I'm getting extremely pi$$ed off with the way a lot of companies are locking up their products, particularly the likes of Apple, Sonos, and all the pedelecs. They sell you the hardware, which you own, but the software is under licence, which you don't own. So effectively, you don't own the product, and the manufacturer can alter or brick the product without warning or consent.
My Levo has a Brose motor, which is very much repairable, and as long as the circuit board isn't swapped, no LBS intervention is required. But having to take bikes in so the LBS to pair up components is a big problem, for some it's hundreds of miles round trip, and a total waste of time and fuel. The other problem is if the manufacturer goes bust, all their products are one failure away from landfill. As far as I see it, the only way out is if third party manufacturers can make a completely new control system for motor, battery and TCU, that's not encrypted and locked up. Replacing the entire motor, battery and TCU with third party components would not be cost effective on a bike out of warranty.
The VW emissions scandal was a classic case of unauthorised software updates - If you took your VW into a dealer, they automatically plugged it in to the diagnostic system and all current updates were applied. In some cases it made the vehicles drive sluggishly, as the software emissions patch stifled the performance of the vehicle. And of course, irreversible at the dealer.
