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A number of states are considering right to repair bills, legislation which if passed would make it easier for individuals and repair shops to replace or repair electronics parts. Repair.org reports that 17 states have already introduced bills this year and while most aim to make repair parts and manuals accessible, Washington's proposed legislation would straight up ban electronics that prevent easy repair. "Original manufacturers of digital electronic products sold on or after January 1, 2019, in Washington state are prohibited from designing or manufacturing digital electronic products in such a way as to prevent reasonable diagnostic or repair functions by an independent repair provider," says the bill. "Preventing reasonable diagnostic or repair functions includes permanently affixing a battery in a manner that makes it difficult or impossible to remove."
[...] Naturally, tech groups have jumped to make their opposition clear. In a letter to Morris, groups such as the Consumer Technology Association, the Telecommunications Industry Association and the Computer Technology Industry Association said the bill was "unwarranted" and added, "With access to technical information, criminals can more easily circumvent security protections, harming not only the product owner but also everyone who shares their network."
Source: Engadget
(Score: 3, Insightful) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Monday January 29 2018, @02:38AM (21 children)
The public's fetish for svelte consumer electronics will defeat this
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 5, Insightful) by sjames on Monday January 29 2018, @02:42AM (2 children)
I'm not so sure how real that fetish is. I see a lot of thin phones locked into protective cases that make my Duraforce look svelte.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 29 2018, @04:45AM (1 child)
It's a convenient excuse for not having a removable battery, Micro SD slot or headphone jack. Not having those things is a convenient way of making customers pay extra for accessories and/or upgrade more often.
We hit the point where thinner was no longer any better years ago. These days, the excessive thinness makes them more susceptible to things like bursting into flames when the battery has insufficient space to expand and bending when placed in pants pockets.
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Monday January 29 2018, @05:23AM
Neither are hoverboards.
Specifically Note 7's and hoverboards.
My iPhone and my Acer both have lithium batteries but the airline thought they were completely cool.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Nerdfest on Monday January 29 2018, @02:57AM (15 children)
It really seems to be only Apple with the fetish, and other companies assume that's what people want and follow them. Most people I know would rather have a phone that's 3mm thicker, has a headphone jack, and a battery that lasts almost a week.
(Score: 4, Informative) by Arik on Monday January 29 2018, @03:14AM (7 children)
Yes, it didn't do BookFace, but I call that a feature.
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 1) by tftp on Monday January 29 2018, @03:37AM (3 children)
(Score: 3, Touché) by c0lo on Monday January 29 2018, @03:56AM
Since I don't use Lyft (or Uber), that's not a problem for me.
However, if/when I'm telecommuting, VPN-ing into office's network requires a 2FAuth that is only available as a app. And that's my problem with a dumb phone.
---
My point: one's problem isn't everybody's problem.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Arik on Monday January 29 2018, @05:30AM
I don't use Lyft either, but it only took me about 5 seconds to prove you wrong. It appears that all you need is a web browser and the ability to receive a text.
http://ride.lyft.com/
As I said, I don't use it, so I wasn't able to test far, but it even appears to work without scripting.
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 29 2018, @09:06PM
No. They are not, nor have ever been, needed.
(Score: 1, Flamebait) by frojack on Monday January 29 2018, @06:40AM (2 children)
"I preferred my old dumb phone."
Good for you.
Now run along an play Sonny, we're not interested in your buggy whip collection.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 29 2018, @09:50AM (1 child)
You're only interested in proprietary trash that constantly mistreats you. A masochist, I take it?
(Score: 2) by LoRdTAW on Monday January 29 2018, @02:37PM
Is that what they said? What if they, like I and most likely most other soylentils, desire a smartphone which runs open firmware, open OS, and not loaded with malware? Why cant we have both?
(Score: 2) by Demena on Monday January 29 2018, @03:40AM (4 children)
But I prefer a water resistant one. So, no to your requirements for me. This is by and large being brought and promoted by people who do not own an apple phone. So, go buy what you prefer and leave my preferences to continue to exist. Why should peons decide what I am allowed to have?
(Score: 2) by sjames on Monday January 29 2018, @04:33AM
Not sure what that has to do with it. My phone has a headphone jack and a rubber cover with a gasket that goes over it and is rated for a depth of 6 feet for 30 minutes. Alas, the battery won'y last a week, but it's decent and thick enough that I don't feel like it'll snap in half if I sneeze too hard. It also has a physical button for the camera so you can take a picture under water.
And the battery can be changed with a small screwdriver.
(Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Monday January 29 2018, @04:27PM
"Well the product must be exactly like it already is; if you want a different feature we have to throw everything out, kill the existing product, and make one with only that feature" is a rather crap argument. Making it a bit thicker is not going to automatically throw all the other features out the window.
Implying you don't consider yourself a peon, so instead your opinion is valid?
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: 2) by tibman on Monday January 29 2018, @06:55PM
Had a water resistant android for a few years. This one i think: https://www.samsung.com/us/mobile/phones/all-other-phones/samsung-galaxy-rugby-pro-at-t-sgh-i547zkaatt/ [samsung.com]
Great for kayaking (which i was really into at the time). No need for a protective case because it pretty much IS a protective case. Even though it doesn't look slim it was often smaller than other people's "slim phone" when they put their case on. Replaceable battery too. I would still be using it if they kept updating the OS (and security patches).
SN won't survive on lurkers alone. Write comments.
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 29 2018, @09:08PM
For the same reasons dems should dictate behavior, and social justice. like, duh, like.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 29 2018, @12:02PM (1 child)
This.
Apple is the one with the 'thinner thinner thinner' fetish. And because rabid apple fanbois will buy any turd produced by apple and declare it the next best thing from god they sell a fair number of things.
The other makers saw this, and misinterpreted why apple sold so many things. It was not because they were thin, it is because the typical apple fanboi is rabid and thinks anything apple is the way it should be.
Apple is why you can't have a phone with a headphone jack now, apple is why you can't have a phone with a week long battery life. Apple is the root of all evil in the phone/pc world.
(Score: 2) by t-3 on Monday January 29 2018, @09:36PM
No, no, no. Just like with the saying about money, you left out the most important part. /The LOVE of Apple/ is the root of all evil.
(Score: 1) by tftp on Monday January 29 2018, @03:47AM
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 29 2018, @04:22AM
"The public's fetish for svelte consumer electronics will defeat this"
Fetish? Last I checked, the public doesn't have much of a choice. It's either 'svelte consumer electronics', or live 'off the grid'.