If you are riding a motorcycle, you may have noticed that the cost of airbag vests has gone down. In one case, something very different is happening here. As stated by Motherboard, you can buy a KLIM Ai-1 for $ 400, but the built-in airbag won’t work until it’s unlocked with an additional purchase, and more importantly. So, do you really own the vest for $ 400?

Given the nature of the electronics and computer industry these days, we spend a lot of time thinking about what it means to own a technology. Do you have your cable modem or cell phone if you are not allowed to open it? Do you have software that wants to call your home periodically and won’t let you shut it down? Sometimes it makes sense that you are paying for a service. But there have been times when, for example, a speaker company essentially breaks down devices that might work well on their own even if, in theory, you own the device.

Nice airbag that you have there; Be ashamed if it didn’t happen

The Klim airbag vest has two components that make it work. The vest itself comes from Klim and costs $ 400 and comes with the airbag unit. But if you want it to actually detect an accident and inflate, you have to load up a smartphone app and activate a little black box made by another company: In & Motion. This requires your choice of another payment of $ 400 or you can subscribe for $ 12 per month or $ 120 per year. If you don’t renew, the vest is essentially worthless.

To put it electronically, it’s one thing to realize that your oscilloscope doesn’t do I2C decoding anymore because the accounting messed up paying the bill. It is another to suffer life-changing or life-changing injuries as a result of an accident. Sure, you have a 30-day grace period to correct any payment issues, but still.

Excuse me while I power the meter on my critical safety device

I can’t really decide how I feel about this. The capitalist in me knows you have to make a profit. However, it is like putting prepaid oxygen on a commercial airliner. Especially since the vest can apparently perform well without external support as long as you’ve paid the extra $ 400. In all fairness, the indicator lights that should be checked before every ride will alert you if the vest is locked for non-payment (or any other issue), so there’s little chance you’d be driving with it thinking you had some protection that you had. you do not have. t.

So maybe it’s defensible, but you have to be wondering where this trend will take us. Will we see cars that require a subscription to use advanced safety features in the same way that automakers already sell some non-critical software features?

What do you think? Do you own a vest that requires a subscription? Some things are unable to function without backend support (eg your cell phone or cable modem). Is it more defensible to cut them? Even so, many regions require all cell phones to be able to call emergency services (such as 911 in the United States), regardless of their associated account status. It’s a crucial security feature of a phone and all it takes is that you have the device, not the subscription.