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Repair is a Radical Act

patagonia.com

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Re: Repair is a Radical Act

#71

Post by guard-of-terra »

ptaipale wrote: post #59
studentrob wrote: post #30

I live in Asia and can always find a shoe guy or garment lady to fix my stuff for $1-$5. They are found in market stalls or the side of the road somewhere. You can't find as many of these "tiny businesses" in developed countries, perhaps because licensing costs too much to make it profitable, licensing isn't permitted for street vendors, varying climate doesn't make it as easy year-round, or ... Anyway, I really like…

I think it's more that in countries with social security, people aren't forced to work on such low wages (or more precisely, on low income as a self-employed person). If people have their rent and food and medical care paid for, and have access to a spectrum of free public services, it's not worthwhile to take the toll of labouring and fixing the clothes and shoes for others. I can typically buy new, good quality sho…

That's where basic income would shine. Both social security and repair stalls! People that do it for socialising and odd buck.

Re: Repair is a Radical Act

#72

Post by yourijiu »

pjc50 wrote: post #55
quanticle wrote: post #43

While some companies, like Ricoh, DeWalt, Caterpillar and Lenovo have made repair and remanufacturing a staple of their business model, This is why I continue to buy Lenovo, even though it can be argued that overall quality and durability of a Thinkpad isn't what it used to be when IBM still owned the brand. When I buy a Thinkpad (like the T440s I bought last year), I am reasonably assured that if something breaks, I…

You're unconcerned about Superfish etc?

Disregard the other Superfish comments.

All 5 Lenovo Laptops we had (replaced since then) had a BIOS Rootkit by Lenovo.

NO clean Os, no fancy AV will be of any use. If your not in the mood to rewrite your bios Lenovo will (has proven to)use this backdoor to secretly install malware again and again as they have done again since superfish.

Furthermore it'll leave a big backdoor for everyone right to the core since they abused one of Microsofts Bios features.

Contrary to Lenovos statement: "(ThinkPad, ThinkCentre, Lenovo Desktop, ThinkStation, ThinkServer and System x products are not impacted.) "

The ARE infected, just not every single one. The lesson they took from Superfish was to secretly install more spy/ad/crapware a couple months later.

I think it's safe to say that no Lenovo product can be trusted.

Re: Repair is a Radical Act

#73

Post by sokoloff »

acd wrote: post #56

This brings be to the area of new cell phones. Not good for the environment global warming. Consumer electronics are designed to be replaced which is bad for the environment. See planned Obsolescence https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planned_obsolescence I do not buy that you cannot make a good looking cell phone that is sturdy and allows for component replacement. The Apple Macbook unibody 2009-2012 has metal screws, yo…

> I do not buy that you cannot make a good looking cell phone that is sturdy and allows for component replacement.

You absolutely can. And your competitor can build one that's a little bit smaller, a little bit lighter, a little bit more beautiful, and you'll be competing on sustainability while your competitor is competing on "new and cooler".

Unfortunately, I'd bet on your competitor in that scenario.

Re: Repair is a Radical Act

#74

Post by lmm »

rukuu001 wrote: post #52
gherkin0 wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> perhaps because licensing costs too much to make it profitable, licensing isn't permitted for street vendors, varying climate doesn't make it as easy year-round, or ... I'm not sure that someone would be able to make a living in the US repairing everyday imported clothing items. The few times I tried to get something repaired by a tailor stop in the US, the cost at US wages was a significant fraction of what it wou…

> the cost at US wages was a significant fraction of what it would cost to buy a brand new replacement This is why I get the highest-quality stuff I can and repair it. Instead of replacing mediocre things every year or two, I have a few superb things that I spend $100-$200 a year maintaining (total, not each).

I'd be surprised if that ends up cheaper once you take into account the inconvenience of arranging repairs.

Re: Repair is a Radical Act

#75

Post by raverbashing »

yourijiu wrote: post #72
pjc50 wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're unconcerned about Superfish etc?

Disregard the other Superfish comments. All 5 Lenovo Laptops we had (replaced since then) had a BIOS Rootkit by Lenovo. NO clean Os, no fancy AV will be of any use. If your not in the mood to rewrite your bios Lenovo will (has proven to)use this backdoor to secretly install malware again and again as they have done again since superfish. Furthermore it'll leave a big backdoor for everyone right to the core since they…

Do you have a source/description for that?

Re: Repair is a Radical Act

#76

Post by [deleted] »

mc32 wrote: post #8

Maybe as the CEO of a clothing company I hope she can effect change in the seasonal nature of fashion, so that people aren't pushed to buy new clothes every year --and that clothes be made to last more then one season (via velocity of fashion, or via making compromised clothing fashionable (acid wash, tears, rips, etc...) People who darn and patch already do what she proposes. It may take off with others, but she can…

[deleted]

Re: Repair is a Radical Act

#77

Post by calinet6 »

mipapage wrote: post #45
chrissnell wrote: post #14

It's an interesting idea but as someone who owns dozens of their products, I'd love to see them take this a step further: I want to be able to order (for only the cost of shipping) repair parts and fabric for my repairs. For example, my Patagonia roll-aboard luggage is a decade old now and the veteran of hundreds of flights and trips around the world. The burly ripstop nylon is wearing through in spots and you can re…

Have you asked them? They have some pretty crazy stores about reaching back to repair old gear.

They'll be happy to help you out. Get ahold of their repair department and if they need to it'll get back to the quality department for the special request. They love that stuff.

Re: Repair is a Radical Act

#78

Post by ghaff »

gherkin0 wrote: post #35
studentrob wrote: post #30

I live in Asia and can always find a shoe guy or garment lady to fix my stuff for $1-$5. They are found in market stalls or the side of the road somewhere. You can't find as many of these "tiny businesses" in developed countries, perhaps because licensing costs too much to make it profitable, licensing isn't permitted for street vendors, varying climate doesn't make it as easy year-round, or ... Anyway, I really like…

> perhaps because licensing costs too much to make it profitable, licensing isn't permitted for street vendors, varying climate doesn't make it as easy year-round, or ... I'm not sure that someone would be able to make a living in the US repairing everyday imported clothing items. The few times I tried to get something repaired by a tailor stop in the US, the cost at US wages was a significant fraction of what it wou…

It won't be $1, but once every year or so I routinely take a handful of items down to a local cleaner to fix/replace zippers, repair a split seam etc. The cost tends toward $5 or so per item. (More for things like zippers.) It's certainly economical if the clothing is otherwise in decent shape. Doing a button myself takes a few minutes--however long I procrastinate about it :-)

I agree the overall economics of having clothing repaired isn't as attractive as it was 20 years ago. But it can still work--especially for more utilitarian and better-made gear.

Re: Repair is a Radical Act

#79

Post by douche »

mc32 wrote: post #8

Maybe as the CEO of a clothing company I hope she can effect change in the seasonal nature of fashion, so that people aren't pushed to buy new clothes every year --and that clothes be made to last more then one season (via velocity of fashion, or via making compromised clothing fashionable (acid wash, tears, rips, etc...) People who darn and patch already do what she proposes. It may take off with others, but she can…

I had an LL Bean catalog delivered to me the other day. Almost everything I saw in it was exactly the same designs as twenty years ago - although I will admit I didn't peruse the women's apparel sections that closely. It may not be your fashion cup of tea, but the stuff tends to last forever and a day.

I believe that they still honor their lifetime warranty, either repairing or replacing anything that you buy from them. To the point that it is worthwhile to buy thread-bare LL Bean clothes at yard-sales and thriftshops if you can get a deal.

Do people really darn socks still? Cotton socks are so cheap that I almost don't want to bother washing them, let alone repair them.

Re: Repair is a Radical Act

#80

Post by kaybe »

douche wrote: post #79
mc32 wrote: post #8

Maybe as the CEO of a clothing company I hope she can effect change in the seasonal nature of fashion, so that people aren't pushed to buy new clothes every year --and that clothes be made to last more then one season (via velocity of fashion, or via making compromised clothing fashionable (acid wash, tears, rips, etc...) People who darn and patch already do what she proposes. It may take off with others, but she can…

I had an LL Bean catalog delivered to me the other day. Almost everything I saw in it was exactly the same designs as twenty years ago - although I will admit I didn't peruse the women's apparel sections that closely. It may not be your fashion cup of tea, but the stuff tends to last forever and a day. I believe that they still honor their lifetime warranty, either repairing or replacing anything that you buy from th…

I darn the woolen socks my grandma made me. Maybe it's an emotional thing, making socks by hand takes a long time and adding a few minutes for repair so I can continue to use them seems like a small investment.
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