I fixed a tractor using John Deere’s self-repair service. Farmers aren’t sold on it.
I fixed a tractor using John Deere’s self-repair service. Farmers aren’t sold on it.
我使用约翰迪尔（John Deere）的自助维修服务修好了一台拖拉机，但农民们并不买账。
There is something wrong with the tractor. The water-in-fuel sensor, a small device embedded in the John Deere machine that monitors the integrity of its diesel engine, is disconnected. And I’ve got to fix it. 这台拖拉机出了点问题。燃油含水传感器——一个嵌入在约翰迪尔机器中、用于监测柴油发动机完整性的小装置——断开了连接。我必须把它修好。
I’m not a mechanic or a farmer. I’m poking at a laptop at John Deere’s corporate office in Santa Clara, California. There’s a cable connecting the computer to a 5130ML tractor sitting on the grass nearby. A bright red notification sits on the screen, telling me something is wrong. I type in a question and the software pulls up instructions and a few images from the user manual that matches the serial number of the machine. 我既不是机械师也不是农民。我正坐在位于加利福尼亚州圣克拉拉的约翰迪尔公司总部，摆弄着一台笔记本电脑。一根电缆将电脑与停在附近草地上的一台 5130ML 拖拉机连接起来。屏幕上显示着一个鲜红色的通知，告诉我出了问题。我输入了一个问题，软件便根据该机器的序列号，调出了用户手册中的说明和几张图片。
I wander over to the tractor and find the parts modeled on the screen. I spot the sensor, with two very obvious dangling wires that need to be connected together. I press them together, hear a little click, then step away and look back at the screen. The notification has cleared. Everything seems to be fine. In just a couple minutes, all by myself, I’ve fixed the water-in-fuel sensor. This fix was an easy one. It’s a WiF, really. 我走到拖拉机旁，找到了屏幕上建模显示的部件。我发现了那个传感器，两根非常明显的电线垂在外面，需要连接在一起。我将它们按在一起，听到“咔哒”一声，然后走开并看向屏幕。通知消失了。一切似乎都恢复正常了。仅仅几分钟，我独自一人就修好了燃油含水传感器。这次维修很简单，确实只是个“燃油含水”（WiF）的小问题。
The John Deere employees surrounding me offer their congratulations. They’ve all been very patient with me, someone who has written several articles for WIRED about their company’s seemingly steadfast reluctance to let anyone but its official technicians repair its products. In the group is Jahmy Hindman, senior vice president and chief technology officer of John Deere, who has flown in from Illinois. Hindman has worked for the company for 30 years. In that time, John Deere has thrived in an era of technological advancement. He’s here now to show off the company’s self-repair software Operations Center Pro Service, a system that pairs with nearly every electronic-enabled machine John Deere has made. “It is owner-friendly,” Hindman says. “I think that’s always been our intent.” Lots of farmers would beg to differ. 围在身边的约翰迪尔员工向我表示祝贺。他们对我非常有耐心，尽管我曾为《连线》（WIRED）杂志撰写过几篇文章，批评他们公司似乎坚定地拒绝让官方技术人员以外的任何人维修其产品。在场的人中包括从伊利诺伊州飞来的约翰迪尔高级副总裁兼首席技术官 Jahmy Hindman。Hindman 在该公司工作了 30 年。在此期间，约翰迪尔在技术进步的时代蓬勃发展。他现在来到这里，是为了展示公司的自助维修软件“运营中心专业服务”（Operations Center Pro Service），这是一个与约翰迪尔制造的几乎所有电子设备兼容的系统。“它对机主很友好，”Hindman 说，“我认为这始终是我们的初衷。”但许多农民对此并不认同。
John Deere is the largest agricultural machine manufacturer in the US. In the past couple decades, machines of this ilk have become far more technologically advanced, loaded up with controllers, radios, and sensors. Many newer machines are equipped with 4G wireless connections that enable the collection of precise location data and other metrics. Some tractors can even run without a human operator at all, guided by built-in software systems to run autonomously on predetermined paths. 约翰迪尔是美国最大的农业机械制造商。在过去的几十年里，这类机器在技术上变得先进得多，装配了各种控制器、无线电和传感器。许多较新的机器配备了 4G 无线连接，能够收集精确的位置数据和其他指标。有些拖拉机甚至可以在没有人类操作员的情况下运行，在内置软件系统的引导下沿预定路径自动行驶。
Over the last decade, John Deere has become a big target of the ever-growing right-to-repair movement. The company’s high-tech software systems also come equipped with digital locks, which require official, dealer-sanctioned approval to access. If you want to fiddle with a part, or replace it with an aftermarket alternative, those software restrictions can block those attempts. That frustration has manifested in multiple lawsuits and even federal action. In April, the company agreed to pay out a $99 million settlement to its equipment owners to pay back burdensome repair costs. In July, the company settled a separate lawsuit brought by the US Federal Trade Commission that would require the company to make its products more repairable. John Deere did not admit wrongdoing in either case. Repair advocates say the two measures have been insufficient, both in financial terms and as requirements that will actually change Deere’s behavior. (Both settlements are not yet final until a judge issues a final ruling.) 在过去十年中，约翰迪尔已成为日益壮大的“维修权”运动的主要目标。该公司的高科技软件系统还配备了数字锁，需要获得官方或经销商的批准才能访问。如果你想摆弄某个零件，或者用售后市场的替代品更换它，这些软件限制可能会阻碍你的尝试。这种挫败感引发了多起诉讼，甚至招致了联邦政府的行动。今年 4 月，该公司同意支付 9900 万美元的和解金，以补偿设备所有者沉重的维修成本。7 月，该公司就美国联邦贸易委员会（FTC）提起的另一起诉讼达成和解，要求其提高产品的可维修性。约翰迪尔在两起案件中均未承认过错。维修倡导者表示，这两项措施在财务方面以及在真正改变迪尔公司行为的要求方面都还不够（两项和解协议在法官做出最终裁决前尚未生效）。
John Deere disagrees, of course, citing its recent efforts to make the case that its self-repair program works just fine. The company introduced its Pro Service in 2025. Prices start at an annual cost of $195 per individual machine. For bigger operations or independent repair shops, the price to access every machine in John Deere’s fleet starts at $4,995 a year. That access for agricultural and turf services costs $5,995 per year. Pro Service lets owners connect Deere’s software to their equipment via Wi-Fi or cable. Based on the serial number of the machine, the software can be used to find information from manuals and John Deere’s broader data services to diagnose any maintenance the machine needs. John Deere also recently introduced an AI chatbot called JD to its Operations Center self-repair software tool, but I did not have a chance to use that version during my visit. The AI features are meant to make it easier to find information about the components in any given machine. 当然，约翰迪尔对此表示异议，并列举了其近期的努力，试图证明其自助维修计划运行良好。该公司于 2025 年推出了“专业服务”（Pro Service）。单台机器的年费起价为 195 美元。对于大型作业或独立维修店，访问约翰迪尔所有机型的年费起价为 4995 美元。农业和草坪服务的访问费用为每年 5995 美元。Pro Service 允许机主通过 Wi-Fi 或电缆将迪尔的软件连接到他们的设备上。根据机器的序列号，该软件可用于从手册和约翰迪尔更广泛的数据服务中查找信息，以诊断机器所需的任何维护。约翰迪尔最近还在其运营中心自助维修软件工具中引入了一个名为“JD”的 AI 聊天机器人，但我访问期间没有机会使用该版本。AI 功能旨在让查找特定机器的组件信息变得更容易。
“As the tractor products grow in size, they also grow in number of controllers that are necessary in order to make it all work,” Hindman says, noting that in some cases tractors can have upward of 50 controllers. “So it can be super complex.” Theoretically, Pro Service is the ultimate platform to find any equipment information and diagnose any problem. If something goes wrong, the software will guide you through a fix. Some features in Pro Service can be downloaded and used offline in case a connection isn’t working when something needs fixing. You can customize the layout to your liking and keep track of the full history of the software updates on each machine. If you need a new part, the software will helpfully serve you a link to the product in John Deere’s shop. It feels as smooth as scrolling through an Amazon page. “随着拖拉机产品尺寸的增加，为了让一切正常运转所需的控制器数量也在增加，”Hindman 说，并指出在某些情况下，拖拉机可能拥有多达 50 个控制器。“所以它可能非常复杂。”从理论上讲，Pro Service 是查找任何设备信息和诊断任何问题的终极平台。如果出现问题，软件会引导你完成修复。Pro Service 中的某些功能可以下载并离线使用，以防在需要维修时连接中断。你可以根据自己的喜好自定义布局，并跟踪每台机器上软件更新的完整历史记录。如果你需要新零件，软件会贴心地为你提供约翰迪尔商店中该产品的链接。这种体验就像浏览亚马逊页面一样顺畅。
Kelli Sullivan, a group product manager of marketing automation and governance at John Deere, is the person leading the demo. She says owners are in full control of their data and can choose whether to share it with John Deere or an independent repair shop, or keep it private. 约翰迪尔营销自动化与治理部门的集团产品经理 Kelli Sullivan 是负责此次演示的人员。她说，机主完全掌控自己的数据，可以选择将其与约翰迪尔或独立维修店共享，也可以选择保密。
The thing John Deere does seem to struggle with is enticing people to use its Pro Service, or even making its customers aware of it. (That’s the reason I’m here at this demo.) A year on, John Deere says its service has a 约翰迪尔似乎确实难以吸引人们使用其 Pro Service，甚至难以让客户知晓它的存在。（这就是我来参加这次演示的原因。）一年过去了，约翰迪尔表示其服务已经……