One man’s fight for the right to repair broken MacBooks • Hacker News Board

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

#201

Post by gjsman-1000 » Sun, May 23, 2021, 5:19 PM UTC

addicted wrote: post #27

defaultname wrote: post #3

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…

And last week he released a video titled “The myth & fallacy that one brand is the problem”. 3 days ago “ASUS becomes a meme” with the thumbnail text “ASUS ARE YOU KIDDING”. The guy runs a Mac repair store. That’s his day business. It doesn’t sound inauthentic that he would have more complaints about Apple products. Further, as far as right to repair is concerned, it’s undeniable that Apple is easily the worst of the…

"it's undeniable that Apple is easily the worst of the lot"

Actually, it's quite deniable. You can't find Hardware repair manuals for many if not most new PC laptops. Most PC laptops have oversights in their design that would make Rossmann blush if he took a look at them. My parents had a $500 2018 HP that the screen broke off of, after only a year of use, even though it was always on a desk and it literally broke by itself from just opening/closing because the hinges were too weak for the 17" display or something.

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

#202

Post by defaultname » Sun, May 23, 2021, 5:20 PM UTC

eganist wrote: post #127

defaultname wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This tact has been plied by a dozen different replies in a dozen different but similar ways (some talking about prose, while others claim it's incomprehensible). Groan. A large number of the replies I have gotten would normally be deleted by mods, for good reason. If you're rewording to conjure up flamebait or attacking by conspiracy because you don't like a position, better to not post it. "you're saying his primary…

> This tact has been plied by a dozen different replies in a dozen different but similar ways (some talking about prose, while others claim it's incomprehensible). > Groan. defaultname, I'm sorry you took offense. I'll see if I can present it a bit differently. The GP comment reads as if its author added fluff to distract from the true nature of the comment — an entirely unsolicited rant that acts as flamebait on HN.

Every comment on HN is "unsolicited". I certainly didn't ask for your observation on this. Further, "rant"? Give me a break.

Humorously the top comment to this submission is that Rossmann is a "national treasure", along with some commentary about some other guy and how they should do a podcast together.

Nothing whatsoever to do with the submission. Just slathering praise and adulation. Whatever floats someone's boat and no skin off my back.

Did you, perchance, berate that comment for being some sort of NSA-tactic astroturfing "praise-job" that was an unsolicited rant? No? Gosh, I wonder why. Did you conspire that it's subterfuge dropped by Google?

Declaring my comment flamebait is telling. It's a completely banal observation about a conflict in someone's position. The many angry personal attacks (such as yours) are not my doing, and reflect on your own rather bizarre motivations.

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

#203

Post by 34679 » Sun, May 23, 2021, 5:22 PM UTC

I just did my first surface mount repair this morning and it 100% happened because of Rossmann's channel. It was so easy that I feel like I should have been doing it much sooner. The things I've thrown away over the years..

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

#204

Post by unishark » Sun, May 23, 2021, 5:23 PM UTC

jmpman wrote: post #69

bstar77 wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find Rossman insufferable due to his hyperbolic approach to shaming Apple and having a bone to pick with just about everyone- he's the definition of a narcissist. I agree in principle to "right to repair", but Rossman's motives are purely financial and self promoting. I've watched over 100 hours of his content and realized that his audience is primarily made up of anti-apple PC Master Race fanatics that just want t…

I’ve learned more about commercial real estate from Louis than I would have from other sources. There are disincentives for commercial real estate owners to lower their leasing rates, as it can drive a re-evaluation of loan criteria by the banks, forcing the owner to immediately increase equity. Banks don’t want this to happen, as it makes their books look bad. Watching his business struggle through Covid fills me wi…

> Recently, his shop was fined for not registering used laptops that his customers had abandoned for repair. Sure, NYC is attempting to prevent stolen laptops from being resold, but the level of bureaucratic idiocy turns Rossman’s channel into a Shakespearen comedy.

I saw this complaint and didn't follow what NYC did wrong. If one isn't allowed to sell "unregistered" laptops or whatever, why would abandoned customer laptops get a pass? Did the law state they should? I gather he is still allowed to repair them for people, even potentially thieves, just never "launder" them.

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

#205

Post by 542458 » Sun, May 23, 2021, 5:24 PM UTC

nrp wrote: post #81

Terretta wrote: post #60

I genuinely do not want repairability anywhere near the top of the list of performance and design trade offs. Ruggedness, longevity, sure. Avoiding need to repair, definitely. Repairability? Other concerns, things that change the day-to-day use of the device, should weigh more. Spent too many years as a full service PC network support small business to ever again want to deal with parts that aren’t actually attached…

Repairability doesn’t make products fragile or unreliable, poor design and quality control does. Source: spent the last 18 months building a highly repairable product and putting it through the same reliability tests less repairable products go through. A lot of repairability just comes down to making replacement parts readily available too, which is orthogonal to the design.

I respectfully disagree. I’ve worked on products where field serviceability is a design goal. It absolutely can add complexity and cost - after all, it’s another design constraint. Rivets and glue are faster, cheaper, smaller, and often more reliable than screws. Soldered-on connectors are more vibration resistant and smaller than pluggable ones. Access panels can introduce structural weakness. Gluing or welding cases shut provides environmental protection that’s difficult to achieve with screws.

Even making parts available can be a pain. I might want to spin a new rev on a product where the old parts aren’t compatible with the new - but now I have to warehouse the old in case anybody wants them. I might not actually warehouse anything myself (contract manufacturer ships directly to retailers), but now I have to find a way of warehousing spares of everything. I might not have any good way of packing/shipping some of these loose parts.

That’s not to say R2R is a bad idea or anything (rather, I think it’s generally a good idea) - but it is not free, and we should be realistic about that.

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

#206

Post by Nextgrid » Sun, May 23, 2021, 5:25 PM UTC

stephenr wrote: post #176

novok wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That 30 yr old program is not the current program he is describing.

I've taken a Mac to one such authorised repair centre in the last 3 years.

There are 2 repair programs:

Apple Authorized Service Provider - the existing one, which has significant barriers to entry and doesn't seem profitable on its own (most of the ones I see around town either sell refurbished computers on the side or provide IT support), though I believe they can at least stock parts as they advertise same-day turnaround on some common repairs. This is the one you're talking about.

The Independent Repair Program, for smaller shops to be able to obtain genuine parts and perform authorized repairs on Apple devices. These don't allow you to stock parts and have a lot of ridiculous restrictions (Louis did a video on it) and is purely a PR thing when the whole "right to repair" idea started taking off and regulators were started to look closer.

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

#207

Post by emsy » Sun, May 23, 2021, 5:26 PM UTC

34679 wrote: post #198

emsy wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At least the US has personalities like this. In Germany we have all the YT clickbait BS and very few truly brilliant minds that go against the mainstream.

German 3D printing channels are the best. Whereas others will simply say "let's see if we can put sawdust in a resin print to make it stronger", German channels tend to ask "let's see if adding sawdust makes resin prints stronger".

Oh yeah, the niche channels are pretty good, but we don’t have personalities like Sam Harris, Joe Rogan etc. the closest that comes to mind is maiLab but she’s not exactly polarizing or unconventional.

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

#208

Post by paulgerhardt » Sun, May 23, 2021, 5:28 PM UTC

Living in Shenzhen, it’s shocking how easy it is to go out and repair stuff. Living in Palo Alto, it’s frustrating how hard it is.

I’m thinking maybe, just maybe, introducing repairability laws won’t solve the problem.

I am perfectly happy upgrading the memory on my MacBook Air with a reflow air station rather than swapping out some dims if it means my laptop is half as thick and twice as rugged. I’m also just as happy dropping my phone off at a corner shop to replace the glass (while preserving the same electronics) using an industrial laminating machine.

My problem today is not that repairability laws impede my progress here (they certainly don’t exist in China either).

My problem is I can only get the chips and schematics I need to effect the repair on the Chinese Internet (WeChat/Taobao) or find someone to do the repair for me for $40 on the Chinese street markets (Huaqiangnan in Shenzhen). When I go to a corner store in the US the “solution” to swap the whole sub-assembly (glass+electronics) not just glass in case of a screen repair for $100+

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

#209

Post by gjsman-1000 » Sun, May 23, 2021, 5:29 PM UTC

howmayiannoyyou wrote: post #2

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.

A major problem with Rossmann I have is that he leaned into a strong anti-Apple PCMasterRace crowd. For them, listening to him rant against Apple gives them a fun confirmation bias that they were right to buy PCs. They enjoy listening to that, but his very long rants aren't very interesting to newcomers or for spreading right to repair to new audiences. Does my mom have time for a 45-minute rant full of complex technical details about how Apple is bad and we need Right to Repair?

The other problem I have with him is that he always assumes Apple is nefarious because Apple is nefarious. He never addresses ulterior motives that Apple may have had for a decision, nor attempts to consult with engineers about why Apple's engineering might have some reason to it. Apple is anti-repair because they're a big company and because Apple hates noble honest people like him, not because there are any other logical explanations.

Finally, my last sticking point with Rossmann as a Right to Repair leader is that he is constantly missing the forest for the trees. He constantly picks on Apple because that gets clicks, but he mostly ignores all the BS that other PC manufacturers are doing or experiencing. When's the last time you saw him talk about a Surface Laptop 3, a laptop with a repair program because the screen was spontaneously cracking? Or the Surface Pro 4 with the battery inflating issue? Or a Razer Blade that spontaneously died on Linus Tech Tips after only a year of use?

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

#210

Post by stale2002 » Sun, May 23, 2021, 5:31 PM UTC

bogwog wrote: post #167

slver wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I've repaired tons of my own devices over the years. Many of us have but again, minituarization, specialization and integration means this gradually becomes impossible. The age of generic parts is over. Things get built at scale, for a specific purpose, highly integrated, and tiny. Unless maybe you can chisel out your own SoC replacement from some sand and metal.

Is this trolling? Did you read past that sentence you quoted?

Funny. I was in another conversation with the same user, and they trolled in the same exact way.

Harp on their point without actually addressing anything in the response, or original post. Just completely ignore it.