From a usability standpoint, almost all of the concerns (from both the user and the vendor) could have been simply addressed by a bit of forethought:
- Build _all_ the diagnostic routines into the machine. Sure, your on-board storage may grow, but that's a trivial cost.
- In the event of a problem, have the machine generate a full status / result dump internally, then encrypt it and sign with the manufacturer's public key.
- User dumps the encrypted dump to a USB key, and emails it to manufacturer.
- Manufacturer sends out replacement part by FedEx...
Yes, I know many will dislike the encryption, but _functionally_ this allows the manufacturer to retain control (their primary goal) without having to have people travel to troubleshoot, thereby accelerating the repair time (the user's primary goal).
Biting the hand that feeds IT
