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Reduce reuse recycle is fundamentally against the business model of BigCorpos. Of course they will fight tooth and nail against legislation that impinges on the

Reduce reuse recycle is fundamentally against the business model of BigCorpos. Of course they will fight tooth and nail against legislation that impinges on their business model [1]. It goes to show how good Apple's PR department is that people view them as an eco-oriented company (hint: they're literally in the "producing consumer e-waste market"). But I mean people these days also think Microsoft are open-source friendly good guys, sooooo [1] Besides enabling reduce and reuse, right to repair also goes directly the business interests of these companies, because 3rd party repair shops exist under RTR instead of 100 % of the repair revenue going to their franchises or them directly.

skohan 5y ago
I don't see how this is not blatantly in violation of anti-trust laws. It seems to me it is clearly harming the best interest of the consumer to have less choice and more expensive repair options due to lack of RTR. I say this as someone who would still use Apple licenced repair shops. The standard of service quality is high, and the results are dependable and consistent. Why is it not enough to compete on quality, and why do they have to behave in an anti-competitive manner?
com2kid 5y ago
As someone who used to work in consumer electronics, I don't think HN readers understand exactly how harsh tech reviewers come down on devices that aren't as thin as possible. Add an extra millimeter and all of a sudden "tech companies yet again don't understand female audiences as they make yet another monstrously huge device that only men can use." or "this new version is unbelievably thick, and is another failure compared to Apple's amazing version" where Apple's version is 1 or 2 mm thinner. Laptops, same thing. Even here on HN I've seen multiple people talk about how the only reason they can even carry a laptop at all is because Apple's newest whatever is so amazingly thin and how even a single extra ounce would make the laptop completely unusable. So manufacturers have a choice. Glue everything together and make it unrepairable, or get dragged through the mud by reviewers and tech enthusiasts.
- tweetle_beetle 5y ago
  > I don't think HN readers understand exactly how harsh tech reviewers come down on devices that aren't as thin as possible. I don't think it's reviewers being harsh in their judgements independently so much as most press of that kind has a symbiotic relationship with manufacturers. They need new products with new USPs, however trivial, to feature to justify their existence. More product updates mean more marketing, a faster purchase cycle, more decisions for consumers to make and therefore more interest in reviews.
  - com2kid 5y ago
    Having sat in on meetings where mechanical engineers reported the results of working massive overtime to shave each fraction of a millimeter off, I am confident in saying that the relationship tends to resemble an abusive one. (FWIW this was wearables, not phones) To be fair, as a customer, thin and light weight is nice, and given the choice between a phone with a replaceable battery and one that is more mainstream, well, my One Plus doesn't have a replaceable battery. Motorola tried making cashing in on pent up demand for Android phones with batteries that could be swapped out. It didn't work out too well for them.
    - CRConrad 5y ago
      At some point, "thin" becomes synonymous with "sharp". As in, "This fucking thing is so thin it cuts my hand just from holding it!" I submit for debate the proposition that many manufacturers of hand-held electronic devices have already passed this point.
- N00bN00b 5y ago
  >and all of a sudden "tech companies yet again don't understand female audiences as they make yet another monstrously huge device that only men can use." In relation to the thinness, it's the other way around, I guess? Last time I checked most women's clothes don't even have pockets (someone should start a movement for that, the right to have pockets in your pants). My wife's got a massively oversized phone with a big battery pack on the back, while I don't even tolerate a case because it's bulky in my pocket.

skohan 5y ago

I don't see how this is not blatantly in violation of anti-trust laws. It seems to me it is clearly harming the best interest of the consumer to have less choice and more expensive repair options due to lack of RTR. I say this as someone who would still use Apple licenced repair shops. The standard of service quality is high, and the results are dependable and consistent. Why is it not enough to compete on quality, and why do they have to behave in an anti-competitive manner?

com2kid 5y ago

As someone who used to work in consumer electronics, I don't think HN readers understand exactly how harsh tech reviewers come down on devices that aren't as thin as possible. Add an extra millimeter and all of a sudden "tech companies yet again don't understand female audiences as they make yet another monstrously huge device that only men can use." or "this new version is unbelievably thick, and is another failure compared to Apple's amazing version" where Apple's version is 1 or 2 mm thinner. Laptops, same thing. Even here on HN I've seen multiple people talk about how the only reason they can even carry a laptop at all is because Apple's newest whatever is so amazingly thin and how even a single extra ounce would make the laptop completely unusable. So manufacturers have a choice. Glue everything together and make it unrepairable, or get dragged through the mud by reviewers and tech enthusiasts.

tweetle_beetle 5y ago
> I don't think HN readers understand exactly how harsh tech reviewers come down on devices that aren't as thin as possible. I don't think it's reviewers being harsh in their judgements independently so much as most press of that kind has a symbiotic relationship with manufacturers. They need new products with new USPs, however trivial, to feature to justify their existence. More product updates mean more marketing, a faster purchase cycle, more decisions for consumers to make and therefore more interest in reviews.
- com2kid 5y ago
  Having sat in on meetings where mechanical engineers reported the results of working massive overtime to shave each fraction of a millimeter off, I am confident in saying that the relationship tends to resemble an abusive one. (FWIW this was wearables, not phones) To be fair, as a customer, thin and light weight is nice, and given the choice between a phone with a replaceable battery and one that is more mainstream, well, my One Plus doesn't have a replaceable battery. Motorola tried making cashing in on pent up demand for Android phones with batteries that could be swapped out. It didn't work out too well for them.
  - CRConrad 5y ago
    At some point, "thin" becomes synonymous with "sharp". As in, "This fucking thing is so thin it cuts my hand just from holding it!" I submit for debate the proposition that many manufacturers of hand-held electronic devices have already passed this point.
N00bN00b 5y ago
>and all of a sudden "tech companies yet again don't understand female audiences as they make yet another monstrously huge device that only men can use." In relation to the thinness, it's the other way around, I guess? Last time I checked most women's clothes don't even have pockets (someone should start a movement for that, the right to have pockets in your pants). My wife's got a massively oversized phone with a big battery pack on the back, while I don't even tolerate a case because it's bulky in my pocket.