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Grandson of Legendary John Deere Inventor Calls Out Company On Right To Repair (securityledger.com)
chicksdaddy writes: The grandson of Theo Brown, a legendary engineer and inventor for John Deere who patented, among other things, the manure spreader is calling out the company his grandfather served for decades for its opposition to right to repair legislation being considered in Illinois. In an opinion piece published by The Security Ledger entitled "My Grandfather's John Deere would support Our Right to Repair," Willie Cade notes that his grandfather, Theophilus Brown is credited with 158 patents, some 70% of them for Deere & Co., including the manure spreader in 1915. His grandfather used to travel the country to meet with Deere customers and see his creations at work in the field. His hope, Cade said, was to help the company's customers be more efficient and improve their lives with his inventions.
In contrast, Cade said the John Deere of the 21st Century engages in a very different kind of business model: imposing needless costs on their customers. An example of this kind of rent seeking is using software locks and other barriers to repair -- such as refusing to sell replacement parts -- in order to force customers to use authorized John Deere technicians to do repairs at considerably higher cost and hassle. "It undermines what my grandfather was all about," he writes. Cade, who founded the Electronics Reuse Conference, is supporting right to repair legislation that is being considered in Illinois and opposed by John Deere and the industry groups it backs. "Farmers who can't repair farm equipment and a wide spectrum of Americans who can't repair their smartphones are pushing back in states across the country."
In contrast, Cade said the John Deere of the 21st Century engages in a very different kind of business model: imposing needless costs on their customers. An example of this kind of rent seeking is using software locks and other barriers to repair -- such as refusing to sell replacement parts -- in order to force customers to use authorized John Deere technicians to do repairs at considerably higher cost and hassle. "It undermines what my grandfather was all about," he writes. Cade, who founded the Electronics Reuse Conference, is supporting right to repair legislation that is being considered in Illinois and opposed by John Deere and the industry groups it backs. "Farmers who can't repair farm equipment and a wide spectrum of Americans who can't repair their smartphones are pushing back in states across the country."
Sometimes the jokes just write themselves.
It is illegal to repair your own Tesla. But you faggots keep giving them a pass.
Don't care what the kids of kids think.
As is artificial scarcity.
For thee same reason: It ruins exactly the freedom of the market that those corporations say they want so much when it works in their favor.
And it allows infinite price gouging to a poimt where it is literally robbing or stealing, as in: taking money, even by force, without giving something in return, and without leaving a choice. With only a small token legiimate business exchange attached for alibi purposes.
Whether it's done with tractor parts or software copies (aka "intellectual property"), does not matter.
On mobile devices, the "submit anonymously" button is right above the "QWERT", and there is not even a preview. So you often hit it accidentially, leading to results like the above.
Don't judge it by the typos or anonymity, please.
"My grandfather would have wanted them to have the right to repair, as long as they used only John Deere authentic parts purchased from a dealer. He filed those patents to also prevent others from making use of the technology he created but ignore that part as it's a bit counter to my argument."
I think right to repair is important - especially with what Deere has been doing, which I read about off and on.
The one caution I would make is, I like making it so that third parties can get official means and parts to do repairs. I'm not as on-board with any kind of law that would limit how objects should be manufactured...
My long term worry is that products would become more crappy if it's mandated they cannot be sealed a certain way. Both Android and iPhone owners enjoy greta waterproofing abilities of modern phones, and I would seriously be annoyed to lose that just because of a law that said you had to be able to easily remove the back of a phone (for instance).
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
ba doom pah.
while i admire those that try to control repairs, some things are just to crazy to fix yourself. yet, the competitive pricing of a free market to get something fixed should exist. the manufacturer should not 100% absolutely control something i bought and paid for, otherwise why would a title of ownership exist? its okay, as farmers, john deer was the primadonna and the darling of all things farming, yet massey ferguson, international harvester, ford, etc... had plenty of room on our farm and acreage. the dumb asses at john deer were doing like any other capitalist, trying to control the market for maximum profit.. that's okay.. the market will eventually decide and turn on them and drop them like a hot rock in a lake... no crying over spilled milk ... john deer... the mickey mouse laws do apply and your patents are nice... submarined patents or not... until that was no longer legal either... ethical, nope, but greedy bastards.. yep.. so... ;-) nice one ...
tesla? oh.. so what.. i like Elon and his toy story... can't wait until we have moon trips and john deer is patenting moon farming equipment too....
All due respect to the grandson and the grandfather, but Theo Brown was a businessman of the time. If he had lived today, he would totally be working to lock his customers into exclusive maintenance channels. Business has changed, and that's how you make money nowadays. I like the idea of right-to-repair, but let's face it: it just isn't good business anymore. You're fighting capitalism. It's gonna be a *very* uphill battle.
Wasn't there a guy who had his own farm and was spearheading a project to design and build farm equipment using bog-standard hardware store tools and stock and then release the designs as open source?
Is far worse! As much as I am for less governmental oversight, I think it's going to take legislation.
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*using the new meaning of the word, popularized by American ISPs and data service providers.
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You are being ripped off every second of every day, so that advertisers can help rip you off even more tomorrow.
Sorry, but only the great grandson of a legendary inventor has the final word on whether or not the company is now corrupt.
Monopolism is a crime. As is artificial scarcity.
Unless it is based upon a government issued patent. Then it is perfectly legal.
I grew up on a farm. Farmers *need* to repair their own machinery. You cannot be a farmer without also being a mechanic. When you're working in the fields all day and into the night, for example, to get the crops harvested before winter comes, you can't just stop and wait for someone else to repair your broken combine. You need to be able to diagnose the problem, go buy the part you need from the local farm supply store, and then do the repairs yourself.
So for John Deere company to deny farmers the right to repair their own equipment which they own is stupid.
Isn't that cute- he thinks corporations care about their reputation and that corporations should do things that are good, positive, and helpful.
I thought Facebook had that patent?
Might makes right irrelevant.
The first sentence alone: is it the grandson or Theo Brown that was the inventor? Is the manure spreader calling out the company? Or is one of either Theo Brown or his grandson? I haven't even finished reading the first sentence. I know. This is /. People just come here for the dick and fart jokes and to push their political opinion on everything. But I just thought I'd point how what a terrible job the editor did on this particular summary. I haven't even bothered to read the rest, so maybe the editor redeems himself? I doubt it...