Many rental car companies (Hertz, Avis…etc etc) have disablers/trackers in the higher-end autos. I’ve rented a few of them over the years.
I’m not saying it doesn’t exist. I was responding to the very specific example you gave - (OS update). That is not planned obsolescence. Many times an upgrade may cause you a little discomfort, but it wasn’t intentional. Planned obsolescence IS INTENTIONAL. And I agree there are companies that do that. Or package their software for different prices. But that’s NOT planned obsolescence.
Because they are designed to be hard to steal.
And because the “radio” is now that and much more. The infotainment system is integrated with the rest of the car on a bus system. They all communicate with each other and are tightly integrated. Looking at the tasks required of a modern car, I can see why it is architected this way. I don’t necessarily like it myself but can see the logic behind it
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The CPU in my Apple Watch is faster and has more memory then the HUGE IBM Mainframes I worked on in the 70’s that were running large corporations like GE, GM, Ford. If they ever converted those payroll systems to run on the ARM chip on my Apple Watch it could run those Payroll jobs, or Account Receivable jobs in 1/1000 the time it took those Huge IBM Mainframes took. This CPU sits on my arm, not in a large room with special AC. And the Watch is man many magnitudes more reliable.
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Back in the early days of computers, 50% up time and 50% down time was about the norm. Fifty years ago when I was a graduate student, there were two job runs a day. If we submitted our job before 8 a.m., we could expect it back at 4 p.m. in the afternoon. If our job was submitted by 4 p.m. in the afternoon, we could expect it back at 8 a.m. the next morning.
I guess the basic Versa rental car doesn’t come with remote trackers/disablers… I can understand how some high end car would come with a tracker/disabler, especially if near a border where it could be smuggled out of country.
My parents now get pretty high end cars. The both grew up with older cars and don’t miss them one bit. They could care less about classic cars. They want a modern fuel injected car that just starts up and runs no matter how cold or hot. Tires and hoses last far longer. You don’t need a tune-up all the time and car problems are just a lot less. Yes, they can be more complex to fix but fail far less often. Inflation adjusted, they say even cheap cars are far better than older models.
As for a balance of repairability and reliability, it seems that cars made around 2000, give or take a few years, seemed to be really good. Thing were easy to work on but you still had a good balance of modern tech and engine controls. Quality control also seemed to have come back from some bad years.
I agree that a 10 year old car is no big deal while a 10 year old computer is. I can understand a computer company no longer supporting a 10 year old model that only a small percentage still owns. This isn’t like a 1985 Ford truck where lots are still on the road. Yes, some older computers are still around but they shouldn’t be. I seem to recall an article from back when the iPhone 5 was all the rage that stated it was 120 MILLION times more powerful than the computers that landed a man on the moon. I would agree that a car from today is not that much better than a car made in 1969 although they are more reliable, efficient, safer, and more powerful. They are certainly not 120 MILLION times better! Basically an iPhone 5 could run 120 million missions to the moon as done in 1969 at the same time! Cars are better but not 120 million times better!
I understand that the infotainment systems are intimately related to the systems of the car including climate control, radio, engine parameters/fuel economy display, etc. so it is probably best to integrate them as such. Computers themselves used to be much more modular was well. RAM, CPUs, and even SSDs are all integrated onto the motherboard on some models these days. This makes repairability and upgrading basically impossible but provides more performance in a smaller and thinner package. I used to replace processors in laptops but that seems to be a thing of the past for the last 4=5 years. They say that even upgrading a desktop will become a niche thing in a few short years because a processor BGA soldiered to the motherboard is going to have a better connection, use less power, and generate less heat than a socketed processor as we have today. Customizing a PC may become something of the past which is too bad but I understand it as well just like a car infotainment system.
Outdated software beyond its support life is a liability. Keeping something like this running can be more of a problem than a help. The Boeing 737 Max is such a system. It was basically a 1969 design that they have tried to retrofit into a modern system and they have pretty much pushed it to its limit. Computers play a role in what has happened in recent incidents. https://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-fi-boeing-max-design-20190315-story.html