We Can’t Let John Deere Destroy the Idea of Ownership
Richard Stallman spent the last 30 years telling us this would happen.<p>As soon as books become computer files, you don't buy them anymore, you lease usage rights.<p>As soon as tractors contain computer code, you don't own them anymore, you are granted a license to use them.<p>When will it stop? More and more everyday objects are incorporating software and firmware in many different forms.<p>I remember reading Stallman's short story "The Right to Read" in the 1990s. I found it alarmist and completely unrealistic. I read it today and am forced to recognize that Stallman was exactly right.