Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

If right to repair really was just about user rights that would be fair enough, but it’s also about requiring bigger, heavier, more fragile and more expensive products. As a user I’m all for user rights, but I personally doubt the advantages of the government telling companies how to design their products beyond things like health, safety and environmental protection.

I don’t think users should have to worry about products being safe for example, but I think the trade off between repairability versus other desirable attributes is something best left to user choice.



There are many kinds of right to repair. One proposal would be not to make any requirements on the hardware, but just to require that software cannot disable the device or otherwise prevent third-party repairs.

So if you get the screen replaced by a third-party, it might be illegal for software to try to detect that and refuse to work or update. This doesn't make any requirement that the screen be easy to repair in the first place.


Right to repair goes beyond the physical design of the phone. It has to do with purposely misleading customers to the 3rd party options they have available that would prevent them from having to outright replace the whole device (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K98JYRBGyrg). And preventing the import of refurbished parts for devices they no longer support (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYgdtEsl_0c)




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: