Interesting Biden has made a statement about the Right to Repair.
It'll make him some corporate enemies but if the US go down that route officially it could deliver some of the biggest de-carbonisation and waste reduction impacts of any single law decision.
So much modern waste, a phone or TV gets replaced for want of a $0.10 part, a $200 circuit board gets swapped out for the want of a $0.01 diode.
The other week a relative of mine was sent a whole new air fryer because the one just supplied failed after a couple of weeks, the supplier didn't even want to old one back they told my relative to dump it. Think of the waste, think of the freight. So my relative ended up with two because once they got the new one a mate opened the old one up and found it was just a loose wire, a loose wire! They tried to sell it but nobody wants a used air fryer, so they gave it away!
All because the companies that make and supply this stuff refuse to provide information needed for local servicing and repairs, they keep the knowledge commercial in confidence.
btw., Even if the corporates published the information it bears no impact on patents or copyrights, nobody can use it for a competitive product without a valid license until the patent expires which is typically long long after the technology is redundant.
It'll make him some corporate enemies but if the US go down that route officially it could deliver some of the biggest de-carbonisation and waste reduction impacts of any single law decision.
So much modern waste, a phone or TV gets replaced for want of a $0.10 part, a $200 circuit board gets swapped out for the want of a $0.01 diode.
The other week a relative of mine was sent a whole new air fryer because the one just supplied failed after a couple of weeks, the supplier didn't even want to old one back they told my relative to dump it. Think of the waste, think of the freight. So my relative ended up with two because once they got the new one a mate opened the old one up and found it was just a loose wire, a loose wire! They tried to sell it but nobody wants a used air fryer, so they gave it away!
All because the companies that make and supply this stuff refuse to provide information needed for local servicing and repairs, they keep the knowledge commercial in confidence.
btw., Even if the corporates published the information it bears no impact on patents or copyrights, nobody can use it for a competitive product without a valid license until the patent expires which is typically long long after the technology is redundant.
"Ruck, ruck, ruck, ruck ....... Ruck, ruck, ruck, ruck"