Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Motorola and iFixit partner to sell phone repair kits

ifixit.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

121–130 of 143 posts

Re: Motorola and iFixit partner to sell phone repair kits

#121

Post by leetcrew »

devwastaken wrote: post #102
fipple wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t really think the government needs to legislate this. I buy iPhones because I don’t give a shit about repairability. I use the phone for 3-4 years and then set it up as basically a remote control in my house until it’s useless. If I break it out of warranty I throw it out. Other people who care about repairability can buy other brands.

Except hardware and software are patentable. If we didn't have that and companies could make true alternatives, sure, but as far as technology goes it's highly monopalistic. Your argument is also the definition of selfishness given that you only take into account your own circumstances. You're literally advocating against yourself.

i honestly don't think any significant fraction of iphone buyers care about repairability. if they do at all, i really doubt they care enough to compromise on price or visual appeal / thinness. could be you're the selfish one trying to bend the entire industry towards your fringe interest.

Re: Motorola and iFixit partner to sell phone repair kits

#122

Post by leetcrew »

amyjess wrote: post #88
lower wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FWIW, Motorola is very slow with software updates. My G5 plus is currently still on Android 7.0 on the June (!) 2018 security patch level and this is usual. I think that an update to 8.1 is around the corner, but they've promised an update to Oreo for over a year now...

Honestly, I've strongly disliked recent changes to Android so much that I'm not interested in updates. I got a Moto X4 last month because I got tired of being terrified that my Nexus 5X would bootloop again, and I'm keeping it at Nougat even though it keeps nagging me to upgrade. Oreo is so visually ugly that I'd rather keep my phone on an old version than upgrade.

do you log into any important accounts on your phone?

Re: Motorola and iFixit partner to sell phone repair kits

#123

Post by craftyguy »

Spivak wrote: post #75
craftyguy wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So it's ok to screw over customers as long as you apologize after they find out?

I mean you could at least pretend to have a charitable interpretation of their position. Apple implemented a software workaround to extend the useful life of phones with aging batteries which engineering thought would be transparent. Then after what could only be described as a media shitstorm Apple responded to the criticism by putting the decision in the user's hands and offered battery replacements for around mate…

> which engineering thought would be transparent.

What engineer thought that slowing down devices would be 'transparent'?

Re: Motorola and iFixit partner to sell phone repair kits

#124

Post by lobotryas »

devwastaken wrote: post #102
fipple wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t really think the government needs to legislate this. I buy iPhones because I don’t give a shit about repairability. I use the phone for 3-4 years and then set it up as basically a remote control in my house until it’s useless. If I break it out of warranty I throw it out. Other people who care about repairability can buy other brands.

Except hardware and software are patentable. If we didn't have that and companies could make true alternatives, sure, but as far as technology goes it's highly monopalistic. Your argument is also the definition of selfishness given that you only take into account your own circumstances. You're literally advocating against yourself.

I don't think GP is selfish - he's just outlining what works for him and what his use-case is. For example, I kind-of care about repairability, but not enough to go through the effort of switching from the iOS echosystem.

Finally, what's wrong with being selfish? I think it's a completely rational approach to take.

Re: Motorola and iFixit partner to sell phone repair kits

#125

Post by syshum »

fipple wrote: post #98
bloopernova wrote: post #10

I have a lot of respect for iFixit. They at least appear to have their heads screwed on right, and the tools I've bought from them do really seem to be good quality. My only recent "complex" task that needed their tools was adding a hybrid water cooler to a 1080ti GPU. Their stuff was great, and their customer service has been good too. (EDIT: I meant to say, the addition went well due to their tools, good quality st…

I don’t really think the government needs to legislate this. I buy iPhones because I don’t give a shit about repairability. I use the phone for 3-4 years and then set it up as basically a remote control in my house until it’s useless. If I break it out of warranty I throw it out. Other people who care about repairability can buy other brands.

The good old Consumerist Mentality that will be the downfall of humanity.

Everything should be repairable and everything should be repaired, you should not "toss out" electronics in 3 years (or in 18 months like Apple would prefer you toss out in)

The enviromental costs alone should be enough to require this, given your mentality I am sure you do not properly recycle it, but even if you do send to an electronics recycling facility most of them are operating in less than ideal or environmentally friendly ways especially when it comes to Apple contracts given that Apple requires the shredding of all devices and they can not be refurbished or reused

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Recycle should be the LAST option not the go to default.

Re: Motorola and iFixit partner to sell phone repair kits

#126

Post by ingenieroariel »

thekingofh wrote: post #37
ingenieroariel wrote: post #17

I recently got a Moto S2 Play and went the LineageOS route with no Google Apps. With no IM apps installed I made it my house's router (small house) and 5-7 devices can happily connect to it. I really recommend it. Lately I have been finally understanding how Open Source and right to repair go hand in hand.

Cool, how did you connect it to the outer network?

Yep, WAN is unlimited LTE, which is around 25mbps (on a somewhat rural area). This is 5 times more than available coaxial-based bandwidth.

Re: Motorola and iFixit partner to sell phone repair kits

#127

Post by akvadrako »

Fej wrote: post #59
zubspace wrote: post #50

I own a fairphone 1 and after I dropped it once I was able to order a new screen. With instructions made by by the fairphone team I was able to fix my phone. I'm bitter though, because they soon switched development to fairphone 2 in a higher price class and I'm left with android 4.2.2. Many new apps on the play store stop being compatible. I believe, something like this is only viable, if the phone maker guarantees…

I love the concept of Fairphone but I can't believe they're still selling their phone for €530. It's worth maybe 1/5th that, if that. Is it just hubris? I hope not, because even if their phones command a reasonable price premium over competitors, it's worth it to some people. They're definitely filling a need. It would be a shame if few of their phones get into people's hands because they price them too far above cos…

That's what they need to charge to make money. I think it demonstrates how repairability and fairness isn't worth it - I can just buy 4 equivalent phones for the same price (like the Nokia 5) and throw them out when broken.

Re: Motorola and iFixit partner to sell phone repair kits

#128

Post by ateesdalejr »

Vinnl wrote: post #73
ateesdalejr wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What exactly would qualify a phone as user repairable? I'm guessing something could be repairable by users, but the costs of the tools are prohibitive. Would that be considered user repairable or would cost of materials and tools have to factor into the equation?

iFixit actually has a rating system for that: https://www.ifixit.com/smartphone-repairability

Thanks! That list is really cool! Interesting that only a few phones have scores of 10. One of them is called Fairphone, which actually looks like it would be a nice device.

Re: Motorola and iFixit partner to sell phone repair kits

#129

Post by balls187 »

CaptSpify wrote: post #104
balls187 wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How did you come to that conclusion, did Apple admit they did improper testing?

Because we saw the evidence: The batteries they shipped started dying early. I'm willing to believe that they did do proper testing and ignored the results, but I'm not sure that's better.

I'm not a battery engineer, nor a battery tester, so I cannot comment on what a proper test would be, and if that would include testing the battery for extended period of time prior to releasing them to market.

Re: Motorola and iFixit partner to sell phone repair kits

#130

Post by Alterlife »

Marsymars wrote: post #113
heyoni wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really? It’s like $80 to fix an iPhone 8 screen or %10 of the total price.

$150 from Apple. Brand new iPhone 8 is $600. You can presumably get a non-OEM replacement for less, but you can also get a used iPhone 8 with original glass for less than $600.

> used iPhone 8 with original glass

Except you would have no way to verify if the glass is original until you take it to Apple and they refuse to service it.

Post reply on HN