TimeMachinerInvestors demand automakers adopt in-car connected features for recurring revenue, but a survey by AutoPacific shows car buyers aren’t interested. Of 11 features, only 30% want to pay for a $15/month data plan for their car’s Internet access. Built-in feature subscriptions are a stupid idea that needs to stop.
Back in 2018, MoviePass was a big deal with people who wanted to go to the movies. The small startup was flowing with VC money and posing an impossible deal: subscribe for $10 per month and see unlimited movies in theaters. Of course, this was unrealistic. The cost for a monthly subscription didn’t even cover the cost of a single ticket and MoviePass was losing money like crazy. It didn’t take long for MoviePass to crater and die in a spectacular blaze. This past week Stacy Spikes, the original founder of MoviePass pre-VC money, held a presentation announcing he purchased…
Year after year we are being pushed into a culture of renting. We don’t own things like purchased movies, digital video games, Kindle books, and lots of software. Car manufacturers, smelling blood in the water, are looking to cash in with subscription services too. Enter Toyota who includes a remote start feature on many cars since 2018. If you’re one of those lucky owners, Toyota can require a subscription after a trial to continue using this part of your car. If you don’t, it gets disabled. A Toyota spokesperson confirmed to The Drive that if a 2018 or later Toyota is equipped…