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What's your opinion on electronics right to repair?

Discussion in 'Ogres Breakfast' started by Snowy, May 5, 2021.

  1. Perhaps you've cracked a phone, spilled liquid on a laptop or some other device, or your electronics device failed to boot up or work properly (the result of the company's immoral decision to have planned obsolescence on their product, the result of the surrounding environment, or some other bizarre reason). Or you need to replace the battery, but the company behind your device made it extremely impractical for you to do that yourself (e.g.: Apple devices are screwed in with pentalope screws and there's no consumer-available screwdriver to open up your device). Usually you'll need to visit a repair service to have whatever electronics device repaired.

    But there are downsides to visiting a first-party repair service. For instance, first-party repair services tend to be more expensive, and a lot of times the service isn't great (e.g. the so-called "Apple Geniuses" told you that you needed to get one part of the device fixed, but that part was never an issue for the device, but they do that so that you'll pay more for the repair). Or because the warranty of your device has expired, they refuse service to you. Or maybe it takes months to get a repair from a first-party repair service where it only takes one day to get the repair from a third-party repair service, so you might value convenience. Or maybe you want to modify your device (e.g. install a capture card), but the first-party repair service won't allow it.

    So what's the issue? Big companies like Apple are trying to stop third-party repair shops and make it harder for consumers to get third-party repair service. For instance, spare parts being shipped to third-party repair stores might get seized by U.S. Customs and Border Protection or those stores might be fined by companies like Apple. And this isn't just about Apple; it's about all electronics devices (including computers, phones, gaming consoles, etc.).

    So what do you think about electronics right to repair? Should consumers and third-party repair services be allowed to repair/modify consumer electronic devices?
     

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