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A “right to repair” movement tools up

economist.com

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Re: A “right to repair” movement tools up

#121

Post by [deleted] »

microcolonel wrote: post #115
LambdaComplex wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nothing is being "reclassified." Look at John Deere tractors - thanks to the licensing of the software running on those tractors, combined with the DMCA, people do not have the right to repair them . Yes, they bought the tractor, but they will be breaking the law if they fix the tractor themselves. Being able to work on a machine you own sounds much more like a "right" than an "opportunity" to me.

I'm specifically not arguing for the DMCA provisions which legally protect physical objects based on the copyright on data encoded in them. That is not the whole of what is being argued for, though. Repair is not a right, ownership is. The problem here is that the DMCA allows something that you consider your property to be ultimately owned by somebody else even after you purchase it. The problem with smartphones is e…

[deleted]

Re: A “right to repair” movement tools up

#122

Post by gruturo »

throwaway613834 wrote: post #58
kccqzy wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How does encryption sidestep this issue at all?

The whole point of the security of TouchID hardware is to prevent someone else from authenticating as you by messing with the hardware. But that becomes a non-issue when your data is encrypted, since a thief wouldn't have the password to decrypt it anyway.

Your fingerprints are given in clear, from your fingertips to the sensor surface. You can add all the security in the world after the sensor, but you need to be able to trust it, because it has access to the raw data. Same for face ID - the very first piece of hardware capturing the data has to be trustworthy or the whole chain cannot be trusted.

Re: A “right to repair” movement tools up

#123

Post by hydrogen18 »

snuxoll wrote: post #76
feelin_googley wrote: post #65

"In the future, repairability is likely to become even more of an issue, says Kyle Wiens, iFixit's chief executive. Not only do firms want customers to use authorised dealers, but a growing number of products are also no longer stand-alone devices , but rather delivery vehicles for services that generate additional revenues. " Gee, I wonder who started that trend?

Hey, you think this is bad - look at enterprise networking gear. Cisco and Juniper try to convince people it's illegal to use "grey market" (resold) equipment because the software license is "non-transferrable", so even if you "own" the hardware you don't have a license for the software attached to it. Of course, this flies in the face of the first-sale doctrine and established case law, but they don't care. Just wai…

So MegaCorp A buys a huge amount of Cisco gear to modern their internal networks in all their infrastructure.

Two years later OmniCorp B enters into a deal to add them to their portfolio for whatever price they agreed upon. OmniCorp B now owns the physical Cisco gear but doesn't have a license to use it?

Re: A “right to repair” movement tools up

#124

Post by Dylan16807 »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #120
Dylan16807 wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You absolutely can , but it's currently not cost-effective. On the other hand it looks like it's cheap enough that making it mandatory or putting a recycling deposit on batteries would be viable.

Are battery recycling programs near you not feasible? Our local Home Depot and Best Buy stores will take back rechargeable batteries for recycling for free.

Do they recycle all of a lithium ion battery?

Re: A “right to repair” movement tools up

#125

Post by hydrogen18 »

Fej wrote: post #38
yahna wrote: post #15

How about right to use your stuff how you want? Like not paying 10s of thousands for a Tesla that has a clause against using autopilot with ride sharing services other than Tesla.

Has anyone tested this clause? Tesla can write whatever they want into a contract; that doesn't mean it'll be held up in the courts.

When Tesla sues you over it, can you afford a lawyer to defend yourself?

Re: A “right to repair” movement tools up

#126

Post by Veratyr »

karllager wrote: post #119
noam87 wrote: post #99

I've been thinking recently that there is exists a completely unxplored market in tech. Local shops based around FOSS / open hardware where designers, hardware and software people work together to build custom projects for their clients. I would call this person a "technology artisan", because the closest analogue I can think of is a tailor or a carpinter. So, for example, a family would go to their local technology…

> So, for example, a family would go to their local technology artisan to put together a smart home system tailored specifically to their needs. I am a software developer and consultant and you do not figure how insanely expensive I am - when your family comes through the doors of my artisanal soldering boutique and demands a custom built home automation system, I would suggest them to invest the money in a long, lon…

Sure but you wouldn't pay a chainsaw sculptor to cut down a tree, you'd pay a lumberjack. You can already go to a hackerspace and pay a guy a couple hundred bucks to build you something basic so long as it's mildly ineresting.

With kids growing up playing with Raspberry Pis, in 10-20 years I don't think your comment's parent is such a farfetched idea.

Re: A “right to repair” movement tools up

#127

Post by sova »

hydrogen18 wrote: post #125
Fej wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Has anyone tested this clause? Tesla can write whatever they want into a contract; that doesn't mean it'll be held up in the courts.

When Tesla sues you over it, can you afford a lawyer to defend yourself?

Claim:Tesla institutes a strict no suit policy in tech to promote adoption of electric cars.

Supporting evidence: + all their patents are open for that reason. + Elon has said personally that it is of no use to be the last human standing on a sinking ship.

Personally, I think they may actually fancy people doing their own repairs.

Re: A “right to repair” movement tools up

#128

Post by userbinator »

jokoon wrote: post #18

Planned obsolescence is why I will never invest more than 100 euros into a phone. I will always wait to buy low-priced, fast enough for me hardware. I still remember how my macbook pro started to be slow and unusable after OSX updates. My real wish is that one day, computer or smartphone hardware might last at least 5 or even 10 years. I know software is evolving quickly, but there comes a point where I don't think y…

My laptop (Thinkpad X60) is over 10 years old and still works well for what I use it for. There's even an FSF-approved free BIOS for it.

My desktop is approaching 8 years, and I haven't found it limiting either, only buying more storage for it over time.

I also have a backup server that's nearly 20 years old. All it does is serve disks so it doesn't need to be very fast either.

It really depends on what you do and how you do it. Someone with more hardware demands or just using more bloated software would find systems of my specification unbearably slow, but they'd probably say the same of the very latest today.

Re: A “right to repair” movement tools up

#129

Post by [deleted] »

karllager wrote: post #119
noam87 wrote: post #99

I've been thinking recently that there is exists a completely unxplored market in tech. Local shops based around FOSS / open hardware where designers, hardware and software people work together to build custom projects for their clients. I would call this person a "technology artisan", because the closest analogue I can think of is a tailor or a carpinter. So, for example, a family would go to their local technology…

> So, for example, a family would go to their local technology artisan to put together a smart home system tailored specifically to their needs. I am a software developer and consultant and you do not figure how insanely expensive I am - when your family comes through the doors of my artisanal soldering boutique and demands a custom built home automation system, I would suggest them to invest the money in a long, lon…

[deleted]

Re: A “right to repair” movement tools up

#130

Post by userbinator »

leggomylibro wrote: post #37
_qbjt wrote: post #29

Does anyone know what the best, most-serviceable laptop is in 2017? Looking for something with decent hardware and Linux support. It seems like the trend is toward soldered-on parts.

Look into Clevo/Sager resellers. Places like System76. They can be hit-or-miss - I've had one excellent machine that lasted 6 years, but also one terrible experience with a borked GPU that put me off of them more or less permanently. Getting any sort of support or repairs for parts that you can't replace yourself is difficult. Still, they tend to have highly modular, easy-to-swap-out parts. Hard drives, wireless card…

Those also tend to be very large, gaming-oriented, desktop replacement "laptops", so not ideal for everyone looking for something they can actually keep on their lap for any length of time. They're so modular because they're designed like a desktop, with lots of full-size parts and little emphasis on thinness.

If by "borked GPU" you're referring to the nVidia BGA failures, those weren't the fault of the laptop manufacturer. HP and Toshiba, among others, were affected severely by that too.

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