But paying a mortgage with an annuity is standard?! E.g., I pay a fixed sum every month. So of course, the interest in that sum is getting smaller every month.

The difference is that you only really know the price if you know exactly what you're buying, and if you get to make the decision in advance, with no agency conflicts, too (health care providers...?).

Next time you're being hauled into the ER with unclear, but life-threatening symptoms, think of the drivers for your decision making. Will price even be among those?

And if you think you can buy "one cancer cure, please", think again.

I'm all for competition, but health care in the US seems botched, seen from another country. Not only in this regard - but who had the insane idea of binding health insurance to the employer? What could possibly go wrong?!

WTF does UHT milk (which tastes disgusting) have to do with cooking? I really don't understand. We buy standard pasteurized milk for coffee and most other uses, and sometimes when I get past a dairy farm, I pick up unpasteurized fresh milk as a treat for us (not for kids though).

My Samsung S21 came without a charger, but with a USB-C cable. So same situation: I can use my old USB-A to USB-C cable, or use the new cable on a newly bought charger (or my notebook PC, or my car (which offers both usb a and c).

You see, people have different needs based on how and where they live.

For example, we live in terraced houses, and there's only on-street parking available --> No way you could possibly charge an electric, the next 2x set of chargers (22kW) is about 300m from here (very close by local standards!), and it's always crowded (by an e-scooter company's electric trucks - the ones they use to collect all their electric scooters at night and charge them in a garage nearby... hey, the future!).

Let's go back two weeks: We drove to family (SO's mother) to live & work from there for a week. Within 8 hours of arrival, our toddler became severely ill with respiratory symptoms (just like toddlers sometimes do!), and due to concerns for her and her grandmother's wellbeing (Covid-19?), we immediately drove home again to see our pediatrician at home.

With any electric car, this would have been impossible, as their range is always less than twice the distance we need to see any part of family, and a simple wall outlet where any of our family lives only provides 2.3 kW for charging, leaving us with less than the needed range after a few hours of sleep. We would have had to find a *very fast* charging station on our way home, or opt for an ambulance, or see a foreign pediatrician - all with the risk of locking us in quarantine for 14 days, depending on the ever-changing corona rules.

Then, charging is not cheap: With about 0.27 €/kWh at the very least, and about 18 kWh/100km on average (Tesla), it would have cost 4.86 €.

Our BMW 330e (PHEV) consumes about 5.5 l/100km when no additional electricity is used, resulting in 6,60 €/100km - not a difference you would base a buying decision on (on Covid-terms, being reduced to 10000 km/year due to home office) it means about 130 € per year more than an electric would use.

Also, it's significantly cheaper to lease than a Tesla 3 (about 70€/month). The only "economy" a PHEV or electric provides right now is reduced taxation for private use of company cars (like mine).

I remember seeing Daleks fly though!

The ruling did NOT declare Tesla's wiper controls illegal. It declared it illegal to configure (!) the automatic wiper's settings using the touch screen controls when it's distracting you from driving. The driver got a sentencing for being an asshole and not keep his f*ing eyes on the road in a critical situation! (Proven, as he caused an accident.)

There are at least three ways (!) I can come up with immediately that would have achieved the same without causing an accident because you're an idiot and let yourself be distracted:
1. Use the physical controls and just set the wiper to continuous/max. Accept that it makes you feel uneasy :-)
2. Use voice control!
3. Stop the car and play with your touch screen.

Also applies to my BMW's interface: I cannot configure (enable/disable) the AC while driving, as this would mean to push "Menu AC" button, scroll down a little bit, touch "Enable AC". I'd have to try and see if the voice interface can do it (never tried, always set to on), try / trust lane keep assist, or stop the car.

The driver held the false belief that just because it's somehow related to driving, configuring the wiper in a sub(-sub) menu was legal at all times. It's not.

Well, when I bought my car, I received a full list of features with it, in the form of "V3D9 Heated front seats". You can also use a VIN decoder to replicate that list. Who buys a car without checking the features he buys?

Also, I happen to have a BMW with OS7, and the first two options offered through it were BMW Drive Recorder and High Beam Assist, both of which will remain for the lifetime of the vehicle when bought. Online services (music streaming) are something else. BMW Digital Key is the only one that's sold with a time limit, probably due to ongoing software development and support cost.

I have no idea what a BMW costs in the US (and the loss of value), but here, the cost of leasing a new one (for, say, 60k€) is about 540€/month (60k km for 36 months, no downpayment). Including maintenance. That amounts to 20k€ over 3 years. (all costs include 19% VAT)

Now with my specific model, when I compare prices for 3-year-olds on used car platforms (list price about 60k€, 60k km, sold 2017), they really lost more than that even when you factor in a typical discount on the list price. And you still paid extra for maintenance!)

Yes, "registering" a battery is pretty ridiculous, but it should be said that every shop I have seen has a programming tool for that. And of course, Android tools like Carly can do it, too (provided you have an OBD interface adapter).

I must assume that you are a troll. I DO read car forums (especially BMW, since I drive one) quite often, and there's definitely not a widespread problem with plastic parts. If anything, current BMWs are mostly troubled with software stability and functionality issues (mine has infrequent restarts of the central display with navigation, and some online functionality is not working. Waiting for the next OTA update to fix this, since they admitted this as a problem they were working on...)

My last one needed a new EGR valve (covered by BMW's warranty), the one before (which had 110k miles when I bought it) needed a little carbon brush (for the water pump used by the residual heat function (REST button)) and got new transmission oil (probably unnecessary, but changing gears had become a little rough. I later learned that there was a reset function to adapt to the oil aging).

Map data quality is a PITA (auto speed adapt with wrong information, sometimes unnecessary turns), too.

Other than that, it just drives.

I currently drive a 330e (PHEV) btw.

Nope, as an owner, I can confirm that some of the packages (BMW Drive Recorder, High Beam Assist) are permanent, just like they would be if you bought them with the car. Some others have different expiration dates (BMW eDrive Services - about 50 months, Digital Key - 15 months ("trial", I assume)).

I wonder if BMW can actually pull this through in markets other than Germany, where the majority of their cars are only sold after a first 3-year lease period and most customers simply don't care what happens after they return their leased car.

At least for software services, I can see why they would want to pass the cost of servicing their product on to the customer (they want to cover the cost of feature/security updates). You wouldn't want a car that doesn't get updates just like your average Android phone.

Are there really people on slashdot that use a phone for making calls? I only do that while driving, or when connecting to the"old economy", like my electrician or plumber. It's email or messaging for everyone else. Even my partner hardly ever answers her phone during the day. Unnecessary interruption, and we don't like to discuss private things when people can listen.

Files? My BMW connects to BMW Music / Napster. It does have a hard drive, but I'll have to try it someday first. When I find the time to rip my CDs.

I do not see how *any* of the mandated changes should increase accident rates:
* Disabling auto lane changes on lanes with oncoming traffic (e.g. a road like a Bundesstraße or Landstraße in Germany) is actually a bright thing: you have hardly any opportunity to pass other cars anyways (especially trucks), the oncoming traffic is usually fast (80-130km/h - some people DO speed!), the roads are narrow and sometimes curvy, with many opportunities for waiting traffic from adjacent small roads / properties suddenly pulling onto the road.

* Waiting until auto lane change activates is also really necessary, as the Tesla's sensors have trouble reliably detecting cars from behind in the passing lane - please remember that we have Autobahns without a speed limit, and every now and then you might be passed by cars at 250km/h (or 155 mph).

* The limited angle of the steering wheel is not an issue in real world scenarios (I drive a BMW with lane keep assist and - limited - auto lane change).

And how limiting a feature like summon (find some youtube videos!) should increase accident rates leaves me puzzled.