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7777777phil 2 days ago [-]
Captive aftermarkets are roughly the biggest hidden cross-subsidy in consumer goods imo.. printer and tractor OEMs price the unit near cost and pull the lifetime margin out of parts, service, and locked firmware. That's why right-to-repair is one of the few issues where farm states and urban progressives end up in the same column.
erelong 2 days ago [-]
as an alternative to right-to-repair laws, consumers could simply buy repairable products and avoid unrepairable ones
my only concerns with these laws is they help corps who can afford to make repairable designs and the laws will just be used against competitors who might struggle in the same way to comply with more red tape
happymellon 1 days ago [-]
> as an alternative to right-to-repair laws, consumers could simply buy repairable products and avoid unrepairable ones
The free market only works with a low barrier of entry. In many cases what you propose doesn't exist.
toss1 2 days ago [-]
Right To Repair is a fundamental of freedom from oligarchy.
It is literally the question of who owns the things we buy. Or, are we forever just de-facto renting those things, while sending all the data to the corporate overlords?
It seems obscure, but is a key element of freedom and democracy.
Bender 2 days ago [-]
If I am renting a thing I expect free repairs forever and they should expect to hear from me any time my rental devices is not doing what I expect it to do. If that is not included in the rental fee then I need not use that device and they should expect it returned covered in animal feces.
toss1 2 days ago [-]
Exactly.
If I am renting it, then anything goes wrong, they either fix it immediately on the spot, or promptly swap it out for an equivalent unit.
knollimar 2 days ago [-]
but you see, you own the hardware, but have no permission to modify the software I put on it >:)
my only concerns with these laws is they help corps who can afford to make repairable designs and the laws will just be used against competitors who might struggle in the same way to comply with more red tape
The free market only works with a low barrier of entry. In many cases what you propose doesn't exist.
It is literally the question of who owns the things we buy. Or, are we forever just de-facto renting those things, while sending all the data to the corporate overlords?
It seems obscure, but is a key element of freedom and democracy.
If I am renting it, then anything goes wrong, they either fix it immediately on the spot, or promptly swap it out for an equivalent unit.