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Are you saying that being able to repair something independently for a consumer doesn't have value? If free market cannot solve the problem, then regulation is

Are you saying that being able to repair something independently for a consumer doesn't have value? If free market cannot solve the problem, then regulation is needed. You can see that market is moving towards non repairable single use devices or that they can be only repaired at a extortionate price by authorised repair shops. If there is no regulation, all companies will be moving into that direction chasing that extra profit and consumer will not be able to vote with their wallet if everyone does it. Your example is comparing apples to oranges. I am not saying that regulation should influence product design, but rather the producers should give access to spare parts and schematics. I agree that regulation like for A/C example isn't great.

jyrkesh 6y ago
He's saying that when consumers routinely buy products that need to be serviced by first parties, over devices that can be opened and repaired by the end user, the market is voicing its opinion on whether reparability has value to them. I personally prefer the latter, but I also don't think that people loving Macbooks or integrated ARM SoCs is going to change whether I can get a Thinkpad where I can upgrade the RAM with a Philips head. Sure, it might cost a little more further down the line, maybe Intel won't be the behemoth it's been for the last 25 years, but if most people are willing to pay for their black box to get repaired, why does that mean the government needs to step in? It's been happening in the car market too: even entry-level sedans are becoming black boxes more and more, but people snatch 'em up. I should also say I'm very much in favor of the "right to repair", but more in the vein of "you can't legally forbid me to repair my John Deere tractor" than in the vein of "Apple shall hand over detailed schematics and replacement parts to any repair shop that demands them".
- samoa42 6y ago
  how about $vendor shall hand over detailed schematics and replacement parts to anybody
georgeplusplus 6y ago
I think you’re misconstruing his points by bundling it with the overused interrogative of “are you saying...”, he is saying it has value if the people so decide. A government regulation forcing people to do something they already aren’t doing leads to the sort of didactic nonsense like running government sponsored commercials every 20 minutes telling you to wash your hands and use hot water to combat covid.

jyrkesh 6y ago

He's saying that when consumers routinely buy products that need to be serviced by first parties, over devices that can be opened and repaired by the end user, the market is voicing its opinion on whether reparability has value to them. I personally prefer the latter, but I also don't think that people loving Macbooks or integrated ARM SoCs is going to change whether I can get a Thinkpad where I can upgrade the RAM with a Philips head. Sure, it might cost a little more further down the line, maybe Intel won't be the behemoth it's been for the last 25 years, but if most people are willing to pay for their black box to get repaired, why does that mean the government needs to step in? It's been happening in the car market too: even entry-level sedans are becoming black boxes more and more, but people snatch 'em up. I should also say I'm very much in favor of the "right to repair", but more in the vein of "you can't legally forbid me to repair my John Deere tractor" than in the vein of "Apple shall hand over detailed schematics and replacement parts to any repair shop that demands them".

samoa42 6y ago
how about $vendor shall hand over detailed schematics and replacement parts to anybody

georgeplusplus 6y ago

I think you’re misconstruing his points by bundling it with the overused interrogative of “are you saying...”, he is saying it has value if the people so decide. A government regulation forcing people to do something they already aren’t doing leads to the sort of didactic nonsense like running government sponsored commercials every 20 minutes telling you to wash your hands and use hot water to combat covid.