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You're right about GM's antiquated policy on software, but these are the same @ssh0les that are suing to say they own your entire vehicle after you buy it and can't do jack to it without their permission.
GM, if you need a primer in how this works and minimizes risk, let me outline it for you.
1. People register their vehicle at mychevrolet.com
2. Owners get an email when a new update is available for any module in their vehicle
3. Owner installs a Download Manager from mychevrolet.com (a 300KB application)
4. Owner gets a download token from mychevrolet.com
5. Browser asks permission to open the Download Manager, sending the token code in the launch command
6. Download Manager asks the owner to insert a USB flash drive
7. Download Manager formats the flash drive
8. Download Manager downloads the update directly to the flash drive
9. Once download is complete, Download Manager checks the download against an MD5 hash
10. Owner takes the flash drive and plugs into a USB port
11. Owner puts the vehicle in accessory mode
12. PDIM indexes the flash drive and see an update file on the root, compares the versions on the flash drive and the active module firmware, if flash drive is same or older, ignore
13. MyLink prompts the owner to install the discovered update if newer than existing version
14. Depending on the type of update, the owner may be asked to start the vehicle before it begins
15. Once the update is complete, the vehicle honks the horn and shuts down
16. Owner removes the flash drive and starts the vehicle
Development time for Download Manager and owner portal download section, plus notification gateway -- 30 days, including QA & UAT.
Money GM saves not paying dealerships for service appointments related to reflashing a module or coordinating possible urgent TSB's -- likely 10,000,000$/year across all GM brands. I'll do it for 200,000$ upfront and 200,000$/year maintenance & support. ROI is less than 30 days.
Oh and customers actually loving that they can keep their vehicle up to date faster than their wireless carrier approves phone security updates is just a side effect. We know you don't want to make them happy.
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