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> A lot of profound knowledge has been lost. People forget that technology and what we enjoy does not magically come out of nowhere. It requires sustained effor

> A lot of profound knowledge has been lost. People forget that technology and what we enjoy does not magically come out of nowhere. It requires sustained effort and on the ground knowledge that has to be maintained or it will be lost. This is something that I wish people would understand when it comes to the right-to-repair movement. For example, if nothing changes, in a couple of generations the only knowledge that will exist for repairing farm machinery will be dictated by manufacturers and will only include processes that are profitable for those manufacturers. The worst outcome would be one with parts serialization and keys that are controlled by a foreign country. A really good example that shows the importance of independent knowledge is board level laptop repair. Until I watched Rossman's YouTube channel I though a bad motherboard was unrepairable. Then, after a bit of watching, I started to realize there are a lot of repairs that are practical, but the knowledge has almost been wiped out by large manufacturers that benefit from whole part or whole machine replacement rather than repair.

nebula8804 4y ago
>The worst outcome would be one with parts serialization and keys that are controlled by a foreign country. This is one way how the US keeps its partners in line. Sure they will sell tons of aircraft and destroyers to countries like Saudi Arabia/Israel/etc. Hell they will even give money to these countries to then have it be spent right back to American companies. But the actual maintenance/parts/upgrades are controlled 100% by the US. They force the country to accept that it is better than nothing and at the same time help the US keep a leash on the country purchasing the equipment. This concept is being expanded even further. At DEFCON in 2019 there was a talk about retrofitting older war tech with DRM and custom parts to better control who can utilize the equipment should it get out of the hands of the "intended customers". For example, in the Soviet war on Afghanistan, one amazing piece of equipment that helped tip the scales of the war in favor of the US backed Mujahideen fighting the Soviets was the Stinger portable missile system. More recently it has been discovered that systems like these are provided under the table to groups that the US wishes to unofficially support but sometimes tend to go missing and end up being used against the US. As a result, there are now efforts to bolt on digital parts serialization + access control modules to prevent "unauthorized" use/track whereabouts. I find the thought of adding DRM to 1980s technology hilariously silly but then I was treated to Single Sign On/DRM being added to DOOM....yes that DOOM, the one from 1993. [1]:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dh7nZ9t2eJA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dh7nZ9t2eJA

nebula8804 4y ago

>The worst outcome would be one with parts serialization and keys that are controlled by a foreign country. This is one way how the US keeps its partners in line. Sure they will sell tons of aircraft and destroyers to countries like Saudi Arabia/Israel/etc. Hell they will even give money to these countries to then have it be spent right back to American companies. But the actual maintenance/parts/upgrades are controlled 100% by the US. They force the country to accept that it is better than nothing and at the same time help the US keep a leash on the country purchasing the equipment. This concept is being expanded even further. At DEFCON in 2019 there was a talk about retrofitting older war tech with DRM and custom parts to better control who can utilize the equipment should it get out of the hands of the "intended customers". For example, in the Soviet war on Afghanistan, one amazing piece of equipment that helped tip the scales of the war in favor of the US backed Mujahideen fighting the Soviets was the Stinger portable missile system. More recently it has been discovered that systems like these are provided under the table to groups that the US wishes to unofficially support but sometimes tend to go missing and end up being used against the US. As a result, there are now efforts to bolt on digital parts serialization + access control modules to prevent "unauthorized" use/track whereabouts. I find the thought of adding DRM to 1980s technology hilariously silly but then I was treated to Single Sign On/DRM being added to DOOM....yes that DOOM, the one from 1993. [1]:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dh7nZ9t2eJA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dh7nZ9t2eJA