THE direction the car industry has taken is the subject of an ongoing series (see Part I and Part II) that started after we had witnessed further erosion of the notion of car ownership, leading to some followup videos and a lot of debate around the Web. It's about software.

More people seem to have woken up to the fact that not only John Deere is turning vehicles you buy and fully pay for into de facto rentals, wherein you have to ask for permission to do things (to your own vehicle) and can only receive service at extortionate prices. John Deere employees recently protested and so should we (the company is cruel to its very own workers [1-11] and to its very own customers [12-22]). When dealing with corporations one meaningful form of communication is financial (a language they understand; maybe the only language they can grasp), which means boycotting their products and encouraging others to do the same might work, causing them to change current trends. It has worked to some extent when it comes to music DRM, which never quite caught on for good (the big companies gave up; now they try streaming as a subscription instead, selling you access to what you pay for, albeit only for limited time). ⬆

References:

1. 'Some Things Are Worth Fighting For': 10,000 Unionized John Deere Workers Now on Strike
2. 10,000 John Deere Workers Walk Off Job as Strike Wave Sweeps US
3. The Working Class Is on Strike
4. On the John Deere Picket Line in Iowa With UAW Local 281
5. Sanders Calls John Deere Threat to Take Away Striking Workers' Health Coverage 'Beyond Outrageous'
6. 10,000 Striking John Deere Workers Demand “Equitable” Pay & Benefits as Company Sees Record Profits



7. John Deere Strike Ends as Workers Win Higher Wages, Bonus and Better Pension
8. John Deere Workers Remain on Strike and Reject Two-Tier Pay
9. 'Sacrifice and Solidarity' Pay Off as Striking John Deere Workers Win Bigger Wage Hike
10. Opinion | Corporations Shouldn’t Be “The Master of Our Fate”
11. Sanders Rails Against John Deere Threat to Striking Workers' Health Coverage
12. John Deere announces $1.6 billion in third quarter profits: enough to pay every UAW-Deere worker $160,000
13. Congress To Consider National Right To Repair Law For First Time
14. John Deere turned tractors into computers — what’s next?
15. Auto Industry Pushes Bullshit Claim That 'Right To Repair' Laws Aid Sexual Predators
16. Apple* and John Deere* shareholders file resolutions questioning their anti-repair stances | U.S. PIRG
17. Obnoxious Repair Monopolies Keep Turning Farmers Into Activists
18. Biden Executive Order Will Try To Address Some 'Right To Repair' Harms
19. John Deere Promised Farmers It Would Make Tractors Easy to Repair. It Lied.
20. John Deere Promised To Back Off Monopolizing Repair. It Then Ignored That Promise Completely.
21. Massachusetts Voters Overwhelmingly Support Expanded 'Right To Repair' Law
22. Apple, John Deere Investors Pressure Companies On Their Backwards Repair Policies