Cars Are Now Rolling Computers Now. So What Happens When They Stop Getting Updates?
www.wired.com
Phones are supported well beyond their average ownership lifetime. In stark contrast, automakers are struggling to work out how long their “smartphones on wheels” can be kept on the road.
  • FrostyPolicy@suppo.fiEnglish
    38·
    1 year ago

    In a country with good consumer rights, this would be a valid reason to return it and get a replacement or refund: It’s no longer offering functionality that was advertised and that you paid for as part of the purchase price.

    In the EU this would probably be a no-brainer.

    • dan@upvote.auEnglish
      18·
      1 year ago

      Same in Australia, where I’m from. I’m living in the USA now and it’s a lot harder to get refunds for things like this.

    • norimee@lemmy.worldEnglish
      14·
      1 year ago

      The mandatory warranty for any product in the EU is 2 years. It doesn’t take into account products like cars that you would expect to be usable for 10+ years.

      I doubt you could claim anything in the EU either after more than 2 years.

      I’m not an expert on this, if there are some regulations I didnt take into account, please correct me.

      • dan@upvote.auEnglish
        9·
        1 year ago

        The mandatory warranty for any product in the EU is 2 years

        I don’t know a lot about EU policies. In Australia, products must last for as long as a reasonable consumer would expect them to last (for example, 10 years for a large appliance like a fridge), including advertised features or features a sales rep told you about, regardless of the warranty period. A company removing features only three years after purchase would absolutely qualify for a refund or replacement.

        I think Australia’s policies are stricter than the EU though. As far as I know, Australia is the only country where you can return games on Steam if there’s a major bug, even if you’ve had it for months and have hundreds of hours of game time. Valve got sued by the government and fined AU$3 million because they tried their “no refunds after 2 hours of game play” approach in Australia, which is illegal there (you can’t have conditions like that on refunds if the refund is for a major issue). https://www.pcgamer.com/valve-posts-a-notice-about-australian-consumer-rights-on-steam/

        • norimee@lemmy.worldEnglish
          4·
          1 year ago

          products must last for as long as a reasonable consumer would expect them to last (for example, 10 years for a large appliance like a fridge),

          I never heard about anything like this in the EU. If my fridge or washing machine breaks after 2 years and 1 week I have no legal claim towards the manufacturer.

          Actually most big electronic retailers try to sell you additional warranty with the product you buy. So you pay extra to extend warranty to 5 years.

          I like the Australian aproach better, though.

    • anivia@lemmy.mlEnglish
      2·
      1 year ago

      No, it wouldn’t. The same thing happened when 3G was shut off here and there was no recourse for consumers.