The right to repair movement and why you should care
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Hey, this is a P. A. From Sina here at the latest tech news. It happens to all of us at some point at that moment where you drop your smartphone and your stomach turns as you watch it tumbled to the floor. Then there's the split second moment of suspense as you pick it up Brain, it's all in one piece. And if you see a crack, your next thought is usually how much is this going to cost me while the government can't help you? If you're a klutz, a new executive order from President joe, biden might at least save you some money when you are. The new order announced in early july encourages the Federal Trade Commission to create new rules that prevent companies from limiting customers from fixing their products. Biden's executive order comes after years of debate by advocates calling for right to repair a series of rules that in theory would force phone developers, manufacturers of cars and washing machines and even the makers of pricey farm equipment and medical devices to publicly post diagnostic tools and documentation. They used to fix products when they break. This would allow everyday people to either fix the product themselves or go to a third party repair shop rather than rely on the official authorized repair centers, which are almost always the most expensive option, the right to repair movements been around for a while and it's already won victories in states like massachusetts, where voters in 2020 approved a bill that would allow third parties access to all sorts of data on cars that manufacturers typically didn't make public. The FTC hasn't announced any formal rules yet, but biden's order clearly shows the movement is gaining steam right to repair, boils down to giving users and third party companies the necessary tools, parts and manuals to repair a product they've purchased like a blender or a new laptop on their own instead of relying on the manufacturer of the product, Another aspect of right to repair that's currently being discussed is forcing tech companies design and build products that are easier to fix. For example, Apple's airpods. Wireless earbuds are impressively tiny, which is part of the allure. But repair website I fix it says they're almost impossible to repair. That's a problem. When you consider that a couple years after getting your airpods, the batteries will likely start to diminish. But instead of being able to take them apart and replace the batteries, you'll likely feel forced to just buy another pair. Apple did not immediately respond to requests for comment. So what does right to repair mean for you? As a consumer? Should the government, whether it's at the state or federal level, pass right to repair legislation, it would potentially give you the option to attempt to repair yourself without voiding the warranty right now, if you have a cracked iphone display an attempt to replace it yourself or have work done by a local repair shop and that person or company isn't an Apple authorized service provider or the replacement screen is an Apple approved part. Your iphone may no longer be covered under Apple's warranty. Right to repair laws would also likely encourage more competition for repair services, which could drive down prices from 3rd Party repair shops on everything from your phone to medical devices and tractors by allowing consumers to prepare and extend the life products they own. It will in turn reduce the amount of waste and the waste making its way into our landfills. It's a mixed bag on tech companies that are for or against right to repair. Last year, Bloomberg published a story detailing right to repair and the effort that companies like Apple amazon Google and Microsoft have put into stopping right to repair bills from passing legislation and becoming a law, the reasoning intellectual property and safety. If the companies were forced to publish schematics manuals and sell official parts to anyone, the companies argue that it would put their products at risk of being copied. As for safety. Companies claim that an untrained individual replacing battery, for example, could pose a risk to their personal safety through accidental damage, which in turn could cause the batteries to spontaneously combust. At the same time, companies like Apple have slowly opened up support for independent repair shops, though, critics say Apple isn't doing enough right now, we wait to see what the FTC decides to do after biden's executive order on right to repair the order, only encourage the FTC to issue rules instead of mandating it, along with watching the FTC will continue to monitor proposed right to repair legislation, working through various stages of the process at the state level throughout the country. For more of the latest tech news, visit cnet dot com.