Has it really gotten to the point where we have to explain the difference between hardware and software?
PLEASE tell me that's not what you're really asking us.
I'm asking about two different companies setting a product and price structure to encourage upsell.
It's pretty common in the software world to enable features that ship with software, after an additional fee is paid.
Quicktime Pro is an obvious case. How is Windows Vista Anytime Upgrade really any different from Apple's Quicktime Pro upgrade? (Well, except for the fact that Vista doesn't keep popping up adware dialog boxes asking if you want to upgrade now.)
(At least the anytime upgrade loads new software from the DVD - the QTpro key just unlocks features that are already present, but just crippled.)