7 ms·
“ They cost a fraction of the price, and then the operating costs are much less because they’re so much easier to fix,” he said.” It’s not really so much a tec
by melling 7y ago
“ They cost a fraction of the price, and then the operating costs are much less because they’re so much easier to fix,” he said.”
It’s not really so much a technology problem as the ability to repair, probably by the farmers themselves.
Companies don’t make it easy. You need special equipment, tools, etc.
We could insist on a right to repair, open standards, etc
- maxmalysh 7y agoVote with your wallet.
- xtian 7y agoVote with your vote. As far as I know only two candidates in the presidential primary race support right-to-repair: Sanders and Warren.
- pleasantpeasant 7y agoYet, farmers will keep voting against their interests and vote for a Republican who is being lobbied by these same companies taking away their right-to-repair.
- xtian 7y agoThat remains to be seen, but if all that's on offer are corporate-backed candidates then the Republican strategy of focusing on cultural issues will definitely win in rural areas.
- xupybd 7y agoFarmers have complex interests. Right to repair is not the only issue they will be voting on.
- vajrabum 7y agoNo there's also how tarrifs affect export markets, among a few others, but that one hits pretty close to home for a lot of the really big ag operators.
- viator 7y agoBecause the shortest path to fixing anything is always electing a politician who knows nothing about that thing, in order to have them approve legislation written by other people who know nothing about that thing, that demands that companies do a thing. That always works great.
- xtian 7y agoCertainly all the greatest societal reforms have been brought about by individual purchasing decisions.
- viator 7y agoFollowed closely by the second most influential action, encouraging other people to vote the same way you do in website comments on articles that don't pertain to elections. Good luck, Mssr. Quixote.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- xtian 7y agoI would encourage everyone to vote for the candidates who best represent their values even though voting by itself does not produce meaningful change.
- Gustomaximus 7y agoYou know politicians consult field experts etc and have legal teams go over legislation with many drafts and experts as well as laymen reading and commenting. Most peoples jobs dont know everything that happens under them... you have people that have specialised expertise and the value of good leadership (among other things) is those who can hire and utilise people well, not know all.
- makapuf 7y agoThose are not exclusive.
- 7y ago
- svachalek 7y agoI think voting with your wallet is the more sensible approach to getting the products you want, but we also need politicians to stop passing crazy laws that make it illegal for you to even attempt repairing your own possessions.
- stjohnswarts 7y agoExactly.
- pmiller2 7y agoThat seems to be what this article is describing.
- privateSFacct 7y agoAll good ideas, but repairing surface mount / integrated / dust and vibration glued parts is not as easy EVEN IF they were open standards as a 40 year old tractor is to repair. I spent way to long repairing an old gas engine, it was super simple in terms of operating approach. Opening the hood on my new car - the fixes are not as obvious.
- ziftface 7y agoI can't help but think that this is intentional. I'm pretty sure it's possible to create a more modular design without sacrificing anything. Especially given John Deere's record, it doesn't seem far fetched that they would actively seek out ways to make it more difficult to repair their tractors.
- asdff 7y agoIt's definitely intentional. You pop the hood of a new car and you see a plastic cover, not the engine. The plastic cover doesn't do anything for the car, it adds cost to the car, and mechanics have to remove and reinstall it if they do any work at all. However, it does have a function: to obscure you from the workings of your car, and push you to take the car to a dealership or someone buying genuine parts at least.
- kbrackbill 7y agoIf it truly does nothing, why would the mechanic replace it instead of just leaving it off? Genuine question, I know nothing about this. Do the manufacturers at least have some explanation for why it's there other than to make access more difficult?
- velosol 7y agoThere's often some noise reduction (the plastic may be backed in foam) to quiet down the direct injectors on modern cars. There's also an element of less weather-proofing required for the connectors underneath the plastic (or at least easier to undo/replace). It's also certainly about aesthetics when the car is being sold new - you open the hood and knowing nothing about cars (or modern cars) you see lots of little piece and become concerned that there's lots of things that could break. You open a car that says "$BRAND" in a $30 piece of plastic and you think, "Nice, this is a simple, reliable, easy-to-maintain vehicle!" There may be some small effect from highlighting the typical user service ports as well (windshield washer fluid, oil, brake, coolant reservoirs).
- Eric_WVGG 7y agohuge discussion here about Nebraska voting for right-to-repair a few weeks ago https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21805633 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21805633
- ogre_codes 7y ago> We could insist on a right to repair, open standards, etc The advantage older equipment has is that a generalist can repair it because the equipment is fairly simple and well understood. Parts on older equipment are easier to source or sometimes can be fabricated by the farmer themselves. Newer equipment has tighter tolerances and components are more difficult to fabricate or repair. Computerized components require special tools to interact with and specific knowledge to configure. Newer equipment is more complex and thus more difficult to diagnose and repair. Right to repair won't fix that. Regulations aren't going to make manufacturers return to having simpler machines, it can only force them to make the knowledge required to repair those machines public. If need a left-handed knurled whats-it to remove a part or a special diagnostics tool to service the electronics, regulations might force the companies provide documentation and sell those tools, but it won't remove the need for those special tools and domain expertise. The only real way to change this would be for a manufacturer to pivot to selling field serviceable equipment which seems unlikely.
- rtkwe 7y agoSpecifically though on tractors we're seeing companies essentially DRMing replacement parts. Farmers etc can easily find and install parts but then the computer controller will not recognize the replacement or won't reset from the error condition.
- ogre_codes 7y agoYeah, that's something regulations can handle (and should).
- enknamel 7y agoI would like to move towards informed consent. A product should clearly state that it only accept OEM parts VS it will accept any replacement parts or only certified parts. Or that is unrepairable or only repairable by the manufacturer or can be repaired by anyone. Heck think about printers. I would gladly only purchase printers that take ink or toner without chips only.
- Polylactic_acid 7y agoIt is a technology issue. Computers make things complex and opaque where they were once simple. When something stops turning you can look at it. Does it need grease? Is something blocking it from turning? When a microcontroller stops sending out the correct signals how could a farmer possibly do anything about that or even know what is going wrong?