Peloton Tread+ treadmill requires membership fees after safety issues and recall

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Peloton proposed an interesting solution to its treadmill safety issues, which are related to the death of children: forcing its owner of $4,295 Tread+ to either return the machine for a refund or pay a monthly membership fee of $39 to use it it.Users were irritated, some even compared Peloton’s needs Ransomware.

It reminds you that when you buy or use a product whose access rights are controlled by others, that access right will always be deprived. As more and more things we buy connect to the Internet, survive and die through software updates pushed by manufacturers, and platforms that can be shut down at any time, we have less and less control over them. Even if we pay a lot of money for these devices, we may never fully own them.

In this case, Peloton stated that the change was for security reasons, and forcing customers to join membership is the only way to implement the update.Large force recall Following May’s Tread+ The death of a child Who was pulled under the treadmill; reports of injuries to several other children, pets, and adults; and one Open quarrel The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). The company stopped selling Tread+ and urged Tread+ owners to “stop” using them immediately and provide a full refund for devices returned before November.But Peloton didn’t completely Dissuade people from using machines. In fact, it even proposes to send movers to the owners’ homes for free to relocate their Tread+ units to spaces inaccessible to children and pets.

Now, some Tread+ owners will face additional monthly fees that were not available before.Large force Recent notice They will soon be unable to use their machines unless they also purchase an All-Access membership for $39 per month. Peloton provides three months of free All-Access service to make up for the inconvenience caused.

Peloton told Recode that this move is necessary to add a security feature called “Tread Lock” to the machine.

“In our work to ensure that our products are safer, as part of our voluntary recall in cooperation with CPSC, we released the Tread Lock, which is a four-digit password to protect Tread+ from unauthorized Visit,” Peloton told Recode. “Unfortunately, due to current technical limitations, Tread Lock cannot be used without a Peloton membership.”

Peloton told Recode that it is working to provide Tread Lock for free, but did not say how long it will take to implement the changes. If it is less than three months, then Tread+ users without membership (Peloton will not tell Recode how many users fall into this category) will not pay any additional fees in the end. They may even decide that they like the service so much that they will continue to use it, which is good for Peloton. If it takes longer than the free period or doesn’t happen at all, then Tread+ owners will have to decide whether they want to keep the device and pay $39 a month or return it. If you are a Tread+ owner with no children or pets, and you might argue that this safety measure (and expense) is unnecessary, then that’s too bad.

It is worth noting that Tread+ is already equipped with a safety key. Peloton recommends that users remove it when not using the machine and store it away from children. It is also worth noting that As the US Consumer Product Safety CommissionNot all of these injuries are due to a child accidentally turning on the machine without anyone present. Some happened when the parents were using the machine, and all the safety keys and pedal locks in the world could not stop them.

Although Peloton clearly has the ability to completely brick its machines, which will force the owner to return them, this compromise is in Peloton’s advantage. This is also part of its business model. The machine itself is a one-time purchase, and subscription is a continuous source of income, which is also the difference between Peloton and traditional machines.It’s not just exercise; it’s Exercise as a serviceTherefore, Peloton hopes that as many customers as possible subscribe. A very cynical view of this situation would say that this is a way to do it.

This change seems to only affect Tread+ machines, not the smaller and cheaper Tread models. This is Individually recalled objects Reports of injuries caused by the touch screen being loose or even dropped.

Although the specifics of this situation are unusual, the idea that you don’t fully own the things you buy these days is not.Apple has made its device increasingly It’s harder for anyone other than Apple to access and repair-this also allows Apple to set its own price for this service-and the same is true for John Deere Maintain strict control By running the software of its machine.You are technically Don’t own The music, videos or books you “buy” from Apple Music or Amazon Prime, they can be Take away from youWhen Fitbit acquired the company and shut down the platform, Pebble smartwatches became stupid (despite fan-led efforts Let Pebbles keep going). We have seen many conservative politicians and experts complain that the ever-changing terms of service of social media companies have allowed them to withdraw from acceptable speech or action platforms in the past.

Peloton has achieved great success, mainly due to its “connected fitness” model, which allows customers to continue to pay monthly to enjoy the full benefits of its machines. It also enables Peloton to control these machines more continuously than traditional non-networked treadmill or exercise bike companies. And this control can be exercised in the manner desired by Peloton or any other hardware manufacturer in the software and services business.

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