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Maybe someday there will be a movement to boycott these abusive companies or something.
Check out https://futo.org
> “I don’t know why Samsung insists on charging so much for service parts,” Wiens says, visibly frustrated. “The prices that we see are out of line with what we know components actually cost to manufacture.” Wiens starts to elaborate but stops himself. He clarifies that he would love to discuss this more, but his contract with Samsung prevents him from doing so. I mean, it's pretty easy to guess: They want to run the…
Too unprofitable? Too much hassle? Oh..
> Wiens sips a Diet Coke and settles in as I start explaining the framework of our conversation. He interrupts me politely to get a big caveat out of the way related to confidentiality terms iFixit still has with Samsung. I really struggle to read these types of interviews. If I wanted to read the novel I would buy the book… but if I’m reading an article I don’t want the fluff…
Same, really annoys me. Guess writer has a word-count target to meet and adding such fluff is an easy way to get there. Guess one could train an LLM to de-fluff articles?
In my opinion, if you are going position yourself as a neutral arbiter of device repairability, it does not pass the smell test to enter into for-profit business relationships with the companies manufacturing the devices you rate. Providing consumers with information on where to find reputable companies selling repair parts would be a much more palatable alternative to selling them yourself. > “I don’t know why Samsu…
> Providing consumers with information on where to find reputable companies selling repair parts would be a much more palatable alternative to selling them yourself.
That does not really make sense. They are a repair company and the only company selling specialized parts is, of course, the manufacturer.
> also stands in the way of advocating for consumers.
That is much too bleak. They made a deal happen in the first place, which is large progress even if it did not quite work out, and compromises are a fact of life.
In my opinion, if you are going position yourself as a neutral arbiter of device repairability, it does not pass the smell test to enter into for-profit business relationships with the companies manufacturing the devices you rate. Providing consumers with information on where to find reputable companies selling repair parts would be a much more palatable alternative to selling them yourself. > “I don’t know why Samsu…
The whole thing comes across as self-promotion for their tools/parts business. Add in their dabbling in lobbying for regulations to force manufacturers to make devices that you can buy ifixit (and other) kits for… and it starts to feel as disingenuous as Epic’s “pro-consumer” interest in outlawing the razors/blades business model that game consoles use.
There are many companies that just do whatever they can get away with and because of their market position, this is a lot. Maybe someday there will be a movement to boycott these abusive companies or something. Check out https://futo.org
This reads like suggesting people should boycott their favorite restaurants because reasons.
In my opinion, if you are going position yourself as a neutral arbiter of device repairability, it does not pass the smell test to enter into for-profit business relationships with the companies manufacturing the devices you rate. Providing consumers with information on where to find reputable companies selling repair parts would be a much more palatable alternative to selling them yourself. > “I don’t know why Samsu…
Agreed that for-profit relationships are inappropriate, and I also think iFixit’s business selling repair tools and parts is inappropriate. The whole thing comes across as self-promotion for their tools/parts business. Add in their dabbling in lobbying for regulations to force manufacturers to make devices that you can buy ifixit (and other) kits for… and it starts to feel as disingenuous as Epic’s “pro-consumer” int…
While working on small screws like torque or pentalobe, you either have crappy drivers or Wera. iFixit is the provider of "good but not Wera" class tools which most DIYers and even professionals can use without any problems.
Wera is "The Purveyor of Top Notch Tools", so that even companies like Apple and BMW use/supply their tools in their factories and repair centers, however they're out of reach for many people.
> Wiens sips a Diet Coke and settles in as I start explaining the framework of our conversation. He interrupts me politely to get a big caveat out of the way related to confidentiality terms iFixit still has with Samsung. I really struggle to read these types of interviews. If I wanted to read the novel I would buy the book… but if I’m reading an article I don’t want the fluff…
Now, almost everyone has a lengthy backstory that is told at least once per season, and it's a significant amount of the runtime of the show.
It's gotten to the point that even athletes that have basically no backstory still end up with a lengthy segment on themselves. For fairness, I guess?
> “I don’t know why Samsung insists on charging so much for service parts,” Wiens says, visibly frustrated. “The prices that we see are out of line with what we know components actually cost to manufacture.” Wiens starts to elaborate but stops himself. He clarifies that he would love to discuss this more, but his contract with Samsung prevents him from doing so. I mean, it's pretty easy to guess: They want to run the…
Its also easy for me to see as a 3rd party. Perhaps ifixit should manage the whole manufacturing and logistical aspect of maintaining all those spare parts themselves? Too unprofitable? Too much hassle? Oh..
But part of the problem can only be solved by Samsung. They're the ones releasing 30 phone models in a single year - and the ones making design decisions like having six different screens available for the same phone because the coloured bezel is glued to the screen.
And of course if Samsung buys screens for $50 and sells them to ifixit for $100, holding 1000 in stock requires half the capital outlay if Samsung does it.
There are many companies that just do whatever they can get away with and because of their market position, this is a lot. Maybe someday there will be a movement to boycott these abusive companies or something. Check out https://futo.org
Why would people boycott a company with a strong market position that is operating within the bounds of what it can get away with? This reads like suggesting people should boycott their favorite restaurants because reasons.
Your comment reads like you ignored all of the context of my comment.
It's like if your favorite restaurant served really good burgers for $1000, but if the pickles and lettuce fell out and you tried to put them back in, the waiter would come over and slap the burger out of your hand and make you spend another $1000 to get a whole new burger.