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iFixit's Kyle Wiens On the War On DIY Electronics

Posted by Unknown on from the insert-car-analogy-here dept.

pigrabbitbear writes with an excerpt from an article at Motherboard: "Anyone planning on buying a new iPad should know what they're getting themselves into by now. In recent years, Apple and other hardware manufacturers have made it liquid-crystal clear that they're not fond of the idea that customers can tear open and fix products without the help of licensed repair specialists. Even if it's as easy as ordering a part online and following a few instructions gleaned from a Google search, hardware companies generally seem to prefer we keep the hood closed. It should not be surprising, then, that the latest version of Apple's much-desired tablet has one 'killer' feature that's finally getting the attention it deserves: A design that stops you from getting inside of it."

10 of 760 comments (clear)

  1. don't buy the fucking thing then by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    everyone knows what apple is all about by now.

    1. Re:don't buy the fucking thing then by Squiddie · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Why is this modded down? For once, Anonymous Coward is perfectly correct. Don't buy their products. We already know that Apple is about walled gardens and taking control from the user.

    2. Re:don't buy the fucking thing then by mjwx · · Score: 5, Insightful

      And what does it matter? Is my refrigerator a walled garden because it's hard to get into and fix? Is my dishwasher a walled garden? How about my car?

      You think a refrigerator or washing machine is hard to fix?

      Hand in you man card right now.

      In the last six months I've replaced a leaky hose on a washer, Re-fixed the compressor on a fridge (it was making that shaking sound all night because it had come loose) and lets not get started on my car. In the last six months I've replaced an actuator in the right rear door (central locking stopped working on the rear RH door), replaced my left wing mirror casing (thanks to some douchebag trying to pass me on the left at 60 and that's a right hand drive and KPH, I live in Oz) and replaced the clutch. The engine my have "no user serviceable parts inside" but the engine is not the entire car and the only reason I dont touch the engine is because I dont know that much about their internal workings.

      If you think whitegoods or cars are walled gardens, you clearly dont know much about either of them or walled gardens.

      This is the problem people are trying to point out, so much could be repaired but people treat it as disposable, creating waste and wasting money.

      --
      Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
    3. Re:don't buy the fucking thing then by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      My car now has a fancy computer that needs a special adapter and software to interface, is that a walled garden?

      It is, and that's a problem. If your dishwasher is obfuscated to make it harder for third-party mechanics to fix it, that's a problem. If your washing machine refuses to work if it contains socks from a non-partner clothing manufacturer, that's a problem. Any time a device you own acts in a way to benefit its manufacturer at your expense, that's a problem which wouldn't occur in an ideal free-market, but may require legislation to prevent in the real world.

    4. Re:don't buy the fucking thing then by Pseudonym · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Even if you can't fix your fridge, there are plenty of people who can, none of whom require permission from the manufacturer. This prevents the manufacturer and the repairer forming a cartel.

      --
      sub f{($f)=@_;print"$f(q{$f});";}f(q{sub f{($f)=@_;print"$f(q{$f});";}f});
    5. Re:don't buy the fucking thing then by jandrese · · Score: 5, Insightful

      So long, commercial-free e-mail.

      Oh man, you're going to flip out when I tell you about this thing we call spam.

      --

      I read the internet for the articles.
    6. Re:don't buy the fucking thing then by justforgetme · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The problem is that the apple2 came from a company that shared Woz' philosophy and the iPad came from a company that shares Jobs' philosophy.. Same trademark different companies.

      --
      -- no sig today
    7. Re:don't buy the fucking thing then by justforgetme · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Now think of how much bone idleness stands between that and:

      FBI’s Joint Regional Intelligence Center heavily implies this [tinkering being suspicious behavior], suggesting that individuals engaged in certain technical activities should be regarded as “suspicious” and specifically mentioning people who "download or transfer files with ‘how-to’ content, such as [] information about timers, electronics, or remote transmitters/receivers.”

      Well done modern society, you made your visionaries and future inventors criminals in order to help the establishment to even more money.

      --
      -- no sig today
    8. Re:don't buy the fucking thing then by Raenex · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Lets go back and look at what YOU said.

      It wasn't me that said it, but he's spot on.

      I posed the hypothetical question of devices being difficult to fix for any lay person of the general populous.

      You tried to equate how hard it was to fix a refrigerator to the "walled garden" iPad, and specifically said it was difficult, then claimed in a later post that it wasn't, just not worth the time. There are a lot of do-it-yourself laypeople that can and do make simple repairs to their home appliances, which are often designed for accessibility. You can't even simply replace the battery on an iPad, the kind of thing that lots of laypeople do. In other words, your comparison was ridiculous.

      Aside from just laypeople, this also impacts recycling. From a link in the article: "Apple claims the new iPad is environmentally friendly with a 'recyclable aluminum and glass enclosure.' The materials may be recyclable, but the assembled unit is not. We spoke yesterday with Steve Skurnac, president of SIMS Recycling Solutions--one of the largest electronics recyclers in the world. He told us, 'Sealed units make it difficult to remove the batteries. From a recycler's point of view, the hazardous components [like batteries] need to be easily separated or removed.'"

  2. Re:follow my lead by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    microUSB is so widely used now i would consider it a standard...