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BMW’s Newest “Innovation” is a Logo-Shaped Middle Finger to Right to Repair (www.ifixit.com)
submitted 8 months ago by to c/technology@lemmy.world
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Adafruit: From Ultimate Driving Machine to Ultimate Rent-Seeking Machine: The BMW Logo Screw Patent.

If you haven’t already heard, BMW’s R&D teams have been busy “innovating.” Unfortunately, they aren’t focusing on the things that actually matter—like stellar engine performance or the legendary driving dynamics that gearheads love. Instead, the C-suite execs decided that the best use of their engineering budget was to design a proprietary security screw specifically intended to prevent BMW drivers from fixing their own cars.

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[–] 1 point 8 months ago (3 children)

You would, but making such a product is extremely expensive. And consumers will in general buy the cheaper not better product. Major investors know this, so spending on making a better product would actualy cause the stock price to go down. Maybe it would have paid off in the long run. But they want the stock price to go up now, not a year from now.

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  • [–] 2 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (2 children)

    they want the stock price to go up now, not a year from now.

    That's the core of the issue. Short term focus at the expense of the long term sustainability of the entire enterprise.

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  • [–] 1 point 8 months ago (1 child)

    I think the focus on the shareholder perceptions is the core issue. It's compounded by the short term interests of said shareholders.

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  • [–] 2 points 8 months ago

    That short term focus causes a lot of damage to a lot of people.

    But, of course, too many shareholders are sociopathically focused on their own enrichment with absolutely zero concern for the harms thay cause to the rest of society.

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