WSJ: We Need the Right To Repair Our Gadgets

An anonymous reader writes: An editorial in the Wall Street Journal rings a bell we've been ringing for years: "Who owns the knowledge required to take apart and repair TVs, phones and other electronics? Manufacturers stop us by controlling repair plans and limiting access to parts. Some even employ digital software locks to keep us from making changes or repairs. This may not always be planned obsolescence, but it's certainly intentional obfuscation." The article shows that awareness of this consumer-hostile behavior (and frustration with it) is going mainstream. The author links to several DIY repair sites like iFixit, and concludes, "Repairing stuff isn't as complicated as they want you to think. Skilled gadget owners and independent repair pros deserve access to the information they need to do the best job they can."

Comments

Good example

[jez9999]

A good example is removable batteries in mobile phones. I was shopping around a few days ago and the only major Smartphones that still have removable batteries are the LG G3/G4, Samsung S5 (not the S6), and I think the Moto X. Everyone else has jumped on the Apple ship and denied you access to the smartphone battery, preventing a hard reset.

Stop copying Apple, you lemmings!!

Re: Good example

[sremick]

Wrong

A typical lithium ion battery will show noted loss of capacity even after 2y. And it's not just about the overall lifespan of the battery: it's about being able to quickly pop in a freshly-charged spare and get on with your day without having to be stuck tethered to a charging cable.

Or, if you work remotely from charging sources for extended periods, having a handful of $10 charged batteries handy is a lifesaver.

Re: Good example

[jandrese]

Phone batteries tend to be around 50-60% of their original capacity after a couple of years. Here is the thing though, it may be difficult but it is not impossible to replace the battery in something like an iPhone. It requires a special screwdriver, but that is easily found online from the same places that sell replacement batteries. The actual procedure isn't especially difficult on most phones. It's not something you would do regularly, but as something you do maybe once to a phone its really not so bad. The tradeoff is that the phone is thinner and lasts longer on the charge. You also lose the ability to carry extra batteries with you on a trip and swap them in as needed, but that was not typical even when it was possible, and less necessary with the higher capacity "permanent" batteries on phones.

The one thing you do miss is the ability to pull the battery from your phone if you suspect it has been compromised and is spying on you. With baseband hacks you can never be sure if the phone is completely off the way you could back when you could yank the battery.

Re: Good example

[jez9999]

it is that more people would rather have a thinner phone

What is it with that, can anyone explain to me? My LG G3 is maybe a centimetre thick and I don't need it to be any thinner. Honestly, why do you need your phone to be thinner than that (and probably more likely to bend)? Are you planning to use it as a credit card?

FCC's trying to break improving router firmware

[jddj]

The FCC is currently trying to end 3rd-party wifi router firmware (think Tomato, DD-WRT, OpenWRT, etc.), by requiring manufacturers to build devices that only accept firmware updates signed with the manufacturer's keys.

This means you'll only be able to install software the manufacturer has certified comes with their own bugs, embedded backdoors and security #fails, rather than be able to put something better on your hardware.

It also may mean that router manufacturers will be required to place NSA backdoors in the firmware and be unable to tell consumers about them due to National Security Letters.

The WSJ is right: We Need The Right To Repair Our Gadgets.

Re:FCC's trying to break improving router firmware

[jonnythan]

They're trying to end 3rd party *radio* firmware, because so many of them allow you to boost power levels well beyond what is allowed by current regulations.

They don't give a whit about router firmware. Of course, the end result will probably be manufacturers locking down router firmware entirely, but all they would need to do is lock down the radio itself.

Re:For a reason.....

[mordjah]

Pffft! Come on.. PSU, main board, sound board, breakouts for controls, driver board.. Come on. Not a big deal.. Sure, you aren't doing any component level repair any more beyond some shitty cheapo dried caps , but that ship sailed a while ago unless you are a hobbiest with good tools and a steady hand. It pisses me off to no end that you cannot even buy a repair manual unless you are a "factory authorized service center" no matter how out of warranty.

TLDR: quit buying Apple products

[xxxJonBoyxxx]

I only buy Android phones for me and my family that cost less than $100. If they break (and it has yet to happen), oh well - I'll just buy another one. Ditto tablets (though I've tossed and replaced two of those). Our laptops are also cheapy Toshiba/HP's that cost maybe $300 each.

All of these have replaceable batteries, and I can generally replace the disk, screen, keyboard and other major parts of the laptops for $60.

The common thread here? None of these are Apple products.

Hostility towards Consumers

[Sir_Eptishous]

I think in general there is hostility towards consumers, and not just with things like consumer electronics.

Digital media such as music, books, video or films?
While there is an immense catalog of choice with what we can consume, we are are getting less and less able to have control over their choices, due to how "rights holders" and others corral us into their vision of how to consume and deliver this media.

'Skilled gadget owners'

[kheldan]

For various values of the word 'skilled'. I've been working in electronics for over 30 years. To 'repair' something used to mean 'replace components', but after a certain point it became 'replace an entire circuit board', which will always be a weak substitute so far as I'm concerned. But the real problem is that with the advent of surface-mount components, the door to repairing a circuit board largely became shut and locked to the vast majority of people. When you need (high) magnification and some specialized soldering equipment and supplies just to replace common passive components (YOU try to remove and replace 0402 SMCs with the naked eye!) it puts the job just out of reach of many. Of course most times passive components aren't the problem, and when the integrated circuits are in BGA (ball grid array) packages, and you need a $3000 setup just to remove one, and help from a diety to install a replacement, for 99% of anyone thinking of trying it, it just went entirely out of reach. This is not even touching on the subject of schematics for the device you're trying to repair, which for many/most things you're not getting your hands on for any amount of money, and in some cases you might get threatened with legal action just for trying to get it. Then there's the subject of proprietary software tools that might be necessary, and you're not getting those for any reason from a manufacturer. Even the manufacturers themselves often don't bother repairing anything, they'll just 'recycle' it and send you a new one because the cost in labor alone to repair exceeds what the thing costs.

Of course I'm going to be reminded that nobody is trying to repair the circuit board in their phone, they just want to replace the battery or cracked screen or whatnot. Manufacturers have never wanted consumers repairing their own devices, so yes they make it as difficult as possible sometimes. It's always been like that. Don't expect that to change, either. You're always going to have to go to 3rd party sources for parts and supplies and information. When we really need to cry 'Foul!' is if they try to make it illegal, though.

my 1st gen kindle fire doesn't charge any more

[circletimessquare]

it's a well-known issue

https://www.ifixit.com/Answers...

amazon said they'd give me $15 off the purchase of a new one because it doesn't charge any more. instead i purchased the $5 repair USB port:

http://www.amazon.com/Charging...

looked through some videos

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

and tried it out

in the first 15 minutes, i succesfully broke a tiny plasticzif connector:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

great, nothing to see here, move along, cross your fingers it will stay with some rubber cement

then i made a hilariously inept attempt to solder tiny connections of the new USB port with a fat soldering iron and some eye glass repair magnifying glass

but lo and behold it worked. it charged! ...for half an hour. now it's dead as a door knob

here's the real issue:

i don't have the time to do this shit, and the cost of modern electronics makes the cost of new electronics compared to the time investment to attempt a repair means repair is not an option

go to repair places and the cost of a repair is also prohibitively expensive as compared to the cost of a new item

therefore: welcome to our throwaway culture

i tried. i really did

i just don't have the time or patience anymore, not to join now myself

sorry

Re:my 1st gen kindle fire doesn't charge any more

[xxxJonBoyxxx]

I'll fix your SHIFT keys for free.

Consumers made this decision ...

[MacTO]

Consumers helped to make this decision a long time ago when they decided that it was better to replace than to repair. Yes, there were external factors. This includes things like the cost of getting someone to make repairs and the faster turn around of buying a replacement. On the other hand, their inability to conduct the most basic repairs on their own (e.g. fixing a frayed cable or swapping a replaceable component) went a long way in convincing manufacturers that planned obsolescence can be a viable business model. The prioritization of compact and more integrated devices over serviceability is also a huge factor. Computers are an excellent example of that. Contrast an early 80's computer, where nearly everything was in a socket or soldered through-hole, to a modern phone where there is barely enough space for a plug and socket for the battery.

We also can't claim that consumers didn't see this coming. Again to the computer example: there was a shift from the early 80's computers to modular desktops of the late 80's and early 90's (where the modules were more or less standardized), to the laptops of the late 90's and early 2000's (where the modules were less standard), to the present day. Ah, the present day: a time when a replaceable battery or an SD card for memory expansion (not so much to repair as to extend the service life of a product) is considered an anti-feature by some.

Manufacturers may have implemented these decisions, but it was the consumer who made the decision.

Spectrum and interference

[xtal]

Blame people using frequencies and EIRP they're not supposed to and interference generated as a result. That's the downside to the software defined radio approach; the software needs to be locked to maintain compliance with FCC regulations.

Has nothing to do with networking or repair.

You can always get a router that takes a FCC-approved wireless card and route to your heart's content.

Re:Unibody?

[sjames]

Actually, to reach apple level, the manufacturers would have to do away with the openable hood as well. If it needs an oil change, throw it away and buy a new one.