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Europe Wants a ‘Right to Repair’ Smartphones and Gadgets

nytimes.com

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Re: Europe Wants a ‘Right to Repair’ Smartphones and Gadgets

#41

Post by avianlyric »

JoshTriplett wrote: post #28
simion314 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The idea is not that you should be able to swap your battery as easy as you can with an Nokia 3310 but that you or a competent person could swap the battery with tools made for that purpose. Also I should have the right to use components from a broken iPhone into a different broken iPhone so I get a working iPhone(and if you claim security then wipe the phone before you allow this swap).

> The idea is not that you should be able to swap your battery as easy as you can with an Nokia 3310 but that you or a competent person could swap the battery with tools made for that purpose. On many modern devices, you don't have "a battery", you have battery cells fit into every available space and wired together. You're certainly welcome to try replacing those. I just don't want to see that reverted to a discrete…

> On many modern devices, you don't have "a battery", you have battery cells fit into every available space and wired together. You're certainly welcome to try replacing those. I just don't want to see that reverted to a discrete battery design.

Source for this. No device has unpackaged unprotected battery cells just floating around.

They may have many discrete batteries to use up all of the available space, but each unit is self contained with protection electronics and can be swapped independently of the others.

Re: Europe Wants a ‘Right to Repair’ Smartphones and Gadgets

#42

Post by userbinator »

simion314 wrote: post #4
TomMarius wrote: post #2

What if I want to buy a device that is impossible to repair due to e.g. being inside metal/ceramics/glass?

What if I want to buy a car that has no lights,breaks and pollutes 100x more then the norms? There are many hardened phones that are repairable. Edit: also a main issue with repairability is DRM and evil companies trying to use the copyright law so you won't publish repair manuals and schematics. Your ceramic phone won't suffer if someone shares a manual about it's internals .

Ironically, a car that "pollutes 100x more then the norms" is also very likely to be the most repairable...

Re: Europe Wants a ‘Right to Repair’ Smartphones and Gadgets

#44

Post by simion314 »

listsfrin wrote: post #36

The article says this is needed in order to reduce greenhouse emissions. I don't feel that's true. In my country in Europe nothing is done to reduce pollution from the cars and plastic usage. Year after year more products are built with plastic instead of glass or metal.

I am thinking that extracting metals from mines is also polluting, the big issue with plastic is the fact is contaminating waters, for CO2 emissions the major problem is the burning of oil/petrol and I think construction(creating cement creates a lot of CO2).

About glass, some people say that sicne glass is heavy you will use more fuel to move it around(I have no idea if this is true).

Re: Europe Wants a ‘Right to Repair’ Smartphones and Gadgets

#45

Post by liopleurodon »

lnsru wrote: post #37

That will end in another monstrosity like WEEE making entry for hardware startups harder and harder: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waste_Electrical_and_Electro... Only big players with dedicated departments will comply easily. And about right to repair I have bad experience: broken cable is enough for lots of buyers to throw away electronic appliances. Let’s be honest: majority of users will cause more harm than do…

I'd like to be able to swap the battery on my smartphone, like I used to be able to do.

Same with my laptop

Re: Europe Wants a ‘Right to Repair’ Smartphones and Gadgets

#46

Post by xorcist »

fastball wrote: post #27
rndgermandude wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then you'll be out of luck. Same as you cannot legally buy leaded fuels in most countries anymore, even tho you might prefer them, and same as Bayer will not sell you Heroin(tm) to treat your cough anymore.

Wait so you think you should not be allowed to buy "unrepairable" devices?

I for one would love this. It used to be that you got a complete circuit schematic when buying a new TV.

Perhaps we don't need to go that far, but just removing the moats that prevent people from building compatible hardware would go far. That toners include DRM chips just to protect consumer unfriendly business models still bothers me. It's just e-waste for no good.

Re: Europe Wants a ‘Right to Repair’ Smartphones and Gadgets

#47

Post by coldpie »

liopleurodon wrote: post #45
lnsru wrote: post #37

That will end in another monstrosity like WEEE making entry for hardware startups harder and harder: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waste_Electrical_and_Electro... Only big players with dedicated departments will comply easily. And about right to repair I have bad experience: broken cable is enough for lots of buyers to throw away electronic appliances. Let’s be honest: majority of users will cause more harm than do…

I'd like to be able to swap the battery on my smartphone, like I used to be able to do. Same with my laptop

Yes but if you could do that, then you might also be able to fit a headphone jack in there. What a horrible future that would be.

Re: Europe Wants a ‘Right to Repair’ Smartphones and Gadgets

#48

Post by listsfrin »

jotm wrote: post #40
listsfrin wrote: post #36

The article says this is needed in order to reduce greenhouse emissions. I don't feel that's true. In my country in Europe nothing is done to reduce pollution from the cars and plastic usage. Year after year more products are built with plastic instead of glass or metal.

Are you sure? I mean, European directives are not always implemented perfectly, but all countries do try to. It may be that your country is doing something, it's just not noticeable, yet. This is long term stuff, results are only apparent years or decades after the laws come into effect.

I live in my country and I know some things about it. Germany allows people to sell old cars in Eastern Europe. My country will take those cars without any limits. This is the Europe that I'm living in.

Crossing the street in the morning is an exercise of how long can you hold your breath.

Re: Europe Wants a ‘Right to Repair’ Smartphones and Gadgets

#49

Post by simion314 »

userbinator wrote: post #42
simion314 wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What if I want to buy a car that has no lights,breaks and pollutes 100x more then the norms? There are many hardened phones that are repairable. Edit: also a main issue with repairability is DRM and evil companies trying to use the copyright law so you won't publish repair manuals and schematics. Your ceramic phone won't suffer if someone shares a manual about it's internals .

Ironically, a car that "pollutes 100x more then the norms" is also very likely to be the most repairable...

Most cars are repairable, there is an industry of alternative parts, you go to a mechanic, he plugs the laptop with the software , find the problem, then you chose from a website with parts the one you want , you have different alternatives. Also you can visit places with scraped cars and you can find parts there for cheap. There is no DRM at the moment to stop you reusing a door from a different car or a door made by any third party(not sure about latest models, maybe Tesla does this).

I am not familiar with the latest models, do they changed that dramatically and I am out of date? Can't a competent mechanic replace any part on your new car?

Re: Europe Wants a ‘Right to Repair’ Smartphones and Gadgets

#50

Post by listsfrin »

simion314 wrote: post #44
listsfrin wrote: post #36

The article says this is needed in order to reduce greenhouse emissions. I don't feel that's true. In my country in Europe nothing is done to reduce pollution from the cars and plastic usage. Year after year more products are built with plastic instead of glass or metal.

I am thinking that extracting metals from mines is also polluting, the big issue with plastic is the fact is contaminating waters, for CO2 emissions the major problem is the burning of oil/petrol and I think construction(creating cement creates a lot of CO2). About glass, some people say that sicne glass is heavy you will use more fuel to move it around(I have no idea if this is true).

Then maybe they should strive to recycle instead to repair.
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