: a mandatory electronic backseat driving nanny that records your every move in the car.
Its coming for sure, but not yet.

bofh.fromhell wrote on 2022-07-15, 15:35:

People are "Sheeple" because they obey laws and regulations? =)

Primarily, they are sheeple because they tolerate laws they DON'T obey.

But also that they fend of the Big One: a mandatory electronic backseat driving nanny that records your every move in the car.
Its coming for sure, but not yet.

I think it's already being introduced - something like "flight recorder".
The next possible step would be to combine the recorder with eCall, to automatically report any suspicious activity of the driver...
...or maybe this feature is already there, just not yet active, but possible to remotely activate?

Hopefully disabling all that stuff would be as easy as cutting off the antenna...

Grzyb wrote on 2022-07-15, 15:08:

Oh yeah, and the speed limits, completely detached from reality. NOBODY obeys them! One would think that in a democratic country […]
Show full quote

bofh.fromhell wrote on 2022-07-15, 14:44:

Also 180 km/h is way faster then the max speed-limit in any country I can think of except unrestricted autobahn.

Oh yeah, and the speed limits, completely detached from reality.
NOBODY obeys them!
One would think that in a democratic country, it's impossible to impose a law that nobody obeys...
...but no, sheeple are sheeple.

I'm with you in that cars shouldn't be limited to 180. They shouldn't be limited at all. If the car can physically do it, it should be able to do it (same for Tesla turning limiting capacity or acceleration or BMW paywalling seat and steering wheel heating when all those are already there).

I also think speed limits are too low (for decent cars). Problem is legal limits are not only for brand new to a couple of years old well maintained BMWs and Volvos. You can find rust buckets with bad brakes on the road that are already death traps with the current speed limit. I think the solution would be much stricter regulations on giving/renewing registration certificates as well as much harsher punishment for letting unsafe cars pass.

And as another thing, modern cars specifically hybrid/electric SUVs that became very popular in recent year are dangerous to older, but otherwise perfectly fine cars or modern economy cars. Those are much heavier (more kinetic energy at the same speed) and can destroy a smaller city, like a Yaris or Prius car or a 10 years old hatchback.

RandomStranger wrote on 2022-07-15, 16:50:

I'm with you in that cars shouldn't be limited to 180. They shouldn't be limited at all. If the car can physically do it, it should be able to do it

Well, there's one problem: WARRANTY.
It isn't terribly difficult to make a car that can go 300 km/h, but making a car that can frequently achieve such speeds without excessive wear is pretty much rocket science.
So I'm not going to complain about limits like 250 km/h - they don't really affect the customer, and they allow to keep the cost reasonable.

180 km/h, however, is pathetic - even many modern 4x4s can go faster!
Sure, nobody's forced to buy a Volvo, let the free market work...

The main point is:
People still buy those crippled cars, which means: they are also likely to accept other deficiences... like the micro-transactions stuff.

180 limit is reasonable, because car crashes are a thing. And last time I checked, cars are not made of adamantium or stalinium at the very least.

You do not want to suddenly find out your car is speed capped when you are in the middle of overtaking three trailer trucks.

We all know the dangers of speeding, but I wonder how many accidents have happened because cars couldn't go fast enough.

At 56 years old, I should be able to live the rest of my life without owning such a car. I'll keep my 2006 Toyota Tacoma (and the C5 z06 Corvette I plan to buy) until I'm too old to drive or until I die, whichever comes first.

The Serpent Rider wrote on 2022-07-15, 21:00:

180 limit is reasonable, because car crashes are a thing.

Really? What's the ratio of crashes that occur at >180 km/h? I guesstimate like 0.000001% of total crashes.
And even those crashes that occur AT greater speeds are not necessarily CAUSED by such speed.

By your logic, the most reasonable limit would be 0 km/h 😜

Repo Man11 wrote on 2022-07-16, 00:10:

I'll keep my 2006 Toyota Tacoma (and the C5 z06 Corvette I plan to buy) until I'm too old to drive or until I die, whichever comes first.

...or until it breaks beyond repairs.
It's already 16 years old - is it still as reliable as a new car?
Sure, it's perfectly possible to use even a >100 y.o. car, but using it as a daily driver must be torment...