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this post was submitted on 13 Sep 2023
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Right To Repair
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Throwing a wrench into the gears of planned obsolescence.
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Good stuff, as the article mentions, California's big population means its legislation typically has some effect nationwide too. But I can't help feeling like there's something I'm missing here, since Apple of all companies supported this bill. I wonder if they're trying to get good PR after their notorious reputation, or is there a loophole somewhere?
iFixit noted yesterday, "Though the bill is strong and should make repairs more available for everyone, it allows manufacturers to continue to engage in parts pairing, a practice by which they limit repairs with software blocks. They can also combine parts into expensive assemblies, which makes repairs more expensive."
Similarly doubt there's any way to legislate against the dismal engineering that tempts a failure avalanche like the Ford F150 taillight horrorshow I posted a few days ago.
This has been the issue with similar laws for automotive parts. Technically by law they have to make parts available for 10 years iirc. However, they don't have to make them affordable.
They might think that it's comparatively easy for them to comply, giving them an advantage over other manufacturers who may not be able to guarantee a parts supply that long.