EEVblog 1407 - Right to Repair with iFixit Founder Kyle Wiens

[EEVblog]

iFixit founder Kyle Wiens talking about Right to repair at the inaugural 2021 Australian Right to Repair summit.
Dave also talk about the Right to Repair initiative and the Australian Government Productivity Commission Right to Repair Report just released.

Draft Report: https://www.pc.gov.au/inquiries/current/repair/draft
Issues Report: https://www.pc.gov.au/inquiries/current/repair/issues/repair-issues.pdf
Submissions: https://www.pc.gov.au/inquiries/current/repair/submissions

Thanks to the Australian Repair Summit commitee for permission to use the footage:
https://events.griffith.edu.au/event/811180d7-cb83-44b5-9541-156c59cbbb1d/summary

For Australian Right to Repair updates, follow Medit Australia on Twitter: https://twitter.com/menditaussie

More videos on the EEVblog2 channel: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL24OiKqd2iN8hZRHI0y3bBJjj9Q6F2ZS0

[sandalcandal]

Thanks for making the effort to produce an edited video from the event with all the unnecessary pauses cut out, Dave. I live in Canberra so I was able to attend the event in person and talk to the commissioners and some of the industry reps in person during breaks.

I made a post about the productivity commission report before but this document is really important.

Similar documents such as the ACCC Report into The New Car Retailing Industry and Nixing the Fix: An FTC Report to Congress on Repair Restrictions in the US have been essential in setting a precedence and getting legislators to move and move in a favourable direction.

[Summary of FTC report from iFixit]
Louis Rossmann on the wide reaching impacts of the FTC report


Submissions close Friday 23 July 2021. Any submissions, even brief comments will be important to building the case for right to repair in Australia. This is the final opportunity to make contributions before the final report. Again, this report is likely to be essential in the road to establishing future right-to-repair legislation in Australia.

[mstevens]

 Kyle Wiens says, "I bought it, it's mine."

The whole problem with right to work is that consumers give companies the power to do nefarious things to make repair difficult. How? By purchasing the companies' products. So say I sell you a widget; but, when I sell it to you a stipulation of the sale is that you need to bring the widget back to me to get it repaired. Ummm, folks that is a valid contract. I as the maker of the widget have the right to sell my product in any manner I wish, including with stipulations. I as the maker of the widget have the right to protect my intellectual property and potential future profits from it. So, say I do have the stipulation that when you purchase, you agree to only have it service through me. Further say, you as the buyer don't agree with that stipulation. I have the right as the seller of the widget to not sell to you! Further, if I know you vehemently oppose this stipulation, I would not sell to you. I as the owner/manufacturer of a product have that right and no one can take that right away from me. I think this is a point Right to Repair (RTR) advocates miss.

I make the points above for two reasons: 1. I sit on that side of the fence sometimes and 2. There is a soft analogy to RTR in the software as a service (SAAS) space that also upsets me!

I am anxious to know what what RTR advocates think of SAAS and if any of the RTR advocates are SAAS consumers.

Now as for how I really feel about RTR and SAAS, I don't nor have I ever owned a Apple or John Deere product. Usually, I take great care of products so if they every break, they've outlived their usefulness, e.g. processors too old and slow for my needs. Most products are disposable anyway. I personally think it is quite insane to spend $900 or greater  or even $400 or greater or for a phone!! That is quite asinine to be honest. I typically pay $200-300 at most for a phone, it generally last 4-6 years; It's garbage after that time. If after 2 years it breaks I could junk it and still be ahead of the folks that paid $400+ for a phone. Same with computers; and I've worked almost my entire life in IT.

As for SAAS, I don't understand how anyone would subscribe to the idea that if I quit paying for X design software package then I can no longer edit or open my designs. I don't ever see a future where I consume SAAS!! I own packages that went to SAAS only, namely PTC product; I told them they lost a customer!

Electronic repair is so odd to me and I have done electronic repair in the past. Maybe I don't get it because I don't get the latest and greats electronics; so my cost allows for me to go buy another, which would be cheaper than repair. Hmmm If I buy a little older Iphone at $400 and it cost $170 to repair after I've had it for a couple of years... Hmmmm I'd probably junk it and get another phone.

Folks, I know Moore's law is coming to an end. But when I am advising someone on a computer purchase I tell then DO NOT buy the latest and greatest; it will be obsolete when you buy it. The is literally a true statement; so buy an older model, it will be half the cost and not much more obsolete than the current model.

Why are people repairing at all? What is the typical price to repair an Iphone? or Mac Book?

[www2]

Dave
Right to Repair is one part of the problem.
* The other part of the problem is that most standards are behind a pay wall (and for some standards cost more than 100 USD for a lockdown pdf) or under NDA.
* This is not only some datasets that is casual for Infrastructure (in my example i use Aeronautical databases but this cont for weather or other database that is use for public safety and health) is lock down by the government or behind paywalls.
This is the case of the old DAFIF[1] that is shout offline due to a change in the rules of Australian government.
* An other example is cable/satellite box/decoder.
I see that current in my home country the sol satellite provider start lock and combine the smart card and Common Interface as one device.
Not to tell about DSL providers that have no option to watch tv on a 3th party device.
I say not that smart card and Common Interface is bad but there is a need to be readable with out encryption my the software of the user chose.
This count for Storage media as Ebooks, Audio/music files, Video that a use have buy.
* The last thing is that makers of software/drivers need to publish all the updates of there end of life software on there site or upload on site like there internet archive.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DAFIF

[EEVblog]

Why are people repairing at all? What is the typical price to repair an Iphone? or Mac Book?

Vastly cheaper than buying a new one, or getting Apple to repair it. This is why Louis Rossman has a dozen staff.