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Who owns my tractor ???

Pretty stupid question, right? Actually No.

 This is the new debate that is going on. For more details read here: Wired article on John Deere

Do the manufacturer own the product because the product has some software that is owned by John Deere or is it owned by customers.

 The concept of ownership has been pretty clear for the last century or so, barely going through a debate despite the rise and fall of communism.




Who Owns my Tractor??? 


What is a Product here

Based on the argument above, the combination of both the hardware and the software is considered a product.

 This includes most of the hardware that includes mobile phones, camera equipment, cars or any automobiles.

Why the Confusion
Most of the time in the last 2 decades, we have not had software that could be experienced independent of the hardware.

 What this means is that most of the software was proprietary and could not be easily tampered with.

 Why do they own our Products

 The product being sold here is the bundle of hardware and a license to use the software. How we can use the hardware is going through some changes as the market has been evolving for the  last 2 decades.

 Rooting an android device - a TV or a mobile phone - or jail breaking an iphone is no longer considered an offense. However, with some of the other devices need to evolve to become mature.

 Implications and Conclusion

 Traditional Hardware companies need to mature. Customers should be given freedom to use the hardware the way they want.

 This will see the adoption of Internet of Things be faster. This event could be the pivot of how IoT be like in the future. Is it an experience that will be fliexible or just another service that is controlled.
http://madhavanwrites.blogspot.com/2015/04/who-owns-my-tractor.html
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