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Repair is a Radical Act

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Re: Repair is a Radical Act

#111

Post by guard-of-terra »

ptaipale wrote: post #110
guard-of-terra wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's where basic income would shine. Both social security and repair stalls! People that do it for socialising and odd buck.

That basic income still has to be funded somehow, and even without it the public services (plus some self-employed or begging income) of modern welfare state provide a standard of living that is far better than the income of large numbers of people in poor countries. Opening the borders with current welfare structures (or any "basic income" that covers everyone) will lead to insolvency of the public sector and loss o…

Welfare system!

Re: Repair is a Radical Act

#112

Post by brbsix »

sokoloff wrote: post #73
acd wrote: post #56

This brings be to the area of new cell phones. Not good for the environment global warming. Consumer electronics are designed to be replaced which is bad for the environment. See planned Obsolescence https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planned_obsolescence I do not buy that you cannot make a good looking cell phone that is sturdy and allows for component replacement. The Apple Macbook unibody 2009-2012 has metal screws, yo…

> I do not buy that you cannot make a good looking cell phone that is sturdy and allows for component replacement. You absolutely can. And your competitor can build one that's a little bit smaller, a little bit lighter, a little bit more beautiful, and you'll be competing on sustainability while your competitor is competing on "new and cooler". Unfortunately, I'd bet on your competitor in that scenario.

It may not be terribly straightforward, but it is possible to replace the components of many phones. I've replaced a number of screens, "non-removable" batteries, and boards on phones for myself and friends. Oftentimes they'll give me their broken devices and I'll surprise them with a fix. I just ordered a $5 headphone jack for one of my phones and will be replacing it later this week. Only tools required are fingernails and Phillips-head screwdriver.

Sites like ifixit.com make DIY repairs quite doable. Even just a few pictures of the teardown is enough to make me feel confident in the attempt.

However with that said, I'm eagerly awaiting the v2 release of Phonebloks [1] slash Project Ara [2].

[1]: https://phonebloks.com/

[2]: http://www.projectara.com/

Re: Repair is a Radical Act

#113

Post by makomk »

mattnewport wrote: post #104
yourapostasy wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is your right to believe what you asserted. My experience points me in a different direction; my comments are not directed as criticism, just offering a different perspective. See my comment below that I'm well aware there are personalities for whom the perspective I offer are not suited for. > Prices act as a mechanism to incorporate information on efficiency of resource use and cheap disposable items are cheap i…

I think you somewhat misunderstand how prices work to convey information. Price on its own has never provided sufficient information to make a purchasing decision. As a one dimensional, discrete numeric value, how could it? It is always necessary for the buyer to use additional information to determine what a particular purchase is worth to them. If it is priced below the value they determine it has to them then it m…

The value to the seller is not a function of how much resources were required to produce it, but how much resources the seller can convince the buyer were used to produce it. This is why buying up known, trusted consumer brands like Pyrex and replacing their products with a cheaper, inferior imitation is so profitable.

Re: Repair is a Radical Act

#114

Post by wyldfire »

pmoriarty wrote: post #109
quanticle wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a fair point, but there's nothing stopping you from wiping the OS and installing Linux, either. I'm limited to Windows for work reasons, otherwise I'd have gone that route myself.

I'm a huge Linux fan, and have happily used it for quite a long time. Sadly, however, not all the programs I need to use are available for Linux. Tax programs, for example. There are various other niches as well, where Linux hasn't really caught up yet.

I've used TaxACT [1] since ~2005 with great results. I'll admit that there's still usually one or two other niche programs that don't work on linux, though.

[1] https://www.taxact.com/

Re: Repair is a Radical Act

#115

Post by AnthonyMouse »

sokoloff wrote: post #102
AnthonyMouse wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> And your competitor can build one that's a little bit smaller, a little bit lighter, a little bit more beautiful People keep saying this because it's the excuse given by companies who do it (and who may have ulterior motives). But is there any technical reason why it should be true? How much "thickness" does a modular battery connector really add? More to the point, it assumes that all customers want exactly the sa…

You're absolutely right that the market isn't homogenous in terms of what they want. I would suggest that Otterbox and Lifeproof have taken most of the "12% heavier and more durable" market today.

A rugged case solves the durability problem; what do I do when the battery needs replaced?

Re: Repair is a Radical Act

#116

Post by BogusIKnow »

DiabloD3 wrote: post #23
BogusIKnow wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My wife has a Nexus 5 which is cheap to repair and replace parts. She's so happy with the phone she doesn't want a new one (Shame Google stopped makeing excellent, upgradeable, repairable and cheap smart phones).

I am a huge Nexus 5 fan, I own one, but it is not cheap or easy to repair. Also, the Nexus 5X is out, almost identical, but based on the LG G4 instead of the G2, and has a small handful of niftier features, including better battery life.

Battery replacement $20, display cheap to repair also compared to all other phones I've owned.
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