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Nebraska farmers vote overwhelmingly for Right to Repair

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Re: Nebraska farmers vote overwhelmingly for Right to Repair

#431
post #290
post #270

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My fave is "subscription headphones": https://www.nuraphone.com/products/nuranow

> Please note: NuraNow is not a rent-to-own program — as long as your subscription stays active, the Nuraphone stays active too. ...isn't that straight worse than rent-to-own...?

Rent-to-Never-Own

Re: Nebraska farmers vote overwhelmingly for Right to Repair

#432
post #210

What many people may not realize is just how long-lived a lot of farm equipment is. There will be tractors out there still working that are 75 years old and just keep getting repaired. Obviously the manufacturers would like to sell those farmers tractors more often than that or, in the very least, generate a revenue stream from existing hardware and honestly that's what I see a lot of computing in vehicles as being:…

I've seen and used farm equipment and machine tools (lathes, mills, etc.) from the 40's and 50's that are still in good serviceable condition. I think it's been a long time since farmers cultivated their own seed though, even before roundup-resistant and GM crops were commonplace. It's a very different science and skill to growing crops.

It is not always because farmers couldn't produce their own seed, but it is also because growing for viable seeds has a bit different finishing procedure as growing food stuff. You might end up with a loss of seed viability because your primary effort is based on selling food for the highest profit and not storing viable seed in the most pristine way. So naturally a local farm community can evolve into a large number of food producers who don't store their own seeds, and a smaller variety of seed farmers to supply the other farmers with crop seed every year.

Re: Nebraska farmers vote overwhelmingly for Right to Repair

#433
post #220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've seen and used farm equipment and machine tools (lathes, mills, etc.) from the 40's and 50's that are still in good serviceable condition. I think it's been a long time since farmers cultivated their own seed though, even before roundup-resistant and GM crops were commonplace. It's a very different science and skill to growing crops.

I still run a 1949 Ford 8N tractor. No heroic measures needed to keep it going. Just routine maintenance.

I got a '56 Farmall 230. Not a big tractor, but it can do anything I need for myself, primarily used to feed my two cows which I grow for meat, but also for hauling wood out of the woods for heating my house. Very little maintenance really needed. Just two months ago I even got fancy and installed an electric starter! A fine addition when you need to plow the driveway in the winter and don't feel like doing a full body workout just to get the thing started.

Re: Nebraska farmers vote overwhelmingly for Right to Repair

#434

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've seen and used farm equipment and machine tools (lathes, mills, etc.) from the 40's and 50's that are still in good serviceable condition. I think it's been a long time since farmers cultivated their own seed though, even before roundup-resistant and GM crops were commonplace. It's a very different science and skill to growing crops.

Serviceable does not imply profitable (though profitable implies serviceable). As much as I love lugging around rotary tables and indexing heads a machine shop that makes triple digit part quantities would be stupid to run old machines (too many man hours per part) and a repair machine shop would be stupid to finance a new 5-axis. Equipment in most industries moves from low margin, high duty cycle operators to operat…

Yeah but it is great equipment to have in a garage ready to go all around the country. So much shit is thrown away because you need some new little piece machined or repaired that you can't buy. It's not worth it to a machining business, but to some individual at home with a waiting machine and time on their hands? They could make a good deal making simple replacements pieces or parts for things.

Re: Nebraska farmers vote overwhelmingly for Right to Repair

#435
post #275

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That along with buying an entire new product for a minor gain. So what if the new car is super green? You are replacing one multiton hunk of metal and hazardous waste with a brand new multiton hunk of metal and hazardous waste, doubling your footprint of extraction of resources from the earth but netting the same utility. Or people who replace their perfectly functioning phone with a completely brand new phone to con…

As annoying as replacing a phone is, I don't think the argument works for ecological dimension. The car produces many times larger carbon footprint in the course of being used, than comes from its manufacturing. Plus you are not destroying your old car, they are sold onwards and used for decades by someone anyways. You are probably enabling someone to replace a rusbucket two or three steps down the line, possibly in…

Well, unless you implement the Cash for Clunkers program that just smashes up a bunch of cars for a quick buck, then they don't get used. So many good and valuable cars, and especially car parts, that were all lost. People think "But it was a $500 car! They can't be good!" Except ive fixed and driven many $500 cars for the same amount in parts and put another 100K+ miles on them. $1000 for 28 MPG and 100K miles is a pretty damn good deal if you are poor as shit.

But now those cars mostly don't exist because we smashed them all up and weren't allowed to part them out either. Instead of spending $20 for $150 worth of parts, now I gotta buy all new Chinese manufacturer replacements for 10X as much.

Re: Nebraska farmers vote overwhelmingly for Right to Repair

#436

Earlier quoted context omitted.

13 years of support may very well be above and beyond the norm in the software industry, but that doesn't make it "basically forever".

The free update to Windows 10 does though. And despite your GP's rhetorical flourish, it's hardly a "downgrade".

It absolutely fucking is. Ads infesting everything on my desktop. Pervasive tracking. Breaking updates pushed against my will. I'm happy that it doesn't bother you, but for me no f*cking thanks.

Re: Nebraska farmers vote overwhelmingly for Right to Repair

#437
post #336
post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are there any flagship models that still have phone jack and an sdcard? Supposedly there's so many Android phones but all are removing things. You can get phones with these, but then their support doesn't last long and generally no one cares about maintaining a replacement OS like Lineage OS. My ideal phone would have: - size that does fit in a hand - phone jack - sdcard - hardware keyboard - ir blaster - stereo spea…

fxtec Pro 1 hits a most of those, exceptions are no IR blaster, battery life (depends on what you call good) and apparently it's a pain to register with Verizon (mentioning since I don't know who your provider is). I have a pre-order, but right now I'd give it a few months while they sort out production, they seem to be hitting a lot of issues with quality of components which means orders are delayed.

Oh wow, this looks sweet at least at first sight. Don't use Verizon and IR Blaster is cool but not an absolute must (it worked really well with now discontinued HTC app that combined TV Guide with IR blaster, you clicked on a show and it switched your TV to it).

Re: Nebraska farmers vote overwhelmingly for Right to Repair

#438

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The free update to Windows 10 does though. And despite your GP's rhetorical flourish, it's hardly a "downgrade".

It absolutely fucking is. Ads infesting everything on my desktop. Pervasive tracking. Breaking updates pushed against my will. I'm happy that it doesn't bother you, but for me no f*cking thanks.

I've disabled the lock screen ads and most of the tracking stuff. It's possible it's still tracking me in some way that I'm not aware of, but as far as ads.. I don't recall Windows showing me ads for anything. Where are you getting ads?

Re: Nebraska farmers vote overwhelmingly for Right to Repair

#439
post #385

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Deere is controlling the marketplace for "repairs." If a farmer is required to use service centers exclusively provided and controlled by Deere, then they are inhibited from using the free market. The right to repair is essential for farmers to be able to choose the best repair options for their situation (self-made repairs, local non-affiliated repair shop, Deere certified). Some people take their cars to the dealer…

>They do this because they value the expertise and depth that the dealers can [sometimes] provide. You mean the expertise they claim to provide. Dealership mechanics are generally junior mechanics; the really good, highly-experienced mechanics, go work at or start their own independent shops where they get much better pay. The big reason that you'd want to visit the dealer rather than an independent mechanic is becau…

I mean, I don't personally disagree with you. But I was trying to keep the framing of my opinion a little more neutral.

There are definitely some times when you want to go to the dealer; especially in rural areas, where the local repair shop has a lot of breadth, but not enough depth, to help with hard problems.

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