The Week In Repair: May 22-28
Why everyone Is hating on Apple’s Self Service Repair. Nike’s new sneakers embrace circular economy. Also: new documentary SCRAP pays tribute to the stuff that’s too broken to fix.
It's a Thing: Hating on Apple’s Self Repair Program
What started out as some grumbling in the wake of Apple unveiling its self service repair initiative last month has morphed into something approaching a new literary genre, with a slew of articles and opinion pieces taking aim at the details (and absurdities) of Apple’s program. Chief among those details is Apple’s somewhat unusual decision to ship customers the equivalent of an entire mobile device repair workshop in a box. The Verge led the charge with its article Apple Shipped Me A 79-Pound iPhone Repair Kit to Fix a 1.1 Ounce Battery. But other writers are piling with articles like TechSpot’s Apple's self-service repair kit is one expensive monstrosity or BolNews’s Apple’s self-service repair kit is colossal waste of money. Is it too much? If this video by Right to Repair advocate and YouTuber Louis Rossmann is any indication, “yes.” Rossmann has been a frequent critic of Apple’s anti-repair practices, but here he comes to the company’s defense for its program arguing, in short, that Apple is merely trying to make repairs of its devices “fool proof.”
Lack of Repair Options Has Deere Owners Hacking Their Tractors
The agricultural sector has also evolved, to the point where equipment and machinery are yet another offshoot of the Big Data era. Now, a tractor like John Deere’s is designed to be interconnected and collect all kinds of information. In fact, John Deere’s software license, which a farmer accepts automatically by turning a key on his tractor, not only prohibits repair and modification, but also protects the company against lawsuits for “loss of crops, profits, or profits.” equipment use”.
Currently there are initiatives such as Open Source Ecology or Farm Hack, open source projects developing individual farmers and that can be a great help, especially in this type of case. Although these types of projects should still be commercially viable, they are still a more than interesting alternative. In fact, one of the reasons why the issue of the right to redress has become such a dangerous issue is that push farmers to use illegal Ukrainian software to hack their tractors. (thenewstrace.com)
Beyond Right To Repair: Framework Sells Logic Boards To Build Your Own
The WAN Show digs in on Framework’s decision to sell logic boards as separate parts.
📽️ SCRAP: Documentary about objects that have reached their ‘end of life’
SCRAP is a love letter to the things we use in our daily lives. This cinematic documentary tells the story of people who each have a deep connection to objects that have reached their 'end of life'. Together these stories convey a deeper environmental and human message about our relationship to things, the sadness we feel at their eventual loss, and the joy that we can find in giving them a new purpose.
Things, like people, show a certain beauty in their old age. Like us, they carry the weight of their history and the markings and scars accumulated through their lifespan. With the loss of these objects, we are also losing parts of our history and the cultural memory which they embody. By showing discarded goods in a new and engaging way, the film raises awareness about the fate of the things we use and explores how artists, and other creative thinkers, can be part of finding usefulness in the things we discard. (scrapdoc.ca)
Watch the trailer here
NC Senate leaders strike controversial 'right to repair' from 2022 Farm Act
The 2022 Farm Act passed its first committee Tuesday following considerable public opposition to a "right to repair" provision in the annual omnibus. Jackson, R-Sampson, ultimately said he would amend the bill to send the right-to-repair issue to a study commission, saying it would hold future town hall meetings on the issue in rural areas.
More than a dozen dealers and representatives lined up to speak against the provision in the state Senate agriculture committee Tuesday. Sen. Brent Jackson, the bill's sponsor, said his phone had been ringing off the hook since the bill first became public early Monday. Farmer advocacy groups have been especially outspoken on the issue as farm equipment becomes more and more dependent on software. (wral.com)
Why Nike designed a sneaker that is made to be disassembled
To minimize impact on the planet, the design process for a product has to include its end of life in mind. Current recycling systems around the world are not set up to accommodate clothing and shoes, which require manual sorting, separation by fiber, removal of unrecyclable trims, and other disassembly. Many items are also made of mixed materials or contain chemicals or plastics and there are not the technological or chemical solutions yet available to break them down.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), only around 13 percent of clothing and shoes thrown away in the US end up being recycled and so companies should help develop recycling methods by incorporating them through a circular design process where waste can become a material resource. (fashionunited.in)
Tesla Gives 1 Year Free Access to Service Manuals
Tesla has allowed its customers to subscribe to the online vehicle service manuals for a fee of $0 for 1 year (365 days). The program will give Tesla owners access to Service manuals, parts catalogs, and body repair information as well as wiring diagrams, service bulletins, reference guides for circuits and connectors, and more. As noted over at Teslaoracle: “this makes it easy for the customers, first responders, and certified Tesla repair shops to work on a Tesla vehicle. This free access to information and diagrams will also enable re-building a salvaged Tesla vehicle to experts like Rich Rebuilds who have been asking for the right to repair for a long time.” (Teslaoracle.com)
Broken laptop? California’s right-to-repair movement is trying to make it easier to fix your electronics
Chris Culhane is not a fan of planned obsolescence when it comes to broken electronics.
“I’m always in favor of repair,” said the San Francisco accountant as he waited at San Francisco Computer Repair, an independent shop in West SOMA, to get data retrieved from his dead Dell laptop. “If you put three grand into a computer and something happens, I’d like to think you could get it fixed, right?”
That was the philosophy behind California’s SB 983, the “Right to Repair” bill, which died in committee on Thursday after supporters believed it would pass. The legislative bill, which would have been the first of its kind in the United States, would have required makers of electronic gear such as cellphones, game consoles, washers and dryers, computers — almost anything with a chip inside — to ease the route to fixing broken stuff by providing parts, tools and manuals at reasonable prices. (sfchronicle.com)
Future of Independent Auto Repair hangs in Balance amid Shift to EVs
Beyond acquiring new gear, such as high-voltage safety gloves, Van de Kemp says the biggest challenge in transitioning to service hybrids and electric vehicles has been access to information, along with specialized training and the high cost that entails. The business spends about $1,000 a month on subscriptions allowing access to factory maintenance schedules, diagrams and vehicle information.
“It’s challenging because we need access to the diagnostics when a vehicle is in the bay and we have to go through a specific diagnostic to fix it,” he says. “I can go to a course about Tesla, but that doesn’t mean that when one comes in that’s broken, I have the correct tools and information to fix it. (theglobeandmail.com)
New Linux Laptops Come with Right-to-Repair and More
Small PC makers are bringing some open source ethos of sharing ideas and making products better into laptop designs. A small hardware shop called Framework last week launched a modular laptop that can be upgraded by just replacing parts as opposed to replacing the laptop. The Framework laptop is optimized for the Fedora distribution, and tweaks are being made to bring full hardware support for Ubuntu 22.04. (thenewstack.com)
'Fixing the Future' – New research project on IoT device repair announced
The £1.2m 2-year ‘Fixing the Future’ research project has been funded by the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. It explores the societal inequalities created by poor sustainability, data protection, and cybersecurity in current consumer internet of things (IoT) devices. Planned obsolescence of IoT devices like smart speakers and watches is leading to environmental consequences from e-Waste, yet we need to understand how to create a more circular and equitable digital economy, underpinned by reuse and repair. (cdcs.ed.ac.uk)
This is achieved through an exciting programme of work over the next 24 months which:
Maps the changing legal/ethical landscape, particularly around shifting current IoT design and examining the role of the right to repair in supporting citizen needs.
Explores how to create the IoT Repair Shop installation to understand issues faced by citizens and to understand practical challenges of repairing IoT devices.
Designs a toolkit that will support development of more equitable futures when living with IoT by targeting needs of different citizen, government, and industry.
Other Repair News...
How eBay Motors makes it easier to find in-demand parts (indiegarage.ca)
Steam Deck Replacement Parts And Guides Are Now Available (Gamespot)
The Hacker Mind Ep. 47: Ethical Hacking (thehackermind.com)
Remote bricking of Ukraine Tractors raises Ag Cyber Concerns (CSOonline.com)
Apple’s Self Repair Program Disappoints Repair Advocates (Morningbrew.com)