Moe DeLoughan wrote:
On 11/14/2013 1:38 PM, Gordon Shumway wrote:
On Thu, 14 Nov 2013 11:51:05 -0600, Moe DeLoughan
wrote:

No more individual ownership . . . the corporations will own all:

You can't buy a battery for the new Renault Zoe. Instead, you have
to rent it. And if you stop making payments, the battery's DRM will
prevent you from recharging it. It's part of a larger product
strategy through which the Zoe collects huge amounts of data on
your driving and ships it all back to the manufacturer.

Just what the world needed: a car you're not allowed to own, and
which you can't use anymore if you lose your job and can't pay the
monthly battery rental fee. And if Renault's battery provider goes
out of business, your Renault is bricked.
http://boingboing.net/2013/11/13/ren...kable-car.html

More at
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/1...onsumers-crazy

There is one obvious flaw with Renault's marketing policy. If
consumers can't own the complete vehicle they won't buy it.

If all the manufacturers get on board, you will eventually have no
choice. That's how it works.

Some years ago, I read about Microsofts plan to only "rent" software. You'd have
to pay regularly to keep using it. How's that one going?

I would just not buy such products. There will always be plenty of businesses
offering alternatives.