Yeah, Why would anyone waste their money on it? A license plate will be used for decades. A metal plate will withstand rain, snow, and dirt, literally for as long as anyone needs it. Finally, a digital license plate doesn't even have a shiny new toy aura about it.
@@reekinronald6776 You'd be surprised how long a metal plate doesn't last. :D I had one on my car that the ink wiped off after repeated cleanings (wiping the snow off the plate) and within a couple winters was faded almost beyond recognition. DMV, despite acknowledging they had a ban run of plates, wouldn't replace my plate for free, wanted $45 to replace their defective product so I ran it until it was completely faded and I sold the car.
@@TheDrew2022 in Pennsylvania, the plates use a wrap over an embossed aluminum plate. The wrap fails very quickly. Wasn't always this way. The previous painted plates held up just fine for decades. The enameled baked steel plates of years ago, even longer.
The only problem I've ever heard of that digital license plates are a "solution" for is a way for the state to bring in more tax revenue, by playing ads on your digital license plate and collecting the ad revenue instead of you the car owner.
@@zacharyhenderson2902Naw they didn't. They cancelled because they realized they didn't have full control of your plates anymore and couldn't 100 percent control what was on them.
That's why one has a strict contract and a stricter contract officer to enforce it. Some years ago, I dealt a lot with our government contract officer for our contract. She was a total harpy when it came to the contract, we're still close personal friends, as that contract protected the government as well as the company by defining duties and requirements. I met the duties and requirements, when something beyond came up, a contract modification was required and due to underperformance, the company preferred scope creep to obscure their underperformance. Well, everywhere but my base...
Because it's a lot easier to get rich off of privatized government contracts than for the income to offset taxes or pay for improvements. Just look at Chicago's famous parking meter fiasco.
Yeah, it's just so awful that people are required to be licensed to operate thousand-pound machines that can easily kill anyone. What a hardship for you, boo hoo.
The third part getting the information from the government has the government more up ones arse... how? I think you just kneejerk blame gub'ment for everything.
When my Dad washed his cars he refused to wash the license plate, he said "that plate was so expensive it should wash itself". Can't imagine what he would say about $861 for a plate.
@@davidh9638 Commercial plates are typically "no expiry" as long as you pay the yearly fees. We have some plates that are so old the paint has worn off on some of our equipment. Technically when that happens we are supposed to let the state know so they can issue us a replacement plate but it doesn't always happen the way it should.
@@glee21012 I didn’t say stuff shouldn’t be upgraded, I said not everything needs to be digitized. What problem are they fixing by making license plates digitized? Are they making them easier to install or cheaper to produce or more visible? No, it doesn’t. This was a pointless change.
They have helped recover a few stolen vehicles in California thanks to some of the features they have, so.... the benefits are definitely there. Hard to say how much that'd grow if they had mass adoption, but they do have objectively demonstrable benefits.
Wait, the license plate company had full access to all that sweet juicy data and they just didn't touch it? How weird, nowadays companies try to sell that data whether it's theirs to sell or not...
@@jilbertbshortly after I applied for social security disability I started getting Medicare advantage plan flyers in the mail. I was in my 20s. It’s been 6 years and I still get them but I gave up on SSDI long ago.
I think for someone into cars it might be cool if it could be turned off when parked or showing a graphic. Again not for everyone and not for me but maybe for someone
Sometimes? I think MOST times! My Grandmother passed around 30 odd years ago. She gets smarter every day. Half the crap in our throwaway society is totally unnecessary. It's more about having the "latest" thing - whatever that may be. Nothing is built to last. There's no pride in American made products. Craftspeople aren't paid their worth. I'd go back in a heartbeat.
How upset are the people who paid $800+ for these license plates 2 years ago going to be when they find out that stupid thing they paid out the nose for is now worthless?
@@MidlifeRenaissanceManNot sure how collectible a e-ink digital screen that's blank or at the very least will not show your plate number anymore is going to be...
Learning that, as a disabled veteran, I qualified for a permanent plate here in Michigan and saving me the $100+ registration on my pickup was well needed and welcomed. Living on a fixed income, I wish I would have learned about it 10 years ago. I don't see any reason to spend over $600 for plate registration on a personal vehicle.
Technically they'd be cheaper on the state if they got them going properly. Sometimes the problem is just "how can we cut costs". Doesn't always go as hoped, but guarantee that was the goal here.
@@NorthPrairiePatriot You're not wrong given the current price, yeah. I feel like under the proper circumstances it'd be easy for those prices to come down for people too, but not as long as they are done through for profit corporations, that's for sure.
@@soundspark Entitled drivers are far more widespread than SovCits. Whenever I hear someone complaining about needing license plates to drive on public roads, I just assume that's someone who speeds, runs red lights, parks in bike lanes or disabled parking spots, texts while driving, tailgates, brake checks, etc and when their recklessness injures or kills other people, they want to be able to drive away without being caught.
I don't even like paper temp plates. My state lets dealerships certify to distribute plates and initiate the registrations. We also have five business days to change our registration when we buy a new car and transfer our plates from the old car to the new one. No temp plates.
@@KevinSmithGeo Right because you're not already being tracked by your phone pinging towers, the traffic cameras every few miles which are tied into facial recognition ai, etc.. Ignoring the fact that "speeding" is a manufactured, victimless offense, for the purposes of revenue- Licensing & registration for cars is a defacto tax & thus unconstitutional. It's also creating databases that are an unreasonable search, invasion of privacy, an unreasonable burden on your ability to travel, etc. If this sounds ludicrous -ask yourself this. Is murder, manslaughter, negligent homicide, assault, etc, already illegal? If so, then what is the point of redundant laws, laws that punish someone for behavior that isn't even actually causing direct measurable harm to others? FAFO right? Is hitting an animal, running off the road, crashing etc, not already damaging to your car, finances, pride? Can you not be sued for injuries to another party if you hurt them? So why do you think a small fine is going to be the difference that keeps people from making these mistakes? Look at the roads today. We have street takeovers, with stolen cars. We have folks blatantly running from the law. We have folks driving with no plates, no insurance, no licenses, already! Why do you think many insurance agents recommend carrying an uninsured policy? Most of these people who are operating this way in plain sight are just trying to live & get to work but there are those who are far worse. Sometimes these folk are not even 'citizens' at all, & have come from another place without documentation. In many places, people who lose their licenses due to DUI are allowed to run a scooter with 50cc engines... and no registration! I agree with keeping idiots & drunks off the road (but I repeat myself..) The thing is that these laws are much like gun laws-the law abiding citizens are the only ones who are affected, and the criminals who are already unhinged and out of control, are the ones who just didn't give a crap in the first place. In the 1800s, did you have to register a horse and carriage? Were you told you couldn't have a gun as you traveled the countryside? Were you forced to the side of the road and fined by the state? No, it was robbers who did such things. Who then became known, and were hunted, and shot & killed, or hung. The Sheriffs back then did not need you to have a license plate in order to know you were a criminal. All this extra money, hassle, and deridement we have to burden as law abiding citizens of today is unreasonable tyrannical nonsense that is quickly pushing us towards a POLICE STATE. Do you want authoritarian fascism? Because this is how you get authoritarian fascism!! /rant
I never did understand why someone would spend so much money on this, what does it get the user? this solves a problem that no one ever thought they had.
It's not a subscription, it's a contract. The title was split at the sale, owner is the THE STATE OF, a corp entity. They get the MSO, you get a certificate...legal liability: taxes insurance etc for use of their property. If a tax is required then you do not own the property.
No mention of it on the CA DMV website. But the company is selling them, so in CA you can buy one for the rear of your car. However, CA requires every car to have a front license plate as well, which has to be a standard type plate, because the company does not make them for the front of the car. At $699, that's just as well.
The California Digital License Plate is fantastic. The R-plate is great. Lots of cool features and quotes you can add on the connected phone app. If your car is stolen it changes the plate to the word "STOLEN" and flashes.
When you look at some of the rats nests of accessories that get wired into cars it's easy to understand why many many mechanics refuse to touch the wiring in a car with ANY wiring mod. Modifications can wreck havoc with the proper functioning of the factory systems. The newer the car the worse the potential problem.
I'm a retired technology guy and ham radio operator. I love my techy stuff! However, and I point this out all the time, often, low tech rules! Love the Pasty T-shirt! Now I have to take my wife out to the Cornish Pasty place we have here in Las Vegas!
If the agreement isn't expiring and just not being renewed, which isn't what it sounds like from my seat, the state has announced the company in fundamental breach of contract. That's rather heavy medicine, but also fully recoverable. Yeah, the company is gonna be there with bells on, way too much to potentially lose! Still, digital is superior to everything! "Here's your new computer for your heart attack." "Oh, it administers drugs to stabilize my condition?" "No." "It shocks me if my heart stops?" "No." "What's it do then?" "It glows pretty colors to tell what your heart's doing." ... "Kids, our new word for today is defenestration and we have a wonderful example to provide for you to understand its meaning..."
The analog solution is best a lot of the time. W a digital plate the state can just get mad and turn your plate off. Maybe they’re not doing it yet, but that’s what would happen eventually.
That's the beauty of all things digital. They can be remotely monitored in detail, and reviewed in real time, with all info recorded. They can be turned on and off at the click of a mouse. Just like the digital wallet with your digital dollars, that you will soon carry, within your digital phone. The State/Fed Authorities will be "clicking the mouse" on that also.
Then you haven't looked into what they actually do. Some of the features were designed to provide added protection against criminal activity (such as being able to flag a vehicle as stolen)
@@KuariThunderclaw It's almost as if you can report your physical plate as stolen... Weird concept isn't it? What good does flagging a digital plate as stolen do for the public? They can't do anything to stop them; and it will just cause the suspect to drive erratically at all times. Also like someone else mentioned, if they are smart enough to change the registration, they can bypass the security features removing the "stolen" tag if it is displayed on the reader. Creating problems from nothing is all it is.
@@DaSneakyAzn The overwhelming majority of people aren't going to have the skill to do that kind of thing... people love presenting hacking things as this simple thing, but quite often it usually takes some time consuming methods and knowledge to do it. There's a reason the most common hacking method is social engineering, not direct access. Somehow we've gotten to a point in society where people think everything can be hacked at the drop of a hat when digital security is not nearly that flimsy. Least not when it is actually properly put into place.
Makes me wonder how it would have went if government had gone completely hands off. Usually things like that fail because government keeps interfering.
Can you imagine how bad it would have been if govt would have tried to develop , make, and market the digital plates themselves? 861 would have been cheap.
Do the people who bought digital plates get there money back? My father bought a permanent plate. 7 years later the state was sued over permanent plates. It was found out the state could not do a permanent plate. They did not refund the money. The state said, "Oh well, we have your money".
Was that the Michigan trailer plate scam? I always hated renewing my license and plates, since every darn plate for trailers, rv's, atv's, boats, etc... renewed on my birthday!
In various countries, such as United Kingdom (Britain), Australia and New Zealand, car licence plates last the life of the vehicle. Some vintage cars habe plates on them over 70 years old. In Australia if a person changes to living in another state permanently, they are supposed to have their car inspected and get new plates issued. Some facility exists for personalised plates at extra cost in both Australia and New Zealand. (in NZ personalised plates cost up to $800). NZ doesn't have states, so licence plates are the same nationwide..
@@mysterythecat971 if someone cares to recycle it. also, recycling still takes energy. how many are tossed in the trash? I would want some incentive to recycle the old plate.
I haven't changed my plates in more than 15 years. They can still be read and I'm too cheap to pay for new ones. I can't imagine paying more than $800 for license plates. I don't even pay for the special state license plates that cost more.
Ben hanging out on the corner in Winslow, AZ ; leaning up against the first microphone in front of the red Viper, top shelf, screen left, Steve’s right.
Pasties! (Super kudos for saying it the correct way)I live in the UK, in the West Country, which is adjacent to Cornwall, the birthplace of the pasty, the original pasties were actually a full on 2 course meal, one half was your main t'other side was your pudding. The pastry itself was never meant to be eaten because they were, quite literally, miners' lunchboxes. Traditionally, skirt steak was used, along with Swedes (aka rutabaga) and potatoes. There are now several pasty bakery chains in the UK, with the most prominent being the Cornish Pasty Company, and they aren't half bad for a mass produced food.
Anyone "a little bit concerned" about privacy, should have voiced their concern 20 years ago when it still mattered. In the current political system of corporatocracy in America, talking about privacy with an eye to rolling it back is akin to closing the barn door after the horse got out.
20+ years ago (actually as far back as 1998) there were people sounding the alarm about privacy, most peeps, esp. those in a position to stop it the abuses, didn't listen.
There's digital license plates in California (which I, too, don't understand the appeal of). The display is e-ink and so it doesn't require continuous power to display the plate, only to change/update what's shown on the display. So in theory you'd only need to recharge it when the virtual "renewal sticker" needs to be refreshed. Which honestly seems like a lot more work than just sticking on a new sticker.
@Steve Lehto I've been to the UP once chasing a woman meant for a better man, but you mentioned the pasties and weather to go with ketchup or gravy or butter........I was eating them for their meaty and vegetabley insides....never realizing them to be a whole other wonderful delivery system for gravy or butter.... either of which sounds absolutely splendid..... Cheers and thanks for the memories.....
Bought a used car where the electrical system was hacked into for a stereo system. Owned it for 10 years. It always had a check engine light on all the time. Took it to a car repair shop and they could not diagnose what was wrong with it numerous times. Never buy a used car with an electrical system that has been tampered with, especially with these newer high-tech cars that are so complex due to fuel-efficient enhancement systems.
They can change the wording on it so your plate just all of a sudden sprouts the word "expired" across the top or maybe even "stolen" if the car is reported stolen. Makes it much more obvious to anybody looking at it. They don't need a reader or a way to check the tag. It's right there staring at them@@ElementofKindness
Until IT security becomes mature, there are certain things that just shouldn't be done. Anything that puts viral information out of the government's hands should, not be done.
Dot has for years been trying to make it possible for them to plug into a semi truck wirelessly to check the status of the truck and driver automatically and also be able to do ai computer automatic tickets so that the driver does not have to stop but they can issue a ticket. To me this is where a digital license plate would help the police in the future as once it is widespread their next steps will be to demand everyone has it, its always plugged into the car and oh my we must also plug everything into the car so that police can wirelessly connect to the car and well that car was speeding so now we must do automatic tickets and we dont have to stop the car. This isnt some future plan either, they have videos showcasing what they want to do and that makes me want to be as far away as possible to these digital license plates.
What a ridiculous program. How do we identify stolen vehicles, fugitive owned vehicles, amber alert vehicles, and so on? The fixed license plate. What does a digital license plate allow a bad actor to do? Fake their vehicle's identity and learn the effectiveness of any search that incorporates the license plate.
I am originally from England ... a long long time ago ... The part of England called Cornwall is very well known for their pasties, so much so that they are called Cornish Pasties in most other places.
There was some obvious ways that could fail (someone hacking it to make a changing Registration). They somehow invented _additional_ ways to mess it up.
2 problems I see with it: - because the digital license plate is a device, making that device show, let's say, someone's else plate number would be fairly trivial. Without stopping, a driver could press a button and then have a whole different plate. There exist systems (I've personally seen one) where you can swap a physical license plate while driving. But, those once the car is stopped, can be seen/detected with some close inspection. For the device, you wouldn't likely be able to tell that it had be modified even if you opened the thing up and took a peek at its inner workings. Could just be a change to the programming rather than a physical change. - Because they run on electricity, they are either a constant drain on the battery (the car's or its own) or it is off when not driving. If it is off while in park, then you can't see the plate number of a parked vehicle. If it is on while parked, it must either be extremely efficient power-wise, or you can't reliably leave your car parked in one place for any extended period of time (assuming it is hooked up to your car battery).
The only time i see digital plates being better is when they come installed from the factory and are form fitting in a place that wont get eaten away from debris and covered by snow and dirt.
So the government can go after companies that ignore the terms of a sale or contract. They’ll do it when people can personalize their tag in a way they don’t like but They just don’t when it comes to consumers getting absolutely financially decimated.
Curse you, Mr. Lehto, for making me want to drive from Tulsa to Iron Mountain for a damn pasty. And I wholeheartedly endorse butter on them, although gravy is pretty good too.
@@jilbertb I refuse to drive an extra 200 miles for lunch when Lehto’s ships frozen…. I shall try theirs. The ones I got 30 years ago were from a grocery deli and were memorable.
@@cmorris9494 It's all about what someone places value on. People will pay that much for streaming services without batting an eyelash. I won't pay for either one.
I know of several people in the IT department where I work who would liken this challenge to the quest for the holy grail. And I'm certain a couple of could do it.
I’m in Michigan and I’ve only seen one of these. The first thought was “well, that’s lame”. The early adopter tech junkies are the only market for something like this. Initially hot, then burns out quick.
I only paid a few 100 in california. It also tracks the car and notifies you anytime it is moved... if the car is stolen, you can have the plate display STOLEN vs the plate number.....
I bought mine last year for under $300 in a black friday sale Reviver had. It's a pretty cool novelty item and I get a lot of curious questions about it. Other than that, I don't really see a point to having them.
I'm usually more worried about the state making up their own laws than a random company that is too inept to follow the rules. Not every company is nefarious
We got one as an add on that couldn’t be removed when we bought our first EV. There is a security and tracking aspect to the plate, and the owner can report it as ‘stolen’ which will be displayed on the plate. I like these features, but fully understand people who would not want one. You are right, at some point all plates maybe digital.
How does such a person that will waste Hundred's of dollars on a digital license plate verses a normal analog license plate get so much money that they can waste money like that. Most people who waste money do not have any. I must be in the wrong business.
I have that kind of money and I was a papermill worker for most of my adult life so it's not that difficult. To your point of spending that much money on something like that, I wouldn't.
@@kennethstaszak9990 And that is why you have that kind of money now. My idea is that how does somebody so stupid as too waste money like that get the money in the first place? Daddy? Maybe!
@@Gregknows-uj8gg Or be deep in debt by putting too much on credit. When my wife and I bought our house we bought under what we could qualify for because then we'd have a cushion if unexpected expenses occured. Too many buy as much as they qualify for and get in trouble when there's some kind of downturn.
@@kennethstaszak9990 I am just finding it hard to believe that anybody would spend over $600 dollars on a Digital plate at all when they could get the original and probably had the original for just the price of registration. I just am not understanding how those people manage too dress themselves in the morning.
The best system is something like England, where a new vehicle gets a plate that stays with it until the vehicle is scrapped. A separate item shows if your road taxes have been paid that year, and there's one less thing for the government and you to deal with when you sell the vehicle.
I believe some States in the US do it that way as well. In Michigan, the plate stays with the owner. If you buy a new car, you have a choice of either transferring an existing plate (and registration) or getting a new one.
@@user-no1cares My mind was niggling me about something to do with tesla and digital plates, so I googled it. There was an article mid 2023 about 4000 tesla drivers opting to go for digital plates in Cali...From the company Steve just finished talking about.😂
I'd love to have a plate that changes every hour or so. I don't like having plate readers tracking me. The cops would have all the records and could verify me, but private industry shouldn't be able to track me via a tag I'm required by law to display, that I can't opt out of. This allows for both.
I’ve got these on two of my vehicles and have been very happy with them. I got them on sale for a few hundred and just pay the yearly device fee. I see it as just another mod/accessory for my vehicles. I like the convenience of renewing my registration through the app and then having the plate automatically update. I was required to get a smog test and an hour after completing it, the app notified me that my registration had been updated.
"We don’t go out of our way to enforce matters of this nature and in this instance, our actions were complaint-driven," the Denver Police Department said in a Facebook post at the time. "When officers receive a complaint, we have an obligation to act." The shut-down took Jennifer Knowles, the boys’ mother, by surprise, she told The Denver Post." Do a story on this HOA getting a lemonade stand shut down. Also the cops absolutely do not have a duty to act.
Haha, well, if you can afford to throw away $1,000 on a needless digital license plate, then you can afford to have this happen to you. We have them here in CA and whenever I see them I think “a fool and his money……”
Butter is the answer. Butter? is also the question, and the answer is: YES. Turnip and rutabaga and parsnip, the classic pasty troika. Carrot for color, potato for filler. The less potato in your pasty, the higher the quality, imho. Source: Michigoose, (married to a Michigander).
Thanks Steve for mentioning Rurabagga. I havent heard that word since Garrison Keeler hosted "A Home Praire Home Companion" years ago. Had a lots of laughs from his show.
Steve, as someone who works for the DOT, I think these plates ARE going to be the future. I just think the company (Reviver) who is selling them is doing a horrible job. I live in AZ and our state has a HUGE problem with UNinsured drivers. Now, think if this company was able to work with DOTs AND insurance companies. DOTs could give discounts for going "digital". In exchange for this discount, insurance companies and DOTs would be able to DISABLE your plate if you had an expired registration and/or insurance. This would prevent drivers from driving around because you have a plate flashing to the world that your car is not legally on the road. Pair that with GPS tracking, GEO fencing and speed alerts (HS kids borrowing car) and the ability to display STOLEN and/or marketing ads when parked, these plates have a lot of potential. But charging the prices they were charging, it was DOA.
Maybe not. Perhaps the "problem" the company saw is that "we want more money and there are a bunch of silly, vain people with extra money. Let's do something about that"
well, you can get one of those water jetpacks for 11k. For the real deal you'll need to break out that cheque book: a JB10 from Jetpack Aviation reportedly runs about $300,000
