We Can’t Let John Deere Destroy the Idea of Ownership
Richard Stallman spent the last 30 years telling us this would happen.As soon as books become computer files, you don't buy them anymore, you lease usage rights.As soon as tractors contain computer code, you don't own them anymore, you are granted a license to use them.When will it stop? More and more everyday objects are incorporating software and firmware in many different forms.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.