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[godfodder0901]

They started the race before we put our shoes on.

I've had my 'shoes' on for more than two years...

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[slomotion16]

I purchased my Model S in 2018. They started charging me a few years ago for streaming. My point was that a streaming music service came with the Tesla subscription. It was like Tesla’s version of Pandora or Apple Music. Someone please correct me if I’m wrong. Their streaming music was awesome imo. That’s my issue. For streaming music via my R1S, it will require 2 or more subscriptions. There is no built in streaming option where additional subscriptions aren’t needed.

I have a 2016 X and 2017 S, I still don't pay services for those cars today but that's no longer the case for newer vehicles. Today you need to pay for the data at $10/m or $100/y and Slacker (OneLive) for the default Tesla music streaming service at $10/m. You're complaining about Rivian's dual service requirement for streaming music and justifying your complaint with the exact requirement from Tesla.

 

[Davethadog]

Your phone carrier doesn't charge you money?

I don’t have to use my phone for any of it. The android store is on my car.

 

[JWreck]

I wish they had implemented the ability to change user logins when the driver profile changes from the start. This will be annoying now but I guess something is better than nothing.

Also, with a paid subscription, expectations run higher…with free services it’s a little easier to brush off minor annoyances. ?‍

 

[VGA]

I want to use my phone for connectivity. It is very unclear to me if all the streaming apps will work with tethering.

I just connected the R1S to my iPhone hotspot….so the answer to your question is yes…to clarify I updated the software today

 

[SASSquatch]

Our EQB is as coin operated as any vehicle. German car manufacturers seem to be the worst at the "à la carte" approach to vehicle pricing and residual revenue streams. After the free period we have not paid a tithe to Mercedes for the privilege of remote locking, customized ambient lighting, charging stats, and other assorted stuff that I expect to have and did receive with other vehicles (Lincoln Aviators)

Even with the Aviators, they were also always connected via cellular back to the manufacturer. They too tried to pimp hotspot, etc., but I find no compelling value.

This breaks down to value. I like to define value as something mercurial; different to each individual based on their circumstances and perspective, but equates to the individual's perception of the cost of something versus the utility or joy they receive from it. If someone thinks what they're receiving is delivering the bare minimum expected, there is no excess utility or joy, it has little to no value, it's just an expense. "meh".

If they perceive less utility than the cost then it's repugnant, "This sucks", "this is a rip off", "this isn't worth the price of admission".

If something delivers more than the minimum expectation, then there's a perceived value; "I'm getting a deal", "this is awesome".

Subscriptions are becoming a corporate opioid. It's not enough to design and sell a great product, more frequently there's a desire to create residual revenue streams from the use of a product sold to customers. I remember it starting with Downloadable content in games. Then the insidious freemium games, "free" to play, pay to unlock. Now many legacy manufacturers are serving the Kool Aid to customers who see this as normal.

For me it's not a question of $14.99 or $12.42 or $5.00, sure I can afford it, but what value am I getting? For me the potato cam video stream isn't worth it. I am not streaming video to the display in the R1S, Alexa is frustratingly ineffective at best, paying to stream audio services that require an additional subscription, that I can stream from the phone, that's just duplicative.

II have found the satellite imagery on the navigation screen nice, but not $15.00 a month nice.

I'm hoping Rivian can figure out how to improve the value proposition for connected services for customers like me, because I am a stock holder, and a fan. From my perspective this is just putting a price on features that don't have commensurate value.

Rivian is approaching an inflection point. There will be more competitors entering the same space Rivian occupies today, they will certainly be leveraging every opportunity including increasing the value included in the purchase.

In my opinion volume is the key to Rivian's long term survival, if not success. Incremental revenue is not going to float Rivian in the long run, and there's serious deficiencies in the sales and service that must be addressed, especially if that volume I mention materializes.

Well said. Also, potatoes all over the world take issue with you besmirching their name by comparing them in the same breath as the R1 video cameras. They are just as delicious today as they were in 1993 when the video resolution in R1 vehicles was first introduced...

 

[BG_ATX]

Sigh.

I'm torn. I assume plain old BT audio will continue to function (?) so I'll just use that.

Is there any quality loss with Bluetooth audio? I would be still using Spotify via Bluetooth.

 

[White Shadow]

What a world when they've convinced us to pay a monthly subscription to sit in the car not going anywhere and watch a movie. Personally I want to get the hell out of the car when it stops moving and do something else.

But it's a great feature to have when you're stuck charging at a public charger.

 

[Milermore]

But it's a great feature to have when you're stuck charging at a public charger.

...in a remote corner of a Walmart parking lot, late at night.

 

[Dark-Fx]

...in a remote corner of a Walmart parking lot, late at night.

Don't remind me how annoyed I am that 24 hr walmarts aren't a thing anymore.

 

[iforbes]

…But why does the update even matter? This is really just Rivian announcing, AGAIN, an end to free data; softening the blow with free 2 months.

Fixed it for you.

 

[iforbes]

Is there any quality loss with Bluetooth audio? I would be still using Spotify via Bluetooth.

Significant quality loss over Bluetooth. And significant improvement with the native Apple Music app.

 

[BeanEW]

Significant quality loss over Bluetooth. And significant improvement with the native Apple Music app.

Agreed! I spent a couple of hours in my R1S last night in my garage just to listen to my favorite songs over Apple Music. It felt like I was in a sound proof room.

 

[Hillbilly]

Already subscribe to Apple Music, so nothing new for me, but at least with Apple Music integration, we can now browse music and playlists while our selected track continues playing.
Not being able to do this with the other apps is my biggest pet peeve with the audio (Tidal and Spotify) integrations.

Rivian Engineers - PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE - I know it seems like a good idea to auto-launch every playlist and album with the first tap, but most of us who use Spotify, Tidal or Apple Music at home are used to browsing our apps, albums and playlists WITHOUT interrupting whatever the "now playing" selection is. People are used to "just looking" and/or building playlists without interrupting playback of their last selection. Sometimes we are just searching or browsing to try and remember a specific song or artist name. Actually <<PLAYING>> a new track should be another click, independent of viewing a playlist.
If this is already a setting somewhere, would the community PLEASE enlighten me.

I can scroll through Spotify without stopping the song I'm playing.

 

[dekeen]

Rivian is going to keep adding things in. I hope they don't raise the price as that happens but they probably eventually will.

That said, I'm constantly amazed at the people who go on and on about buying a $100,000 car but won't pay $15/mo for the data they use in it.

Maybe that's the reason they can afford a $100K car.

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