Manufacturers are slowly ceding their monopolies on fixing the stuff they sell
IT WAS QUITE the volte-face. On November 17th Apple announced that it would give those customers “who are comfortable with completing their own repairs” access to specialised tools and parts to fix their broken iPhones. Right up until its announcement the firm had been vigorously defending its long-standing policy of only allowing its technicians, or licensed workshops, to tinker with its products. In the past it has even disabled iPhones that had been repaired by other means.
The pandemic seems to have added urgency to the cause. Under lockdown, not only did people splurge more on gadgets, but many found their local dealers closed when those devices needed fixing. On occasion proprietary servicing became a matter of life and death. According to US PIRG, hospital technicians became exasperated when they found they could not quickly fix ventilators in overflowing intensive-care units because they did not have immediate access to manuals and parts.
The arguments for allowing greater right-to-repair are compelling. The first is a sense of moral justice. As The Repair Association’s slogan puts it, “We have the right to repair everything we own.” The second is to stop price-gouging. One reason firms are so keen to maintain a monopoly on fixing the items they produce is that they can charge inflated prices for parts and labour . That in turn feeds so-called planned obsolescence.
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