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Internal Documents Show Apple Is Capable of Implementing Right to Repair Legislation (vice.com)
A leaked internal document outlines a program that looks almost exactly like the requirements of right to repair legislation that has been proposed in 20 states. From a report: As Apple continues to fight legislation that would make it easier for consumers to repair their iPhones, MacBooks, and other electronics, the company appears to be able to implement many of the requirements of the legislation, according to an internal presentation obtained by Motherboard. According to the presentation, titled "Apple Genuine Parts Repair" and dated April 2018, the company has begun to give some repair companies access to Apple diagnostic software, a wide variety of genuine Apple repair parts, repair training, and notably places no restrictions on the types of repairs that independent companies are allowed to do. The presentation notes that repair companies can "keep doing what you're doing, with ... Apple genuine parts, reliable parts supply, and Apple process and training."
This is, broadly speaking, what right to repair activists have been asking state legislators to require companies to offer for years. "This looks to me like a framework for complying with right to repair legislation," Kyle Wiens, CEO of iFixit and a prominent member of the right to repair movement, told me on the phone. "Right now, they are only offering it to a few megachains, but it seems clear to me that it would be totally possible to comply with right to repair."
This is, broadly speaking, what right to repair activists have been asking state legislators to require companies to offer for years. "This looks to me like a framework for complying with right to repair legislation," Kyle Wiens, CEO of iFixit and a prominent member of the right to repair movement, told me on the phone. "Right now, they are only offering it to a few megachains, but it seems clear to me that it would be totally possible to comply with right to repair."
I remember almost two decades ago in my college days that the campus bookstore which sold Apple products was also an authorized Apple repair center. Having setup their network equipment (and run down computers with viruses on them), I happen to see them repair a few products in the back room. The part came with a link to a website where they could view a step by step tear down of whatever it was. The document the site had was very detailed and showed every single screw, plate, cover, etc and how exactly to remove it, and in what order everything needed to be done. I remember thinking lego instructions were not this detailed. I asked the tech how long he had been fixing Apple products, and he told me that this was his first time working on that model, but he didn't need to know, it was all in the document.
So if they had these documents that long ago, why haven't they made them public? Oh, never mind, allowing only a few repair shops added to the premium mentality which allowed them to charge more for the products, and the Apple Care plans they pushed.
Hell, Apple isn't even in the business of repair work. Go ahead. Try and convince them to give you a reasonable price to repair your broken hardware. You'll be staring at a quote that's 90% the cost of new hardware.
That....kind of proves his point. Apple doesn't want you repairing devices. If you have a 2-3 year old device and the repair cost is 80-90% of the price of a new one, most people are just going to bite the bullet and buy a new one. This is especially beneficial for iPhones where most people turn in their old device for a new one and Apple can refurbish the old device (very cheaply given how low the cost of the components really are) and resell it as a refurb or internationally for additional profit.
The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
keep doing what you're doing, with ... Apple genuine parts, reliable parts supply, and Apple process and training.
Having an option to get genuine parts would be great, but I fully expect an aftermarket to be created with much cheaper options.
As someone who will never own a tractor, I am concerned about it. I am also not liable to be caught up in a genocide of Southeast Asian minorities or gagged by surveillance software in Central Asia or harassed by police because of my race. Some of us care about things that don't immediately impact our lives because we care about other human beings.
When it comes to tractors, 99.5% of people don't care about tractor repairs.
Count me as one of the 0.5%. I grew up on a farm, not having a working tractor meant you did the work by hand or horse. Being able to take something apart, figure out how it worked, fix it, and put it back together again is essential to a farm. So being denied that really hurts farmers and without farms your nicely packaged foods or prepared meals don't happen.
Of course this is just a learning period for farms. Once they realize that the newest tractor won't allow you to take the cover off without some tech re-certifying the computer before it works again, well lets just say they'll buy from someone else or keep the old equipment around.
This also has bigger implications in that people like to tinker with things and make them better or just different. Using DRM to stop that only hurts the US in its ability to invent and improve.
Also I can't think of one appliance or equipment I have bought in the last 15 years I haven't torn apart once just to see how it worked. I saved myself a washer repair man visit the other day. It was leaking and by taking the panels off and watching how it worked I found the source of the leak and replaced it with a $5.00 seal. If the washer had stopped working because I took a panel off, and I had to pay the company to come out and reset it. I'd be asking for my money back, and would never buy another product from them again.
What PR firms? What talking heads? Why would I think that stories about corporate malfeasance are plants but you aren't?
This is slashdot... "News for nerds, stuff that matters".
Once upon a time, nerds were the people who were building computers in their basements, salvaging old electronics to build new creations, and generally taking shit apart to see what they could do with it. Farmers were not dissimilar in how they handled their tractors - many of those old timers with their self-taught mechanical aptitude could rig something up from loose bits around the farm to keep ancient tractors chugging away, doing useful work long after their manufacturers went out of business.
Today, many companies have realized that every repaired device that is saved from a landfill is one less potential customer, and so they've introduced artificial technical barriers (DRM and worse) to try to clamp down on this unprofitable practice. What's worse, in some cases they have sent lawyers after companies and individuals who have had the gall to try to repair devices themselves.
If I buy a device, I should be able to do whatever I damn well please with it - take it apart, put it back together, swap components out, upgrade it - whatever is within my capacity to do. If someone buys a piece of hardware, the manufacturer shouldn't get to dictate how they are allowed to use it. That's what Right to Repair is about.