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So going off that logic, wouldn't mandating end user/consumer serviceability be an objective (repairability) and not a method? People are still free to innovate

So going off that logic, wouldn't mandating end user/consumer serviceability be an objective (repairability) and not a method? People are still free to innovate battery materials how they want, they just can't be locked into the device with no easy way to replace them when they're dead. I still don't see how that hinders innovation. Sure, a lot of technology has proven socially useful, but usually with regulation (of natural monopolies, for example) and subsidies and such. It's not an either or situation. Companies can and do profit alongside mandatory social contributions that they otherwise would not have done if it meant more profit. In the electronics space, things like safety regulations, charging standards, warranty protections, etc. have hurt profits but been good for the consumer. There's a balance.

AlchemistCamp 5y ago
That's fair. I definitely see a lot more harm in specifying "everything has to use USB-C" than in requiring that something is relatively easy to service. Still, there are valid reasons to make more integrated devices and it's not reasonable to expect everything to be as easy to service as it becomes more advanced. My father could take apart and rebuild all kinds of car engines in the 80s and 90s, but would never be able to do that with a Tesla. It was still a great thing for Tesla to drag the auto market kicking and screaming into an age of electronic vehicles, though.
- technobabbler 5y ago
  I couldn't read the original source (foreign language) but I thought the OP was just about mandating replaceable batteries. If it's mandating a particular connector instead, yeah, I get how that would be bad. USB C is a total shitshow that not even the manufacturers and standards bodies can get right. I wouldn't trust any government with that sort of fine grained oversight. Even the cookie law was a disaster. About electric cars though, case in point, they are a market that people have been clamoring for right to repair on. Not necessarily so they can hack the firmware themselves, but so that they can take it to their local mechanic for repairs instead of the dealership. I understand there is something of a cottage industry of places that can service some Priuses and Leafs etc but some newer cars are too locked down for third parties. That's essentially a DRM thing and hampers innovation in the post sale services sector, anticompetitive OEMs who want to prevent cheaper third party components.

AlchemistCamp 5y ago

That's fair. I definitely see a lot more harm in specifying "everything has to use USB-C" than in requiring that something is relatively easy to service. Still, there are valid reasons to make more integrated devices and it's not reasonable to expect everything to be as easy to service as it becomes more advanced. My father could take apart and rebuild all kinds of car engines in the 80s and 90s, but would never be able to do that with a Tesla. It was still a great thing for Tesla to drag the auto market kicking and screaming into an age of electronic vehicles, though.

technobabbler 5y ago
I couldn't read the original source (foreign language) but I thought the OP was just about mandating replaceable batteries. If it's mandating a particular connector instead, yeah, I get how that would be bad. USB C is a total shitshow that not even the manufacturers and standards bodies can get right. I wouldn't trust any government with that sort of fine grained oversight. Even the cookie law was a disaster. About electric cars though, case in point, they are a market that people have been clamoring for right to repair on. Not necessarily so they can hack the firmware themselves, but so that they can take it to their local mechanic for repairs instead of the dealership. I understand there is something of a cottage industry of places that can service some Priuses and Leafs etc but some newer cars are too locked down for third parties. That's essentially a DRM thing and hampers innovation in the post sale services sector, anticompetitive OEMs who want to prevent cheaper third party components.