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posted by martyb on Thursday January 09 2020, @09:51PM   Printer-friendly
from the tough-row-to-hoe dept.

Digital Rights/Restrictions Management (DRM) technologies affecting new tractors are behind the continuing rise in popularity of the models. Particularly in the midwest, farmers are finding that 40-year-old tractors do the job with less trouble and expense.

Tractors manufactured in the late 1970s and 1980s are some of the hottest items in farm auctions across the Midwest these days — and it's not because they're antiques.

Cost-conscious farmers are looking for bargains, and tractors from that era are well-built and totally functional, and aren't as complicated or expensive to repair as more recent models that run on sophisticated software.

"It's a trend that's been building. It's been interesting in the last couple years, which have been difficult for ag, to see the trend accelerate," said Greg Peterson, the founder of Machinery Pete, a farm equipment data company in Rochester with a website and TV show.

Previously;
Reeducating Legislators on the Right to Repair (2019)
John Deere Just Swindled Farmers Out of Their Right to Repair (2018)
US Copyright Office Says People Have the Right to Hack their Own Cars' Software (2015)


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  • (Score: 4, Interesting) by Unixnut on Thursday January 09 2020, @11:28PM (7 children)

    by Unixnut (5779) on Thursday January 09 2020, @11:28PM (#941673)

    > Of course cars like Mercedes, Audi, and BMW are going to cost a lot more to maintain. That's why I drive a Toyota Corolla. Nothing wrong with a Camry or a Corolla, if you want a status car you're going to pay more. Even oil changes are a lot more expensive on those status cars.
    > I don't know how you can consider a car that costs a lot more to maintain per mile drive to be more reliable. Isn't the point of something being reliable to save you money?

    In Europe German cars are seen as reliable. The whole "German reliability" thing. The Japs are seen as reliable as well, but not as popular here (Germany is right next door, while Japan isn't). Indeed the old German cars were phenomenally reliable. The fact that 70s Mercedes are still used as taxis in places in Europe is testament to that. The new ones however, are poor (I would say they started to go downhill round 2001). Funny thing here is Mercedes are so popular as taxis that they are not really considered status symbols (unless you get the large engined/AMG models).

    And for me, reliability does not need correlate to being cheap to run. Reliability to me is having systems, when properly maintained, to not break. Sure, I can forgive a 15-20 year old car if it has the odd hiccup every couple of years, as wear and tear do their thing, but for a 1 to 3 year old car to have such issues is not acceptable, no matter how cheap (or expensive) it is to maintain. Especially as the issues are not due to poor maintenance or age, but due to firmware bugs, or over-engineered complexity (the more complex a system, the more failure modes it has).

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  • (Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Friday January 10 2020, @12:03AM

    by JoeMerchant (3937) on Friday January 10 2020, @12:03AM (#941691)

    Our 2002 is a Mercedes - as for reliable? The wiring harness in those years was absolutely atrocious: thin wires carrying high current (for example to the halogen headlamp bulbs) with insulation that self-destructed in less than 10 years. The stunt that has us looking for a replacement was a battery killing - just decided to drain its battery overnight for no apparent reason. Automatic everything and one system or another decided to not shut off. If you're going to build a "smart" car, you should at least have a battery self-defense module that prevents the 12V cell from being drained to 7.6.

    --
    🌻🌻 [google.com]
  • (Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 10 2020, @12:04AM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 10 2020, @12:04AM (#941693)

    I would say they started to go downhill round 2001

    Nah, they went downhill from the 90s on. European Common Market was well established by the late 80s, and they were shit-scared of Japanese onslaught on their auto market due to their super reliability and low maintenance costs.

    Up through the 80s, though, "German reliability" in their cars were for real - the indestructible MB 300D and BMW 5-series from that era stand out. Audi, not so much.

    • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 10 2020, @04:35AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 10 2020, @04:35AM (#941765)

      I get the strong idea the people buying these status cars are signalling they are rich beyond comprehension.

      Whereas I look at them kinda like having to ask Dad for the car keys, knowing he will want to know exactly where I am going and what I did. And he might allow me to drive it.

      I do not like having to get permission all the time like an irresponsible adolescent kid.

      Or a super rich luxury car owner.

      Having DRM on your stuff only signals you will accept someone else determining what you will be allowed to do, and is watching you to verify your obedience.

      A bird in a gilded cage.

      And they want me to buy the cage as well. Well, some people will take it. Treating me thusly just insults me and makes me angry.

    • (Score: 2) by driverless on Friday January 10 2020, @11:53AM

      by driverless (4770) on Friday January 10 2020, @11:53AM (#941830)

      Yup. My dad got a 1998 5-series and it needed neverending fixing, including some bugs like the steering wheel randomly lowering itself down to the lowest position that the BMW service guys never managed to fix. There's a car buying guide here that tracks service records of most cars on the road and it rated the 5-series from around the time my dad got his as "lemon, avoid if possible". It also had incredibly poor headroom for such a large car, I had to bend my head sideways to sit in it, which I've never had to do on any Japanese hatchback. And those things just run forever, and cost very little to fix if there's a problem, unlike the German imports.

  • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 10 2020, @12:21AM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 10 2020, @12:21AM (#941703)

    German cars are seen as reliable in Europe because they are usually made in Germany or some other European cars. German cars in the U.S. are made in Mexico or "assembled" in the U.S. with imported parts. If you actually check the prices for used cars in the U.S., the prices of ones that come from German factories are much higher than others because of the difference in quality. My mechanic can tell them apart, usually on sight of the exterior or engine, and once showed me a spreadsheet of all the work he does on cars and the difference between where the German brands were made was astounding.

    • (Score: 2) by PiMuNu on Friday January 10 2020, @07:03PM (1 child)

      by PiMuNu (3823) on Friday January 10 2020, @07:03PM (#941987)

      > German cars are seen as reliable in Europe because they are usually made in Germany or some other European cars.

      OTOH, French, Italian and British cars have a terrible reputation for reliability...

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 11 2020, @10:01PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 11 2020, @10:01PM (#942318)

        Yeah, that second cars at the end of the sentence was supposed to be "country" as a reference to the location of the factories.