
It’s Your iPhone. Why Can’t You Fix It Yourself? - pseudolus
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/06/opinion/sunday/right-to-repair-elizabeth-warren-antitrust.html
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coldtea
People can't fix their own cars engines nowadays, which has been a huge legacy
in the USA (the car enthusiast/tinkerer, the hot rod, the looking under the
hood, etc), and they expect to fix intricate, miniaturized, SoC-based,
waterproof electronics like smartphones?

~~~
ddingus
Bullshit.

All of that is going on just fine. Same for the phones.

Bad norms tend to sideline the overall awareness, but that does not mean it is
not happening.

And the key thing here is that it is possible and legal. Not everyone will,
and that is OK. It is all about the people who do these things.

Frankly, you would be amazed at what people will do when encouraged and
empowered.

~~~
coldtea
> _All of that is going on just fine._

Fixing your own car has been "going on just fine"? In what planet? Except if
you mean basics like changing oils and stuff.

This is more like it:

"Training organisations, body shops and all those in the independent sector
can’t keep pace with the speed of change in vehicle technology,” says Jason
Moseley, executive director of the National Association of Bodyshops. “For
example, there’s more computer code in a current Mercedes-Benz S-Class than in
a Boeing Dreamliner.”

This increase in complexity means body shops are taking longer to repair cars
and charging more to do so as a result, forcing insurers to write off some
cars that are still relatively young.

Concerned by the trend, car makers have been heavily discounting replacement
parts in a practice called ‘total loss avoidance’, intended to save cars from
being written off early in their life.

Malcolm Neil, from claims management firm Inter-est, agrees that
manufacturers’ rapidly evolving techniques of vehicle construction and the
repair challenges new cars present are a growing concern. “Years ago, cars
were all of similar construction, but not any more,” he says. You can’t just
chop out damaged panels on a modern car, because you might cut through a
sensor or its wires. For example, to replace the front wing on the current BMW
5 Series takes three times longer than on its predecessor, because first
you’ve got to strip out the whole bootlid and disconnect all sorts of ECUs and
batteries in it.”

And that doesn't even take into account the dozens of cpus and electronic
systems that can go wrong, or modern complex transmissions. (And let's not get
in hybrid and electric cars).

Nobody would ever say those are as repairable as 60s, 70s, 80s, even 90s
cars...

~~~
ddingus
I never spoke to how easy any of that is, only that people are doing it
anyway. And they could document the car, or teardowns can be made easier
legally.

The core point being we can either discourage or empower.

Where we do the latter, all sorts of solutions to those challenges will be
found.

Heck, I just did a component level repair on my Ford SUV. Mid 2000 era. The
whole sub system is a few hundred dollars.

There are people doing refurbishments for less. I bought a MOSFET and used the
skills I have.

Not repairing things is a huge waste. I do not care how complex they are, only
that people are totally in the clear to learn how to repair, repurpose.

Doing that is basic for me. Grew up that way and never really quit. Tons of us
out there doing way more than people think.

