Downtime on a combine in the upper midwest can be a fucking disaster.

For farmers, downtime in the field at a critical time (like harvest) could mean that they lose most of their crop. That could be the bulk of their annual income. For some farmers, that could mean losing the farm.

The suit is because of alleged retaliation - as in, he claims that he did the legal, ethical, and responsible thing of bringing issues to the attention of the company and cooperating with the feds (you know, the things he’s legally and ethically obligated to do - and things that you can probably find to be mandated in…

“That doesn’t fly with cars. It doesn’t fly with computers. Although some manufactures try to make that argument (Apple).”

No. This should be the norm. He is ultimately responsible for whatever BS the company is involved in, so his first priority should be making sure that he calls out any BS. I’m not going to say this guy is a saint, because I don’t know much about him at all, but he did it right in this case, and should absolutely be…

Oddly power steering pumps require software updates

psst - no there aren’t. For example, there are sensors that tell the tractor how far above the ground a spray bar is. If that sensor fails, then replacing it requires the factory software to “reauthorize” the spray bar.

Holy shit, there is an HONEST CEO in America. Or was.

The sheer amount of editing that went into this is amazing. They need a “helicopter cam” with desaturated color and a static filter.

If this was only Deere vs Farmers, I would be right there with you.

And people who had disabilities that made it so they couldn’t tie their shoes normally (I think the big story was a guy with MS, but I could be wrong) suddenly couldn’t tie their shoes. I felt bad for them, not the dumb posers who wanted fancy shoes, even though they were the loudest online.

Psst, anything that touches the power train or emissions system on farm equipment is controlled by the ECU. And many places, including Jalopnik and Gizmodo, have reported on the issue of needing to access the ECU for even the simplest repairs - so farmers can’t do them.

Most times you can't even get part numbers from J-D unless someone has posted them online. Used to work at a heavy-duty shop. Deere was always the worst to deal with and the most expensive. 

Big McLargehuge.

Tell that to BMW, and probably others, who you have to bring the car to the dealer to replace the battery, because the car has to be programmed that there is a new battery in place. Also, you can’t just replace the battery with any off the shelf unit from the local parts store. You have to get one that’s specifically…

“Hot-rodding is a national birthright!”

Ram CEO Brick Hardmeat

Not that weird. They’re already all over Detroit (manufacture vehicles). You’ll get used to them. Used to them in the sense that they’ll feel normal, but you still stop and stare every time one rolls by.

I think you’re framing this irresponsibly. It’s more like he got the job, was like hey something’s up, talked to the correct authorities and got the company to fix it, and now that it’s obviously awkward he’s going to go get a new job. 

Dear David,