Ever wonder why it’s so difficult to repair a smartphone, computer, or game console yourself? It’s no accident: companies make them that way. But thanks to “Right to Repair” legislation, it could get a lot easier to tinker with your electronic toys.
So What’s the Problem Exactly?
Many manufacturers don’t want their customers to be able to repair their devices themselves or take them to local shop to get them fixed there. Instead, they would rather have you pay them to repair your devices, often at a cost that’s much more than what an independent repair shop would charge (and way more than what it would cost you to do it yourself).
To accomplish this, most manufacturers don’t sell genuine replacement parts or offer any kind of repair documentation to anyone. In other words, they want to make it as difficult as possible for anyone but them to fix your broken stuff. Apple has even gone to greater lengths by developing its own screws to hold your iPhone together—and not just common security screws, but proprietary “Pentalobe” screws to prevent users from easily cracking open their devices with a normal screwdriver.
Most of these manufacturers would rather have you just buy a new phone or computer if your current one breaks or wears down, either by making it “impossible” to repair, or charging so much money to fix it that it just makes more financial sense to buy a new device.
Remember the original iPod? It was a great device, but once the battery wore down and no longer held an adequate charge, users couldn’t replace the battery with a new one—not even Apple would replace them.
Instead, the company’s official official policy was that users should just buy a new iPod. Fortunately, widespread outrage (thanks to a YouTube video, of all things) pressured Apple into starting a battery replacement program.There was also the Error 53 scandal with the iPhone a couple of years ago. Essentially, users who had their iPhone’s Touch ID home button repaired by an independent shop soon experienced an “Error 53” after updating iOS, which pretty much bricked the…
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