SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
Apple, Google & Microsoft Have Teamed up to Block the Right-to-Repair Law
Apple, Google & Microsoft Have Teamed up to Block the Right-to-Repair Law:
Bloomberg today released a report on how companies like Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, and Google are working together to put a stop to laws that would make it necessary for companies to provide device schematics, genuine repair parts, and repair manuals to independent repair technicians.
Almost 27 states have considered the laws in 2021 alone, but in more than half of them, the laws have been voted down or dismissed. Many lobbyists and trade groups representing tech companies have fought hard against this law with Apple pointing out that such measures could lead to device damage or consumers harming themselves when attempting to repair their devices.
In Washington, for example, Washington House of Representatives Democrat Mia Gregerson sponsored a Right to Repair measure that was fought by Microsoft, Google, Amazon, along with lobbyists representing Apple. Lobbyists later said that Apple would endorse repair programs at local colleges if the bill was dropped.
Also at Bloomberg and MacRumors.
See also: Leaked Apple Documents Inadvertently Helped the Right-to-Repair Movement
Louis Rossmann Starts a GoFundMe to Get "Right to Repair" Legistation Passed Through a Direct Ballot
Summary Louis Rossmann, electronics repairman and YouTuber, has started a nonprofit and GoFundMe campaign to fight to get right to repair legislation passed through direct ballot initiatives. For years Louis has talked about the importance of right to repair and how it has become more difficult t...
Right to repair series - Louis Rossmann
In this series he specifically explains why we need better right to repair laws.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyM7FxEaShI
Original Submission #1 Original Submission #2 Original Submission #3
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Taxi Dudinous on Friday May 21 2021, @05:55PM (31 children)
Why waste time trying to fix anything from these companies. Just throw their garbage away and get something that works.
Oh. Right. Already did that. :-)
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Tork on Friday May 21 2021, @06:15PM (18 children)
I'm not saying things shouldn't be reparable, simply that we probably don't need to trade one extreme for another.
Slashdolt Logic: "25 year old jokes about sharks and lasers are +5, Funny." 💩
(Score: 4, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 21 2021, @06:48PM (7 children)
The argument that Louis Rossmann has been using lately is that he can't order a $5 part from a supplier because Apple forbids it, and Apple charges $1500 to make the fix. That's for some Macbook, not iPhone.
(Score: 2) by Tork on Friday May 21 2021, @07:04PM (6 children)
Slashdolt Logic: "25 year old jokes about sharks and lasers are +5, Funny." 💩
(Score: 4, Insightful) by fustakrakich on Friday May 21 2021, @07:10PM (3 children)
That's outrageous.. It shouldn't cost you a penny.
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 2) by Tork on Friday May 21 2021, @07:20PM (2 children)
Slashdolt Logic: "25 year old jokes about sharks and lasers are +5, Funny." 💩
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 22 2021, @12:14PM
Two years is not an acceptable total lifetime for a laptop, what is this, the 1990s?
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Sunday May 23 2021, @05:36PM
Batteries shouldn't swell up and threaten to explode, ever. I wish everybody demanded a full refund on the unit. What other way is there to prevent a repeat?
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Rich on Friday May 21 2021, @11:30PM (1 child)
Just earlier, today, I swapped out the original battery of the 2009 Macbook Pro I type this very message on. Third party replacement: 25,90€ including shipping, works like a charm, including the touchpad clicker, which was stuck from the swelling, too. While the computer was open, a replacement for the broken original DVD drive (13,95€ including shipping, used) also went in. If I feel inclined to, I can now "Rip. Mix. Burn." to my hearts content (remember when that was the in-thing you just had to be able to) from CDs I actually own. :) Economically sound, with a remaining value of around 400€ (with a good SSD, and some people still seem to value Snow Leopard capabilities plus not the disintegrating ATI chips of the years after). Apple already made it a bit difficult with the 1.5mm pentalobe screws, which didn't quite match the tri-wing screwdriver the battery folks kindly included next to a PH00 for the case, but fortunately I had a fitting screwdriver on hand, because I've already had to deal with such crap. I hear the tri-wing might come in handy for some Nintendo gear.
Also, for your earlier post, that non-repairable stuff is more reliable, mileage varies very much here. I have a 2012 RMBP, which was the first to have soldered-in-RAM. Guess what. Precisely that RAM fucked up and the Apple online help had the chutzpah to explain that the startup sound means my RAM is defective and I need to change the modules. A service odyssey ensued that set me back around 800€ and involved a replacement logic board shipped in from Australia (yes. NOT neighbouring Austria.), where a simple 80€ module swap would have done on a model of the year before.
At least for the 2012 RMBP, I have a 2280-SATA adapter on hand that I can plop in a 1TB Samsung stick when the SSD craps out. No such option with the 2020 16" and its soldered-in SSD. If it hadn't been for customer requirements, I would not have bought that box (the price of which at least ended fully on an invoice to said customer..., but hey, to its credit, it has the best sound I've ever heard from a laptop)
You can't even tell them to shove it, because bloody Tim Cook would come out saying that they actually do that, and they like it.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 23 2021, @04:09PM
So just because the battery and RAM aren't glued or soldered in doesn't mean the stuff is less reliable.
It's not as fast as the latest and greatest but it works well enough. FWIW I already replaced the spinning disk drive with an SSD many years ago which is probably why it feels fast enough. Then some years later upgraded to a larger SSD.
(Score: 5, Informative) by DeathMonkey on Friday May 21 2021, @07:09PM (4 children)
None of these bills mandate any design changes. They can continue to build them in whatever manner they see fit.
What they do mandate is that things like schematics are provided and allow individuals to purchase OEM parts from manufacturers.
(Score: 2) by Tork on Friday May 21 2021, @07:51PM
I didn't read the article. My bad.
Slashdolt Logic: "25 year old jokes about sharks and lasers are +5, Funny." 💩
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 23 2021, @02:03PM (2 children)
I just want to be able to replace the battery in my current phone. The phone is fine, it could last for years. The battery is shot. It's dying. Soon it won't be able to charge.
My last phone still works. It can't charge the battery, but swapping the battery is possible.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 23 2021, @04:16PM (1 child)
My workaround is to buy a phone that's not too expensive. That way swapping the entire phone cost just a bit more than an iphone battery replacement (out of warranty).
(Score: 2) by takyon on Sunday May 23 2021, @05:23PM
The amount of phone you can get for less than $100 is pretty good these days. 8 cores, 2-3 GB of RAM, 1080p, etc.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jLncvFgUY8 [youtube.com]
Flash memory should last a long time if you're barely using it. But if you are taking lots of photos or whatever, a MicroSD card could help.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 21 2021, @07:11PM
That's absolutely fine. Connectors of any kind are typically both expensive and unreliable so sure it makes a lot of sense to design these out whenever practical.
Right to repair is not about things like soldering versus wire wrap versus connectors or whatever. It is primarily about the ability to purchase parts and documentation needed for repair.
(Score: 5, Informative) by sjames on Friday May 21 2021, @09:22PM
Fine and dandy it it's soldered by necessity, solder stations aren't that expensive. But they don't stop there. The replacement parts that you might choose to solder in are made unavailable, the cases are glued shut when screws and a gasket would work as well or better. The ever so breakable glass is glued to the display such that you need an expensive and specialized laser device to burn the glue out. Then the genuine replacement parts can only be sourced from otherwise broken phones and the firmware is rigged to detect 3rd party parts and "malfunction" if found.
You should watch some of Rossmann's videos where he does $100 repairs after the "Geniuses" claimed only a $1500 replacement was possible. There are also shops that can retrieve irreplaceable data from a damaged iPhone after Apple said the data was gone forever. Apple is doing it's best to put them out of business.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Saturday May 22 2021, @12:17AM (2 children)
Good point. However, the drive is not to make everything "consumer repairable", but "repairable". The average automobile driver cannot, will not even attempt, to change his fuel injectors. Joe Average doesn't have the tools, the skills, or the know-how. But, Joe can take his oversized Hemi down to Uncle Albert's auto repair, and have all the work necessary done, at rates much cheaper than Mopar will ever charge.
We've touched on soldering and other hot work in other discussions on SN. I suck at it. I can solder big stuff, but my vision and muscle control limits me with a soldering iron. I simply could not disassemble then reassemble something like a smart phone. But, I know people who can do that kind of work - in fact, they enjoy it. I can outperform some of these guys all day long on most of our work, but I have to give them my fine soldering work. They eat that shit up.
We want the right to decide if, how, where, and who is going to make repairs on our stuff. We don't want to answer to the Corporate Masters. We don't want to pay $700 for repairs that Jim Bob's Electronics is willing to do for $90.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by coolgopher on Saturday May 22 2021, @01:12AM (1 child)
But that would mean actually having a free market. We cannot have that!
(Score: 2) by Dr Spin on Saturday May 22 2021, @06:42AM
But that would mean actually having a free market. We cannot have that!
^^^^ This, a thousand time, this!
Warning: Opening your mouth may invalidate your brain!
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 21 2021, @06:32PM (9 children)
The fundamental problem is that this anti-repair cancer is spreading to basically all industries. The reality is that if companies like Apple can get away with things like contracting with suppliers to prevent them from selling chips to anyone else, or obligating disposal companies to destroy perfectly working products just to make sure that nobody can possibly get anything functional from the garbage, then basically everyone else is incentivised to operate in the same way.
"Just don't buy Apple" doesn't help you fix your tractor when all the tractor manufacturers are doing the same thing.
"Just don't buy Google" doesn't help you fix your washing machine when all the washing machine manufacturers are doing the same thing.
"Just keep using products built in the 1980s that don't have any of these problems" can help, but is not a long-term solution.
(Score: 2) by Taxi Dudinous on Friday May 21 2021, @06:46PM (8 children)
Alright! I'm busted. Was just being snarky because these companies upset me on such a regular basis. iPhone would be nicer if one could easily change the battery. But being able to open the case means less reliable water resistance, and perhaps a slightly larger form factor. For a laptop, I would rather have that slightly larger form factor and be able to upgrade/repair, but Apple says "better get what you want when you buy, because what you get is what you get".
As far as Microsoft and Google, well I am a little worried if I can not get their things fixed. I mean, I am pretty certain my stuff is broken
My windows has not been hampering my productivity as much as usual. I am worried. And I am worried about google, since they have not been tracking me as much as I think they should. I don't feel safe anymore. What ever shall I do? /s
(Score: 3, Insightful) by sjames on Friday May 21 2021, @10:00PM (7 children)
The form factor thing is funny. I have an actually waterproof and impact resistant phone where the battery compartment is sealed with a gasket and screws. It's thicker than a bare iPhone, but thinner than an iPhone held in a protective cover that so many people buy at the same time as their iPhone. There's an iFixit page with instructions for changing the battery (which is available on Amazon).
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Saturday May 22 2021, @12:25AM (6 children)
O-rings and gaskets were something of a problem for me as a young person. It took some time for me to understand, "If you disturb a gasket, REPLACE IT!!" You can study an O-ring under a nice powerful magnifying glass, and it looks perfect, but reusing it means that your gadget is going to leak - oil, water, or whatever.
If your gadget/appliance/whatever is worth 2 hours of your time to repair it, it's worth a new gasket.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by mhajicek on Saturday May 22 2021, @05:19AM (4 children)
I'm typing this on a Caterpillar S60. Nice big metal gasketed hatch for the sim and microSD, but still no replaceable battery. Water has nothing to do with it. They want you to throw your phone away every two years and buy a new one.
First battery puffed up within warranty, so they replaced the whole phone for free. About another year and the second one puffed up. Had a local repair shop do it for about $150.
The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
(Score: 2) by bzipitidoo on Saturday May 22 2021, @07:40PM (3 children)
After about 2 years, the battery in my first smartphone puffed up. And somehow took the phone with it. When I installed a replacement battery, I found that the phone was dead.
Perhaps it was because I kept it on the charger most of the time. The rep at the store seemed to think that was why the battery had failed.
(Score: 2) by mhajicek on Saturday May 22 2021, @07:55PM (2 children)
You'd think they could make a charge controller that stops when the battery is charged and then runs the phone on line power.
The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
(Score: 2) by sjames on Sunday May 23 2021, @07:33AM (1 child)
That might have added $0.05 to the BOM. We can't have that, now can we?
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 23 2021, @04:21PM
Apparently it requires root access and a phone manufacturer who is OK with their phones lasting a LOT longer when geeks use it.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.slash.batterychargelimit&hl=en&gl=US [google.com]
(Score: 2) by sjames on Saturday May 22 2021, @05:23PM
I have a 3D printer and a roll of TPU. If all else fails, I can print a gasket.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by sjames on Friday May 21 2021, @09:11PM
The problem is that the trend keeps growing. You used to be able to buy and install John Deere parts. Replaceable batteries used to be a given.
The other day, Rossmann posted a video about Asus claiming that the thickness of a thermal pad was proprietary information. Some munchkin flagged the video as abusive content on Facebook.
The illegal practice of claiming warranty is void if the user opens the case is nearly ubiquitous. Third parties that work out schematics and repair procedures for themselves tend to get nastygrams from legal teams. Some devices even have custom chips that are nothing more than an off the shelf part with a couple pins reversed just to prevent 3rd parties from being able to get repair parts. Dell dipped a few toes in that water when they produced a series of mainboards with pin-swapped power connectors such that plugging in a standard ATX power supply would blow the board.
It's worth fighting today so that tomorrow we won't find that all the things are disposable crap.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 22 2021, @02:38PM
You don't need solder to do that, you just need a method of connecting things that won't jiggle loose, we've had things like screws and hot glue for ages. No soldering, but it'll hold tight in pretty much every situation where they're not destroying the other components. Plus, it's primarily being done to prevent people from fixing what they've bought, any improved reliability is a downside for them, not an upside. If they could prevent people from fixing their stuff without improving durability, they would.