Right to Repair Gaining Momentum
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Right to Repair Gaining Momentum
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Re: Right to Repair Gaining Momentum
#2Let’s hope so. As an old farm boy and a do-it-yourselfer that grew up in the farm shop fixing equipment, few things get my blood boiling as much as the current machinery software lock-downs.
Re: Right to Repair Gaining Momentum
#3I don't want a bulky, heavy, non waterproof, and less reliable smartphone (due to more moveable parts) just to have a easily replaceable battery.
Re: Right to Repair Gaining Momentum
#4I definitely think it's a good idea. The other week my girlfriend's Western Digital external drive stopped working, I wanted to open it to figure out if it was the drive itself or the sata-to-USB logic. Took me 20 minutes to open the case, and I damaged it significantly in the process. Turns out that it was only the USB adapter that was out of order, I bought a cheap-o USB 3 case and now it works again.
Yesterday I wanted to fix the light on a USB wallsocket I have, I gave up because after 10 minutes I couldn't figure out how to even open the thing up. I tried squeezing it, tapping it in various parts, prying at various seams, nothing would give.
That being said, I really wonder how you could regulate this easily. Lack of screws could be argued to be beneficial for aesthetics for instance. Modern smartphones are a pain to repair in no small part because size is very important so everything is crammed together, and highly integrated components are usually smaller and yield better economies of scale.
I think it's a good idea, but I'm really not sure how it could be implemented well.
Re: Right to Repair Gaining Momentum
#5I don't want a bulky, heavy, non waterproof, and less reliable smartphone (due to more moveable parts) just to have a easily replaceable battery.
Right to repair is not about making devices more repairable but about enabling us to buy parts and service from third parties outside the manufacturers.
Apple has begun serializing parts. You cannot take a camera from one iPhone 12 and put it into another iPhone 12 because Apple serialized the camera to the phone it shipped with. They are beyond reasonable with this kind of hostile approach to repair.
Re: Right to Repair Gaining Momentum
#6I don't want a bulky, heavy, non waterproof, and less reliable smartphone (due to more moveable parts) just to have a easily replaceable battery.
Waterproof phones can have replaceable parts. IIRC the "rugged" type phones on the market tend to use gaskets.
Re: Right to Repair Gaining Momentum
#7A good, and easy, first step would be for states to adopt laws that have the same requirements as Massachusetts. Many companies already comply with their right to repair laws, so it would be relatively quick and easy to comply with the same laws elsewhere.
The second step would be to support MA (or some other state) in adopting even more consumer (and environmentally) friendly right to repair laws, especially for: consumer electronics; automotive; large and small home appliances; and farm equipment. Then everyone else can piggyback on those laws by adopting similar ones themselves.
Re: Right to Repair Gaining Momentum
#8I was re-reading (ok, actually trying to finish yet again) Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance and I think some of what Pirsig says at the beginning of the book applies here.
Namely, the division between people who just want things to work and hope "somebody" else will step in when a fix is needed, and those who understand the abstraction sometimes leaks, and you need to be able to dig in and at least know how to solve some problems "under the hood". He makes a whole philosophy of "romantics" vs "classics" out of it, but I think that's irrelevant here: what matters is that no-one should be forced to be powerless about the hardware they own.
This is obviously related to the right to repair. Pirsig wasn't thinking of Apple, but he does mention John Deere!
Re: Right to Repair Gaining Momentum
#9I don't want a bulky, heavy, non waterproof, and less reliable smartphone (due to more moveable parts) just to have a easily replaceable battery.
It's not about changing the phone, it's about making the OEM tools, parts and service information available to independent shops so they can repair a waterproof phone the same way someone at the manufacturer does the same repair.
I suppose if an individual wants to buy an expensive tool to do a single repair that would be available to the individual too, but that's not typically what I would expect when we're talking about cases that involve an expensive tool.
For example, Chevy dealers have to buy a $15,000 lift/harness to lower and service or replace the battery in a chevy volt. In Massachusetts, that harness would be available to independent mechanics and consumers too, but I doubt any consumers actually buy it. However, at least the independent shops can and that means consumers can take it somewhere other than a Chevy dealer if they want.
Re: Right to Repair Gaining Momentum
#10I don't want a bulky, heavy, non waterproof, and less reliable smartphone (due to more moveable parts) just to have a easily replaceable battery.
Right to repair is not about making devices more repairable but about enabling us to buy parts and service from third parties outside the manufacturers. Apple has begun serializing parts. You cannot take a camera from one iPhone 12 and put it into another iPhone 12 because Apple serialized the camera to the phone it shipped with. They are beyond reasonable with this kind of hostile approach to repair.
I think Apple is justifiably terrified of a 3rd party battery, installed by someone with 5 minutes of training, causing a fire and making headlines.