> ... what I don't agree with is turning off working hardware with the only purpose being price.
Except, that already is what's happening. This changes nothing negatively. The issue Intel and AMD have is that it's too expensive to have multiple masks, so they end up only making one or two. This has the effect that, if a feature works, but they need more of the lower-tied SKUs, they fuse off the working parts. Your 4 core part might actually have 8 of the 12 cores work fine, but they were fused off to sell it cheaper. Whether you find that despicable or not doesn't change the fact that it already happens.
The only thing this changes is that the hardware lockouts (fuses) are now "software" lockouts. You can now pay to access those working features you already had.
Oscilloscope manufacturers have been doing this for years. Rather than stock 8+ different SKUs for a series, each with their own custom PCB, they stock two or three (based on supported channels). Then, everything is software locked. For example, Tektronix's new MSO4 series has bandwidth capability of 1.5 GHz in the hardware, but it'll cost you $27000 (for MSO44). They also have a 200 MHz model for $8420 (also MSO44). There's literally no hardware differences between the two; the bandwidth is entirely software limited. Afterwards, you can call and get a license key to unlock the higher bandwidth without buying a new scope.
> You can now pay to access those working features you already had.
Judging by my interpretation of their website you can have access to these features on a time-based basis, like when you have a peak load on the database server or something. May be wrong because they seem to be intentionally vague but that’s a lot different than a software update to an oscilloscope (which is also kind of dodgy business practices).
Except, that already is what's happening. This changes nothing negatively. The issue Intel and AMD have is that it's too expensive to have multiple masks, so they end up only making one or two. This has the effect that, if a feature works, but they need more of the lower-tied SKUs, they fuse off the working parts. Your 4 core part might actually have 8 of the 12 cores work fine, but they were fused off to sell it cheaper. Whether you find that despicable or not doesn't change the fact that it already happens.
The only thing this changes is that the hardware lockouts (fuses) are now "software" lockouts. You can now pay to access those working features you already had.
Oscilloscope manufacturers have been doing this for years. Rather than stock 8+ different SKUs for a series, each with their own custom PCB, they stock two or three (based on supported channels). Then, everything is software locked. For example, Tektronix's new MSO4 series has bandwidth capability of 1.5 GHz in the hardware, but it'll cost you $27000 (for MSO44). They also have a 200 MHz model for $8420 (also MSO44). There's literally no hardware differences between the two; the bandwidth is entirely software limited. Afterwards, you can call and get a license key to unlock the higher bandwidth without buying a new scope.