Fighting John Deere
Had not heard this was going on out in the world of ag:
Farmers Fight John Deere Over Who Gets to Fix an $800,000 Tractor
Kevin Kenney leads a grassroots campaign in the heart of the heartland to restore a fundamental right most people don’t realize they’ve lost—the right to repair their own farm equipment. By sheer dint of personal passion, he’s taking on John Deere and the other global equipment manufacturers in a bid to preserve mechanical skills on the American farm. Big Tractor says farmers have no right to access the copyrighted software that controls every facet of today’s equipment, even to repair their own machines. That’s the exclusive domain of authorized dealerships. Kenney says the software barriers create corporate monopolies—and destroy the agrarian ethos of resiliency and self-reliance.
At stake for Deere & Co. and other big manufacturers is the free rein they’ve had to remake farming with data and software. The transformation has helped U.S. farmers increase productivity, but at the cost of a steady shift in operational control from farmer to machine. One of the world’s oldest and most hands-on occupations has literally become hands-off.
Perfect illustration of the viewpoint I've had for many years regarding vehicles. Sure, cool technology is nice. But, every time an electronic component/chip is added, the vehicle becomes more and more complex and less and less maintenance-able by the common Joe (or Steve or Willy).
It creates a situation where the dealership is the only one with the knowledge and tools to be able to fix things.
Very frustrating.
Grace & Peace & Love to you all -
Matt
