The Week in Repair: April 24-30
Apple unveils self repair program and repair advocates are underwhelmed. Also: Colorado is poised to pass bill granting a right to repair wheelchairs.
Happy Monday! Here are the top right to repair stories from the week of April 24 - April 30.
Colorado Poised To Pass Wheelchair Right to Repair Law
Colorado lawmakers passed a landmark right to repair bill for power wheelchairs on Thursday, clearing the way for the bill to advance to the desk of Governor Jared Polis (D) who is expected to sign it into law.
An amended version of the bill, HB22-1031 was passed by the Colorado Senate by a vote of 30-5 on Tuesday and passed back to the House of Representatives, which passed a version without amendments on March 29. On Thursday, the House voted to pass the Senate’s amended version of the bill, clearing the way for the Governor’s signature.
HB22-1031, the Consumer Right to Repair Powered Wheelchairs requires wheelchair manufacturers to provide parts, embedded software, firmware, tools, or documentation, such as diagnostic, maintenance, or repair manuals, diagrams, or similar information, to independent repair providers and owners of the powered wheelchair. The goal is to alleviate long delays for repair and servicing that have brought wheelchair users to the Colorado State House in support of right to repair. Wheelchair manufacturers that fail to comply with the requirement could be charged with engaging in deceptive trade practices and face monetary fines.
If signed into law, the bill would be the first non-automotive right to repair law passed anywhere in the United States. It would also be the first such bill to be produced by a legislature. The nation’s only other right to repair laws -a Massachusetts automobile right to repair law passed in 2012 and then expanded in 2020 - were both the result of ballot initiatives, not legislative action.
“For decades, if something you owned broke, you could fix it yourself, take it to an independent repair shop or go back to the manufacturer,” said Danny Katz, CoPIRG executive director in a statement.
“Unfortunately, as more of our stuff, from blenders to tractors, becomes digital, manufacturers are able to lock us out, undermining the repair marketplace and driving up costs and inconvenience for consumers. We were able to retain the right to fix our vehicles through a state bill. Now, we need to do the same thing for powered wheelchairs. If we can independently fix our cars that go 70 mph, we should be able to fix our wheelchairs that go 7 mph.” (KRDO.com)
Smart home vendor Insteon the latest to go dark, stranding customers
Smart home company Insteon is the latest smart home technology vendor to go dark, stranding customers. The company last week shut off its servers, lost its management team, and sent an email to customers explaining that the company was dissolving. The announcement follows reports by customers, starting on April 15, that their Insteon app was down and their hubs could no longer communicate with the cloud. An investigation by StaceyonIoT revealed that the SmartLabs/Insteon management had left the company (StaceyonIoT.com)
Apple launched its first self-repair program. Other tech companies are about to follow.
From a consumer perspective, these actions are small steps toward a world in which tech titans actively facilitate repair of their products rather than standing in the way of it. Companies like Apple, Microsoft, and Google have not only historically designed products that are hard to fix, but also have a well-documented history of fighting bills that would support consumers’ right to repair them. For these corporations, repair audits and programs represent a major shift in policy that would not have come about without a mix of public and shareholder pressure, as well as the specter of looming laws and regulations aimed at curbing Big Tech’s anti-repair practices. (grist.org)
Microsoft study finds repair reduces waste
Microsoft released the results of an independent study it commissioned exploring the environmental benefits of making its devices easier to repair. Its conclusions affirm what right-to-repair advocates have been saying for years: Fixing devices instead of replacing them reduces both waste and the emissions associated with manufacturing new ones.
Based on these findings, Microsoft will be taking actions to enable greater repairability of its devices by the end of the year, as stipulated in an agreement the tech company reached with investor advocacy nonprofit As You Sow last fall.
The era of owning a car may be coming to an end
In the car world, we think of long haul owners as moral heroes. Whatever their reason—sentimentality? Yankee thrift? Obsessive compulsion?—they’ve sacrificed the novelty of the new for a durable relationship. They’ve won a marathon most of us don’t bother running.
I’ve been thinking a lot about long-haul car owners as we race toward a technology inflection that will upend the more than a century-old custom of car ownership. Rather than maintain their vehicles lovingly over decades, the Rachel Veitchs and Irv Gordons of the not-so-distant future—if any might still exist—will be compelled to trade them in for reasons that would have read like science fiction to car buyers of the past.
In essence, it won’t make sense to form a bond with a vehicle that’s not really yours and runs on software someone else controls. (thedrive.com)
Apple Unveils Self Repair Program (Mind the Small Print)
Apple made good on its promise, late last year, to allow late model iPhone owners to repair their own devices. On Wednesday, the company threw open the doors to its Self Repair program, releasing for the first time official parts, repair manuals, tools and software needed to repair iPhone 12, 13 and SE3 devices.
The biggest problem, according to iFixit: part serialization. While the company is making parts and tools available to customers, it is doubling down on its parts pairing strategy by enabling only very limited, serial number-authorized repairs. You cannot purchase key parts without a serial number or IMEI from an Apple phone. If you perform a repair and use an aftermarket part, there’s an “unable to verify” warning waiting for you, iFixit notes. As iFixit notes: this strategy hampers iPhone owners or independent repair shops that wish to do repairs, even with Apple authorized parts. And it hamstrings third-party repair with feature loss and scare tactics and could dramatically limit options for recyclers and refurbishers, short-circuiting the circular economy. Read iFixit’s full breakdown of the news here. (iFixit.com)
Also read:
What you need to know about Apple’s new DIY repair program (Washington Post)
Right to repair advocates aren’t sold on Apple’s Self Service Repair program (Apple Insider)
Poll: Are you going to use Apple’s Self Service Repair program? (9 to 5 Mac)
In the Battle Over the Right to Repair, Open-Source Tractors Offer an Alternative
Jack Algiere grew up in an era when it was second nature for farmers to fix their equipment—before farm equipment manufacturers like John Deere and others started incorporating proprietary software, parts, and tools only accessible to authorized dealerships.
Now, amid a growing “right to repair” movement pushing farm equipment manufacturers to shift their practices, some have gone a step further by calling for a new, production model altogether, built on an open-source system. Under this model, farm equipment is designed to be easily modified and repaired by relying on accessible, universal parts, while sharing or licensing the design specifications and source code. (civileats.com)
Stakeholder Capitalism’s Next Frontier: Pro- or Anti-Monopoly?
A new report from The American Economic Liberties Project and the Balanced Economy Project examines the growing stakeholder capitalism movement and argues that its failure to embrace anti-monopoly principles is undermining its own objectives.
“The anti-monopoly movement shows us that markets must be guarded and governed by democratically determined rules, enforceable by the state, if they are to operate on fair, competitive, and balanced terms among stakeholders.” The jointly released “Stakeholder Capitalism’s Next Frontier: Pro- or Anti-Monopoly?” was authored by Denise Hearn and Michelle Meagher.
Friday Symposium on The Emergent Right to Repair
Berkley Center for Law & Technology is continuing its symposium on the legal issues surrounding the right to repair this Friday, April 29th. Sessions will include a keynote by Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) as well as sessions on legislative approaches to right to repair and the growing international movement for pro-repair laws. Here is the full agenda. (law.berkeley.edu)
'Remanufacturing' set to skyrocket as companies cut waste and energy use
Anyone who has ever cracked a phone screen or spilled a glass of water on a laptop has faced a similar dilemma: do you buy a replacement device? Or do you attempt a do-it-yourself repair?
Those who favour the latter approach will know that it’s common for manufacturers to restrict access to the parts, tools and documentation you’d need to fix your devices properly. As a result, it can also be difficult to find a local repair shop that can take on these jobs. This is why campaigners have been advocating for the “right to repair”. The movement has gained legislative momentum – with the UK government’s Right to Repair law going into effect last year. (imeche.org)
Event Recap: Law & Right to Repair
Berkley Center for Law & Technology is running a symposium on all the legal issues surrounding the right to repair. Sessions included:
Intellectual Property: We learned about how intellectual property law can be supportive in creating a more friendly market for purchasing parts.
Competition: We learned about how market consolidation and anti-competitive practices can be supported or thwarted by competition law.
Consumer Protection: Your friendly neighborhood repair advocate, Paul Roberts of SecuRepairs, sat on a panel discussing the negative impact that an anti-repair ecosystem can have on consumers.
You'll have another chance this Friday to catch more sessions. Here is the full agenda.
🔩 Device Teardowns Galore
The Framework laptop mainboard is now available for purchase. "All you need to do is insert memory, plug in a USB-C power adapter, and hit the tiny power button on-board, and you’ve got a powered-up computer.
An unsanctioned teardown of Microsoft's Xbox Series X led to a YouTuber's device being banned – but not without having discovered some secrets. Among the things discovered, they noted that it comes with 40GB of GDDR6 installed. For reference, the consumer console has 16GB of GDDR6.
The Valve Steamdeck's fan has been a sore subject for gamers for the loud and high-pitched noises it makes – but fortunately iFixit is working on a solution
Microsoft Surface Laptop has a new video detailing its disassembly and repair.