This year we saw consumers push back hard on BMW's decision to include heated seats in vehicles but only make them actually work if people paid a monthly subscription fee.

Why?

And how does the concept of ownership change when everything is smart, everything is remotely configurable, and everything can report its own level of usage?

In this TechFirst with John Koetsier, I chat with Zach Supalla, the CEO and founder of Particle. We talk about music, software, hardware, and buying versus renting ... everything. What does value mean, and when do we like paying monthly fees versus when do we prefer to buy something upfront and own it outright?

And what does that mean for our right to repair the products we think we own? 

And does our new relationship with ownership of objects mean that the US government could force companies like Apple and Google to brick all iPhones and Android phones in Russia, if Russia used nuclear weapons?

TechFirst transcripts: https://johnkoetsier.com/category/tech-first/

Forbes columns: https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnkoetsier/

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