this is what happens when cars become computers with wheels and rely on software to function
this post was submitted on 15 Nov 2023
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Cars have been computers and relied on software for a long time now. That horse has long bolted
Firmware is not software even though it is still written and can be complex. Software is still relatively new to this BS. It was too expensive to have fast computers that can survive car conditions. Now, we get all of the fun of corporate ~~spyware~~ software.
Remember when software was shipped complete?
No, I remember having to roll into the dealer to get updates.
And as a reminder, cars only became computerized to allow car companies to harvest vast amounts of data on the users. Car companies haven’t been true car companies for about a decade; They’re data companies that sell vehicles as their primary data collection tool. Toyota knows more about you than you do. They know where you work, who your friends are, what your racial background is, who you’ve slept with, where you shop, whether or not you’re likely to break the law, how likely you are to get into a car wreck, etc…
Blocking unauthorized repairs is a happy side effect. Car makers realized that if they consolidate every single system into the infotainment center, then they can prevent users from swapping the head unit with an aftermarket one. You can’t just swap your radio head unit out anymore, because it’ll kill your AC/heating, GPS, traction control, etc… Again, this is primarily to allow them to harvest data, because they need the unit to remain intact so it can keep phoning home to the manufacturer.
Giant touchscreens are also cheaper and easier to assemble than old school analog control systems; Plugging a ribbon cable into a screen then snapping the screen into place with plastic clips is easy, but having a team of techs wiring a console together is hard and prone to manufacturing errors. But this also means the driver has to take their eyes off the road to make adjustments, because they don’t have any tactile feedback from a fan speed knob or AC button.
Question: is there a way to block cars from phoning home?
Find where the 4g modem is and remove/disable it.
that is an incredible oops. i personally think that it’s good to see that the safety critical stuff still works, but this still makes the car significantly more difficult to use.