Right to Repair Laws, Apple Design Critics – TMO Daily Observations 2017-02-15
Apple doesn’t make it easy for people to get parts for do-it-yourself repairs, and some states want to change that. Kelly Guimont and John Martellaro join Jeff Gamet to debate whether or not companies should be required to make device parts available outside of authorized repair centers, plus they look at a claim Apple is actually pretty crappy ad designing products.
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Show Notes
- Apple and Right to Repair laws
- Source: Apple Will Fight 'Right to Repair' Legislation
- The Myth of Apple's Great Design
- Mythperceptions: No, Apple is actually pretty good at design
- TMO Daily Observations Twitter feed
Apple would seem rather peripheral to this fight, since the core appears to be the American Farm Bureau Federation vs. John Deere over the right to repair farm tractors and harvesters. It’s true, though, that such legislation would likely sweep across many different sectors, including cars, phones, computers, and other consumer items.
If Apple (and others) end up being required to supply parts and service manuals, will there also be requirements that they be sold at a fair price?
Objections to Right to Repair are condescending nonsense. Fretting that the general public will explode themselves by puncturing batteries is ridiculous. This is about greed and forcing customers to buy new hardware.
Even if right to repair is enacted, anyone who wants to can still take their broken device to an Apple Store and have it done right – assuming the device is supported. All right to repair will do is allow alternatives to people who may not live within 15 minutes of an Apple store. If others might wish to try the repair themselves or take the device to a different tech, what business is it of yours?
None. Thanks for looking out for our safety, but we all already have a mommy.
Apple would probably sell the parts at a price so inflated that repair will be impractical.