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One man’s fight for the right to repair broken MacBooks

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11–20 of 562 posts

Re: One man’s fight for the right to repair broken MacBooks

#11

Rossmann is an important voice in the right to repair, however I do feel like he leaned into a certain audience, pandering to them a bit as a reliable target for ad impressions, and it has undermined his credibility. I hear about Rossmann most now when some vicious Apple detractor uses him as an authority on things having nothing to do with repair. For instance Rossmann did a video titled "Apple watching & logging EV…

> “The horrible truth about Apple’s repeated engineering failures” This is totally in his wheelhouse and expertise since he does circuit board repair for Apple devices. You can thank YouTube’s algorithm for the inflammatory title.

> since he does circuit board repair for Apple devices.

And thus, the insight comes from someone who only repairs the components, not someone who knows about designing them. I wouldn't trust my mechanic to tell me that my car's engine was designed badly because chances are that opinion is solely based on how easy/cheap it is to repair.

Re: One man’s fight for the right to repair broken MacBooks

#12

Sadly, you and I watch a different YouTube than probably 95% of people. Almost nobody I've talked to has heard of Lex or Louis, or Bret Weinstein, or Sean Carroll, and so forth. Just open youtube.com in a private window and you'll understand. Even if the average person watched some of Louis Rossmann's videos on the right to repair, I just don't think the importance of the issue would compute with them. Almost nobody…

| I sent my Macbook to Louis for repair last year

Water damage. Sad little Macbook into a happy little Macbook. I hope you learned something.

Re: One man’s fight for the right to repair broken MacBooks

#13
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s not really. There’s a big gap between knowing how to repair circuit boards (which is mostly about part sourcing and being good with a hot air station) and understanding the design of a modern motherboard, which is highly complex. He has loud opinions about laptop design, but it’s worth bearing in mind that he’s never designed even a simple piece of electronics in his life.

You are the "you can't criticise a movie if you are not a seasoned director" kind...

I don’t think that’s a good analogy. This is like being critiqued on your software architecture by someone who’s never written ‘Hello World’.

Re: One man’s fight for the right to repair broken MacBooks

#14

Rossmann is an important voice in the right to repair, however I do feel like he leaned into a certain audience, pandering to them a bit as a reliable target for ad impressions, and it has undermined his credibility. I hear about Rossmann most now when some vicious Apple detractor uses him as an authority on things having nothing to do with repair. For instance Rossmann did a video titled "Apple watching & logging EV…

I agree with you but I think that's just part of the youtube celebrity playbook. His massive following might give him the confidence/ego to put out a lot more edgy type of content that appeals to his audience. I noticed he also puts out a lot of videos about his personal opinions (eg. NYC real estate, personal relationships, etc.). It is his own channel.

Regardless it does not diminish his prominent role for the Right to Repair.

Re: One man’s fight for the right to repair broken MacBooks

#15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> “The horrible truth about Apple’s repeated engineering failures” This is totally in his wheelhouse and expertise since he does circuit board repair for Apple devices. You can thank YouTube’s algorithm for the inflammatory title.

> since he does circuit board repair for Apple devices. And thus, the insight comes from someone who only repairs the components, not someone who knows about designing them. I wouldn't trust my mechanic to tell me that my car's engine was designed badly because chances are that opinion is solely based on how easy/cheap it is to repair.

You have a low opinion of your mechanic. Operational knowledge is very important and designs that look good at design time sometimes deal poorly with the world. The iPhone 6 and the butterfly keyboard show designs that were not good in actual operation. Mechanics worth their salt know great engine design beyond easy/cheap to repair.

Please don't take this attitude as a developer towards your operations / support staff.

Re: One man’s fight for the right to repair broken MacBooks

#16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> “The horrible truth about Apple’s repeated engineering failures” This is totally in his wheelhouse and expertise since he does circuit board repair for Apple devices. You can thank YouTube’s algorithm for the inflammatory title.

> since he does circuit board repair for Apple devices. And thus, the insight comes from someone who only repairs the components, not someone who knows about designing them. I wouldn't trust my mechanic to tell me that my car's engine was designed badly because chances are that opinion is solely based on how easy/cheap it is to repair.

Mechanics are generally pretty knowledgeable about reliability of various vehicles and their components generally; many are genuinely interested in these things and not just repairability as it relates to their job. I would imagine something similar is true here

Re: One man’s fight for the right to repair broken MacBooks

#17

Rossmann is seriously a national treasure. Along with Lex Fridman the two Youtube personalities irrefutably prove fair mindedness, humility & sincerity is valued. My fears that content online would eventually consist of nothing but selfies, food pics & competitive victimhood are somewhat reduced. I'd like to see Rossmann on Fridman's podcast.

[deleted]

Re: One man’s fight for the right to repair broken MacBooks

#18
post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are the "you can't criticise a movie if you are not a seasoned director" kind...

I don’t think that’s a good analogy. This is like being critiqued on your software architecture by someone who’s never written ‘Hello World’.

Seems more like being critiqued on your software architecture by someone who has to debug your code.

Re: One man’s fight for the right to repair broken MacBooks

#19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> “The horrible truth about Apple’s repeated engineering failures” This is totally in his wheelhouse and expertise since he does circuit board repair for Apple devices. You can thank YouTube’s algorithm for the inflammatory title.

> since he does circuit board repair for Apple devices. And thus, the insight comes from someone who only repairs the components, not someone who knows about designing them. I wouldn't trust my mechanic to tell me that my car's engine was designed badly because chances are that opinion is solely based on how easy/cheap it is to repair.

I would argue that, the harder/more expensive it is to repair a consumer car, the worse it is designed. It's not the only factor, but it is an important one to a LOT of people.

Re: One man’s fight for the right to repair broken MacBooks

#20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> “The horrible truth about Apple’s repeated engineering failures” This is totally in his wheelhouse and expertise since he does circuit board repair for Apple devices. You can thank YouTube’s algorithm for the inflammatory title.

> since he does circuit board repair for Apple devices. And thus, the insight comes from someone who only repairs the components, not someone who knows about designing them. I wouldn't trust my mechanic to tell me that my car's engine was designed badly because chances are that opinion is solely based on how easy/cheap it is to repair.

What are those chances? Are you judging their experience based on your non-experience? How would you know what bad design is and the reasons for it?
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