Infotainment systems are one of the biggest selling points if you've seen any car ad lately. Why let the customer upgrade the unit and keep that same car for a decade, when you can make that impossible and then entice them with the latest infotainment system so they buy a new car every few years.
Right, and that is what I don't get. The "fancy tech" isn't really that great relative to alternatives available in the past, but everyone is somehow unaware. Aftermarket stereos were mainstream during the 80's-90's during the tape->CD transition, so more people knew that they could upgrade, but in the mid-late 00's, hardly anyone seemed to know that you could swap a stereo out relatively easily. For modern cars I've looked at, the dash kit for swaps makes it insanely expensive. Popular vehicles may have custom aftermarkets, but niche cars are out of luck. So many people just look for any reason to get a new car, I guess that is just a side effect of treating cars like replaceable appliances?
