Fight to Repair Daily: July 25, 2022
Micro-subscriptions are everywhere...and they're driving people crazy. New Google Pixel scores high on repairability, so-so on quality. And is car collision data being re-sold to third parties?
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The Rise of Micro-Subscriptions
If it feels like you’re suddenly being charged for everything in your life, it’s because you are. And more often than not, that line item on your credit card statement is a monthly charge.
Subscriptions are everywhere. Dinners, razors, video games, electric scooters, workout apparel: Almost everything can now be bought under a monthly payment model. And, by-and-large, interest in the subscription economy shows no signs of slowing down…But now we’re onto the next chapter: Welcome to the age of micro-subscriptions, Protocol writes. Those include a shift from monthly subscriptions to consumption based pricing and free video games that make their creators money with in-game purchases and upgrades. Also: the now-infamous BMW $18/month seat warmer subscriptions that we wrote about last week and that the CBC has also written about.
Still, there are indicators of increasing consumer animosity and evidence that companies may be testing the boundaries of the subscription business model. (Protocol.com)
Google Pixel gets good repair scores, but quality an issue
Google's feisty $450 midranger - the new Pixel 6a - has undergone the teardown treatment before it has even been released to the public as the launch is scheduled for later this week. The indefatigable PBK disassembler used the weekend to tear into a Pixel 6a and gave it very good repairability score of 7/10, better than the 5.5/10 score that the Google Pixel 6 Pro got on account of its harder to pry off components like the battery unit.
Unfortunately, the teardown began with finding some debris in the brand new Google Pixel 6a box and some scratches on said plastic rear and camera lens bezel. Hopefully, such mishaps won't be happening on a regular basis to early adopters, as it would once again indicate quality control omissions on part of the assembly partners that Google works with over its Pixel phones. (phonearena.com)
UVA Volunteers Help Build ‘Tool Library’ for Community’s Benefit
Have you ever started a project, only to be stymied by a lack of the proper tools? The Charlottesville Tool Library might be your solution.
“Tool libraries are part of a larger network, part of the do-it-yourself movement and shared resources and the right-to-repair movement,” said Melissa Goldman, fabrication facilities manager at the University of Virginia’s School of Architecture and one of the founders of the library. “It helps empower neighbors to start a group within your community to share tools. It provides access and training … to support homeowners and entrepreneurs and blossoming makers of all sorts.”
The tool library opened this spring and currently has about 100 members and an inventory of more than 500 tools.
“I think there will be a lot of people who are homeowners who are learning how to maintain their home or make small improvements,” Goldman said. “They would like to do it themselves, but they don’t necessarily have the tools. If it is something that takes a little more planning, they can come, check out what they need and be part of that community.” (news.virginia.edu)
Dutch Are Reducing Waste By Fixing Broken Objects With Online Local Barter Network-And You Can Too
The guilder is a repair exchange platform, enabling the repair of broken objects with local knowledge, skills, and tools—but without any money being exchanged.
Objects like chairs, benches, tea pots, bikes, and backpacks have all be successfully repaired since the guilder went live at the start of 2022.
Based in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, design graduate Ollee Means created the platform as a way to tackle waste, and believes “every object is worth repairing”. His studies had a strong focus on sustainable design, which included design for repair and refurbishment.
“Being able to fix and repair things is a valuable skill, which many communities around the world are beginning to lose. People are willing to pay more to buy something new, rather than find a way to repair the existing. This creates a lot of waste, and is not sustainable. I began the guilder to make it easier to find people in your area who can repair things.”(goodnewsnetwork.org)
Car collision data is being collected and resold to third parties ??!
If you’re a auto repair shop owner, your customer’s personally identifiable information (PII) data — everything from full name, home address, email, cell number, VIN, insurance carrier, and more — could be compromised at the hands of a collision industry data aggregation company that’s providing or selling the data to at least one third-party company to sell the information back to the industry.
Society of Collision Repair Specialists (SCRS) Executive Director Aaron Schulenburg shared details of his discovery with attendees of the July 21 Collision Industry Conference (CIC) meeting in Pittsburgh as part of the Data Access, Privacy & Security Committee’s presentation.
Schulenburg said the company told him, “Through our data aggregation partners and processes we collect 86% of all quoted collision repairs in North America whether the quote is taken through a body shop or an insurance carrier. In other words, when a consumer takes their car in for a repair – whether if it’s an insurance carrier or not – that data goes into our system within 24 hours.” (repairerdrivennews.com)