Slashdot Mirror
Apple's iPhone Throttling Will Reinvigorate the Push for Right To Repair Laws (vice.com)
Jason Koebler, writing for Motherboard: The news that Apple throttles iPhones that have old batteries will reinvigorate the right to repair debate as the movement enters a crucial year. Third party repair shops say they've already seen an uptick in customers asking for battery replacements to speed up their slow phones, and right to repair activists who are pushing for state legislation that will make third party and self repair more accessible say Apple's secrecy about this behavior will give them a powerful rallying message. "If Apple were serious about battery life, they'd market battery replacements," Gay Gordon-Byrne, executive director of Repair.org, told me in an email. "Apple clearly has a big financial benefit when people decide their phones are too slow and head to the Apple Store for a new phone." Repair.org is a right to repair advocacy group that is made up largely of small, third party repair shops, which is spearheading the effort to get states to consider legislation that will make it easier to repair electronic devices.
I noticed they still throttle old iphones even when plugged in and 100% battery. There goes that excuse.
The company that professes sustainable living, equality, environmentalism and then...
Gave birth to the touchbar MBP.
QED.
The devil himself probably golf-clapped and wiped a tear away when witnessing the birth of this product for how it almost exists as a Manichean opposite of Apple's professed values.
Most modern super-thin phones and other devices are glued together in such a way that it's difficult or impossible for even a fairly careful, experienced person with small nimble fingers to get them apart without destroying some expensive component, usually, the screen/digitizer/glass assembly.
This isn't just a problem for phones, but tablets and many modern computers (Surface, cough, cough), too.
Checkout the reviews on sites like teardown.com, and you can see that most (thin) modern electronic devices are held together with glues that are clearly selected with no concern for the device ever coming apart again.
There is no punishment too severe for Apple for deliberately degrading the performance of devices after they have been sold. (This is argualbly far worse than the hardware/software tying & lying that got IBM put under antitrust consent decree back in the 1960's!)
I've uncomfortably used Apple phones for the last several years, but I'm done with that - replaceable batteries and expandable storage are on the required list for my next phone!
"The future's good and the present is nothing to sneeze at." - Roblimo's last
In other words, a corporate lobby group.
Just remember that the next time you see a lobby group you disagree with that happens to be funded by other corporations. Who funds the lobby group does not inherently change the value of the lobbying. Debate the issue on its merits.
In this case, as a right-winger, I agree with this lobby group, at least on the issue presented here in the way that it is presented. The right to purchase a good, and thereby own it, is a fundamental aspect of a fair, open and free market. If I cannot repair that which I own, then I don't really own it. Now, granted, as we shrink our circuits to the point of ICs, we may not be able to replace individual resistors or diodes or anything, but there does need to be some level of repair available, especially for parts that can wear out. Batteries, even rechargeables, definitely fall under that category. Screen glass probably as well, based on the number of cracked phone screens I've seen over the years.
Not a problem. Simply legislate that any device over say $250 be designed, actively designed to be repairable ie easy example, user replaceable batteries, no ifs not buts, don't give a crap, user replaceable batteries and screens at minimum. This asking and begging for stuff from greedy corporations are you nucking futs, no asking, no begging, grind on politicians until they legislate and fines, a fine per device that is not essentially consumer repairable. Want super thin (bullshit I know) glued together phones sell them for less than $250, suck it up. Every phone more expensive than that and the user themselves have to be able to repair the most likely to break elements of the phone, screen and battery and probably connectors. Think it is not a pretty, basically bugger off, how stupid do you think we really are.
Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
We want to get rid of job killing regulations
We don't want a bunch of unelected Washington bureaucrats telling us what to do and what not to do
On second thoughts, it is a good idea to pass such laws. The right thing to do is to cut funding and cut the balls of the regulatory agencies. We get the credit for passing the laws and photo ops and all the great campaign sound bites. Then we get to blame the dysfunctional government and stupid government bureaucrats. It is a great formula we have invented. We should continue to milk it.
It is a democracy. You will get the government you deserve.
sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
Replacing the damned battery shouldn't be something considered a "repair". It's only the greed and asshole nature of phone manufacturers than make it that way.
Last I checked you can't revert iOS updates on the iPhones anymore.
sounds like you own stock in LANDFILLS.
why do you hate the earth so much?
(repairing is GOOD FOR EVERYONE. its fucking evil that companies have convinced idiots like yourself that we should live in a throw-away world.)
designing things to be repairable is NOT hard. NOT HARD. but the reason they don't do is is JUST for the cash gab.
sorry, but that's just too selfish a reason; and it hurts everyone but the company. really sucky attitude and I find it very common with younger people. sucks!
--
"It is now safe to switch off your computer."