Repair Café(repaircafe.org)
repaircafe.org
Repair Café
https://repaircafe.org/en/
66 comments
i've fantasised about something like this before
my neighbors are consistently throwing away perfectly fine electronics where 90% of the problems are a blown electrolytic capacitor
there is a place in our apartment complex where we place electronic rubbish and just two days ago i noticed a tablet with a destroyed screen
i popped it open and everything inside looked pristine so i bought a new screen for some ~20$ and am now waiting on it to arrive
i've fixed a toaster oven with a busted resistor, 50in plasma tv with a blown capacitor i now use as a monitor for my laptop when working at home, a blender with a broken container and blown capacitor.. an older blender model that actually has a standard thread size so i am able to use mason jars as a, what i think is superior, container
i think repair should be taught in schools, a la 'home ec', educationally its a three`for : repair, basic ee, basic applied maths
when i was living in squats in london part of the squat culture was to slowly accrue enough bike parts in the hope that you could one day open your squat doors as a bike repair cafe
i have thought quite often something similar for basic everyday electronics would be great for educational and environmental concerns
there is so much unneccessary eWaste, even if something is beyond simple component swap repair it can itself be used to source parts for other fixable devices
the idea that we toss away a salvageable device, or even its sometimes hundreds of functioning discreet components, because of a single blown capacitor, frayed wire or dislodged headphone jack is upsetting
my neighbors are consistently throwing away perfectly fine electronics where 90% of the problems are a blown electrolytic capacitor
there is a place in our apartment complex where we place electronic rubbish and just two days ago i noticed a tablet with a destroyed screen
i popped it open and everything inside looked pristine so i bought a new screen for some ~20$ and am now waiting on it to arrive
i've fixed a toaster oven with a busted resistor, 50in plasma tv with a blown capacitor i now use as a monitor for my laptop when working at home, a blender with a broken container and blown capacitor.. an older blender model that actually has a standard thread size so i am able to use mason jars as a, what i think is superior, container
i think repair should be taught in schools, a la 'home ec', educationally its a three`for : repair, basic ee, basic applied maths
when i was living in squats in london part of the squat culture was to slowly accrue enough bike parts in the hope that you could one day open your squat doors as a bike repair cafe
i have thought quite often something similar for basic everyday electronics would be great for educational and environmental concerns
there is so much unneccessary eWaste, even if something is beyond simple component swap repair it can itself be used to source parts for other fixable devices
the idea that we toss away a salvageable device, or even its sometimes hundreds of functioning discreet components, because of a single blown capacitor, frayed wire or dislodged headphone jack is upsetting
This is something I'd love to do except it sounds like you said, it requires some basic knowledge of EE etc. Maybe the basics isn't too hard but with the vast diversity of different types of electronics - it troubles me just thinking about troubleshooting what of the 100s of internal parts could be the issue.
I've done my own repairs for phone screens/boot loop issues etc. but they were considered super easy because they were popular phones (galaxy/iphone) and as such, guides were plentiful on youtube. I can't imagine similar resources would be available for, say, a random branded tv or a blender.
Screen fixes are super easy for phones as it's usually a take apart and replace the cables and put back in deal. Anything remotely difficult was fixing a bootloop issue on a galaxy s4 which required a multimeter to confirm the issue and a soldering iron but again, a guide on the exact issue told me exactly what to do.
I've done my own repairs for phone screens/boot loop issues etc. but they were considered super easy because they were popular phones (galaxy/iphone) and as such, guides were plentiful on youtube. I can't imagine similar resources would be available for, say, a random branded tv or a blender.
Screen fixes are super easy for phones as it's usually a take apart and replace the cables and put back in deal. Anything remotely difficult was fixing a bootloop issue on a galaxy s4 which required a multimeter to confirm the issue and a soldering iron but again, a guide on the exact issue told me exactly what to do.
i hear you
electricity should be treated with respect
but i made a point to emphasise that the majority of problems are blown capacitors
this is a prevalent problem(o) that is easy to diagnose and easy to fix
for the listed examples my only diagnostic tool was my eyes, when a capacitor blows you can tell.. that is it looks like it failed in some way
to replace it you have to desolder two connections and solder in a replacement
the capacitors usually give you all of the information you need right on them: capacitance, rated voltage, positive and negative lead; so without needing to know what those things are or why they are important finding a replacement is straight forward and replacing is plug and play, with a bit of solder, if you keep track of how the original was oriented
but like all things it takes time to get comfortable and you get better with more exposure, which is why i emphasised a desire for basic ee to be a part of early education
first time i worked on a car myself i was driving on the highway and my car just stopped, roadside said it'd take 2 hours to get to me, i was unfamiliar with car mechanics but i thought 'i'll just look at it and see if i can see what's wrong, maybe i can fix it', i popped the hood and looked at the engine, it a took a minute to suss it out but when i found the problem it was glaring, the air intake for the engine had popped off, the screw band had rusted and failed, i just pushed the tubing back on the intake pipe, used a dime to screw the rusted band on enough to get me to a hardware store to replace the screw band
i knew i'd be unable to disassemble the transmission on the side of the highway, the first time i opened a car hood, in less than 2 hours, but those expectations were too exaggerated, all i had to do was push a tube on a pipe
i think repair cafes are less about having an in house solution to all problems and more about having broad solutions to the problems that occur the most, and like a bike cafe it could be a hands on experience where there are people there who can help, showing you how to troubleshoot and repair
(o) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitor_plague
electricity should be treated with respect
but i made a point to emphasise that the majority of problems are blown capacitors
this is a prevalent problem(o) that is easy to diagnose and easy to fix
for the listed examples my only diagnostic tool was my eyes, when a capacitor blows you can tell.. that is it looks like it failed in some way
to replace it you have to desolder two connections and solder in a replacement
the capacitors usually give you all of the information you need right on them: capacitance, rated voltage, positive and negative lead; so without needing to know what those things are or why they are important finding a replacement is straight forward and replacing is plug and play, with a bit of solder, if you keep track of how the original was oriented
but like all things it takes time to get comfortable and you get better with more exposure, which is why i emphasised a desire for basic ee to be a part of early education
first time i worked on a car myself i was driving on the highway and my car just stopped, roadside said it'd take 2 hours to get to me, i was unfamiliar with car mechanics but i thought 'i'll just look at it and see if i can see what's wrong, maybe i can fix it', i popped the hood and looked at the engine, it a took a minute to suss it out but when i found the problem it was glaring, the air intake for the engine had popped off, the screw band had rusted and failed, i just pushed the tubing back on the intake pipe, used a dime to screw the rusted band on enough to get me to a hardware store to replace the screw band
i knew i'd be unable to disassemble the transmission on the side of the highway, the first time i opened a car hood, in less than 2 hours, but those expectations were too exaggerated, all i had to do was push a tube on a pipe
i think repair cafes are less about having an in house solution to all problems and more about having broad solutions to the problems that occur the most, and like a bike cafe it could be a hands on experience where there are people there who can help, showing you how to troubleshoot and repair
(o) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitor_plague
> there is a place in our apartment complex where we place electronic rubbish and just two days ago i noticed a tablet with a destroyed screen ... i popped it open and everything inside looked pristine so i bought a new screen for some ~20$ and am now waiting on it to arrive
Note that taking someone's rubbish without permission is considered theft in the UK (there is precedent). If you sell it it's even worse because it's handling stolen goods.
Note that taking someone's rubbish without permission is considered theft in the UK (there is precedent). If you sell it it's even worse because it's handling stolen goods.
Squatting in a residential building is also illegal: https://www.gov.uk/squatting-law
So it's theft unless the trash companies do it? Essentially sounds like unless you're a company, i.e. you're doing this personally, you are stealing (unless of course people pay you as a company to steal their stuff).
You're giving the bin companies permission to take it because you have an agreement with them and have placed it in an agreed location.
If a third party bin company you had no relationship with took it it would also be theft.
If a third party bin company you had no relationship with took it it would also be theft.
In the US, it is legal to take garbage. And there is precedent for that as well. Although there can be trespassing issues if you don't have permission to be there. (like digging through a private dumpster at a business).
Is there an Internet law that says that for every reasonable rule there will be one US jurisdiction where it doesn’t apply?
My understanding is that in almost all jurisdictions in USA possession end when the trash is moved to the curb, put in public space. I remember reading at some point that at least in some part of Texas possession is transferred from the individual to the trash collection agency. This was interesting to me from privacy/search warrant perspective.
My understanding is that in almost all jurisdictions in USA possession end when the trash is moved to the curb, put in public space. I remember reading at some point that at least in some part of Texas possession is transferred from the individual to the trash collection agency. This was interesting to me from privacy/search warrant perspective.
oi mate where's ya rubbish licence
It's not about a 'licence' - we don't have licenses for rubbish collection - it's about permission from the person who owns the rubbish.
ha! depressing
though i doubt the people i was living with who would break into abandoned buildings to establish residence are all that too concerned with your rubbish 'theft' precedent
the tablet salvage was in the states and unfortunately i'd be unsurprised if there are equally uncharitable precedent here as well
.. as an aside, i would be interested in reading your referenced precedent, i agree going through someone's bin to get personal info or to file false credit card offers on their behalf should be illegal, but i'd be interested to read the ruling if it is literally a broken electronics salvage
though i doubt the people i was living with who would break into abandoned buildings to establish residence are all that too concerned with your rubbish 'theft' precedent
the tablet salvage was in the states and unfortunately i'd be unsurprised if there are equally uncharitable precedent here as well
.. as an aside, i would be interested in reading your referenced precedent, i agree going through someone's bin to get personal info or to file false credit card offers on their behalf should be illegal, but i'd be interested to read the ruling if it is literally a broken electronics salvage
I think it's this way so that people can't steal things and say 'oh I thought it was rubbish'.
sure, got a link though?
This talks about some of the multiple precedents that have been reinforcing this for centuries.
https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-13037808
https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-13037808
precedent is a court document
you linked to an article pretrial
the person in the article took food from a bin stead ewaste
i tried to find a followup article or court decision but was unable
i did find a similar article from iceland where people were charged under an 1824 vagrancy act which was ruled unworthy of prosecution(o)
your linked case reads like a power tripping manager to me
this practice was part of the squat culture as well: every few days we would do a 'skip hop'.. skip being the term for a large trash bin.. we'd go to grocery stores who were legally bound to throw away food that expired that day at the end of the day as well as forbidden from giving away 'rotten' food, so the employees would stack the food items carefully in separate trash bags from the 'actual' rubbish and put these bags next to the bins
pageantry of plausible deniability is a hilarious thing
(o) https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/shortcuts/2014/jan/...
you linked to an article pretrial
the person in the article took food from a bin stead ewaste
i tried to find a followup article or court decision but was unable
i did find a similar article from iceland where people were charged under an 1824 vagrancy act which was ruled unworthy of prosecution(o)
your linked case reads like a power tripping manager to me
this practice was part of the squat culture as well: every few days we would do a 'skip hop'.. skip being the term for a large trash bin.. we'd go to grocery stores who were legally bound to throw away food that expired that day at the end of the day as well as forbidden from giving away 'rotten' food, so the employees would stack the food items carefully in separate trash bags from the 'actual' rubbish and put these bags next to the bins
pageantry of plausible deniability is a hilarious thing
(o) https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/shortcuts/2014/jan/...
Pre-trial? It's from 1877 and listed in an industry reference on legal precedents. And that precedent still stands because, as the article says, they're still prosecuting people for it.
> One precedent-setting example from 1877 was the case of a diseased buried pig. According to legal text Archbold's Pleading, Evidence, and Practice in Criminal Cases, even if someone discards something and does not intend to use it again, they can retain ownership of it.
> this practice was part of the squat culture as well
Not sure this would work as a defence, to be honest.
> One precedent-setting example from 1877 was the case of a diseased buried pig. According to legal text Archbold's Pleading, Evidence, and Practice in Criminal Cases, even if someone discards something and does not intend to use it again, they can retain ownership of it.
> this practice was part of the squat culture as well
Not sure this would work as a defence, to be honest.
That BBC article is rather poorly related to the topic. A precedent needs to be a court document.
The first case. The owner of a sick pig buried on his land, then another person dig it and sold the carcass, in the 19th century. It's hard to tell if he was prosecuted for digging the land, or selling a diseased carcass, or theft.
The tesco case is equally poor. It doesn't say what is the result of the trial. Most likely because there wasn't one or it didn't go the way the article wished.
The first case. The owner of a sick pig buried on his land, then another person dig it and sold the carcass, in the 19th century. It's hard to tell if he was prosecuted for digging the land, or selling a diseased carcass, or theft.
The tesco case is equally poor. It doesn't say what is the result of the trial. Most likely because there wasn't one or it didn't go the way the article wished.
What I don't get is that the trend is increasing. Every Month i Can find vast amount of things.
Meanwhile, in Russia the repair culture never went away, for obvious reasons. It's inconceivable here that people would just throw away all broken things without attempting to fix them. Repair shops are everywhere―there are even more for phones and laptops now than for other stuff.
Is most of consumer hardware built on top of open source or on proprietary tools? I would love to see a movement where companies build products and then give away implementation details, but the cynic in me says repair costs is the analog of advertising revenue for these companies.
A lot of analog synths from the 70s and 80s have full service manuals with complete circuit schematics, so repair is actually very doable. People even clone old hardware from tracing these circuits and laying them out on new modern pcbs.
There are several of these repair cafes around town where I live. My old Braun blender from the 70s that I got from my grandma got repaired in one of these. I sent an email with brand, model and photo when I registered, the guy got some spare parts on eBay just in time for the day and I managed to repair the blender under the guy’s guidance. Paid for the spare part (5 bucks) plus left 10 bucks as small donation. My blender is as good as new. Overall a great experience, would recommend.
Same here. I live in a small village near Ghent, Belgium and the monthly repair café consistently gets a reasonable number of visitors.
I have a little hobby: I will fix anything as long as whoever wants it fixed isn't going to push me on a delivery date, is willing to drop it off (or it is easily accessible without moving) and pick it up again when it is done. I only take in a small number of items at the time. It gives me a great excuse to keep tools around.
Last two weeks worth of projects: vintage synth, an 'unrepairable' mountain bike, a bed (that had been cut in half by someone to move it), a couch (that had lost its legs).
Last two weeks worth of projects: vintage synth, an 'unrepairable' mountain bike, a bed (that had been cut in half by someone to move it), a couch (that had lost its legs).
Do you ever post your before and after projects with maybe some tips? I’d love to see that.
Hm, no, but I could. That's an interesting idea, thank you, I will use that.
You have a youtube channel in the making right there...
I’d love to see the vintage synth!
Here you go:
https://jacquesmattheij.com/dx7_repaired.jpg
Unfortunately no 'before' picture, it was in pretty rough shape, had been dropped from the back of a truck by a roadie after a performance and sat in an attic for the last decades. It took a lot of work to get this back to the state it is in but I had fun doing it and I'm super happy with how it turned out. Lots of keys were broken, quite a few of the contacts underneat the keys had bent as well because even the strike plate was deformed. I have never seen that happen before on a DX7, even when you drop them you are more likely to damage the floor than the instrument, they are built like tanks.
https://jacquesmattheij.com/dx7_repaired.jpg
Unfortunately no 'before' picture, it was in pretty rough shape, had been dropped from the back of a truck by a roadie after a performance and sat in an attic for the last decades. It took a lot of work to get this back to the state it is in but I had fun doing it and I'm super happy with how it turned out. Lots of keys were broken, quite a few of the contacts underneat the keys had bent as well because even the strike plate was deformed. I have never seen that happen before on a DX7, even when you drop them you are more likely to damage the floor than the instrument, they are built like tanks.
I don't understand how this works, so maybe someone can enlighten me. You pay 50 euro in exchange for some banners/logos to start a repair cafe, but they don't help you repair? I would have thought the starter kit would have supplies or something. What would you do when someone comes in with a toaster to repair? Do you just go on Youtube to figure it out together?
You need to already have or find a network of "experts" to staff the cafe but there are loads of people out there. You can schedule different sorts of repairs on different days but a lot of electrical goods only require some basic faulting-finding and then spares from the internet.
I see. So then this Repair Cafe is basically a branding/marketing tool, so that you can some traffic via people who see their website.
When I looked into having some of these events at our Makerspace a few years ago, I found that the branding was very restrictive as well. My takaway was that they demanded that you put their logo on everything you do and every event you put on, even if it has nothing to do with them.
There's no way in hell I was going to agree to that.
There's no way in hell I was going to agree to that.
You don't get supplies, you do get tools though. I think item owners are expected to pay for parts. And yes, to start out with maybe you are sitting down with YouTube and figuring out, but over time people will get more experienced.
> send you a unique code with which you can order the highly ingenious Repair Café toolkit[1] from iFixit Europe for free, only paying shipping costs (normal price: € 74,95 + shipping costs)
The €50 is buying you (apart from your €75 toolkit) membership, so you get a head start on connections and visibility compared to going it alone.
1: https://repaircafe.org/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/03...
> send you a unique code with which you can order the highly ingenious Repair Café toolkit[1] from iFixit Europe for free, only paying shipping costs (normal price: € 74,95 + shipping costs)
The €50 is buying you (apart from your €75 toolkit) membership, so you get a head start on connections and visibility compared to going it alone.
1: https://repaircafe.org/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/03...
There needs to be more of these around! Among other things, it helps for people to keep in touch with how things work.
This bad as it can be. While everybody charges for everything, for thin air, repairs should be free...yeah..and repairman should donate their money they didn't earn to the other people.
I go to the local repair cafe about every other month. Almost everything people bring would othersise be thrown out and replaced by a new item, not repaired by a professiinal repairman. The people "working" there do so because repairing is fun for them, they like the puzzles, and they mostly do it for ecological reasons.
I go with my son, who loves seeing what electronics look like on the inside and how they work. We always bring a large cake as a thank you.
I go with my son, who loves seeing what electronics look like on the inside and how they work. We always bring a large cake as a thank you.
Do you still think this repairman shouldn't charge you or receive fair salary for his work? My opinion is that Repair cafe is brought to you by big companies trying to influence on independent service tech. For example, if you have coding problem you cannot solve, you will probably hire some freelancer, and you will be charged of course. Because that's what they do for living. Even if you don't want to mill you own coffe (which should not be problem for 21st century man), you will pay to get ground coffee. I even saw artists statement and it says like this: "I'm an artist, but this doesn't mean I'll work for free." Why nobody expects from them to work for free because it's fun? I don't mean people who decided by their own, to work something or sometimes for free, but public initiative...?
Does anyone have a good idea of the environmental effects of reducing waste that this would cause? Or maybe just more generally the environmental effects?
a film called manufactured landscapes(o) completely shook me when i saw it in theatres when it was first released
the film addresses ewaste issues like the fact that a lot of electronics rely on toxic elements, but there is also the shear vastness of dumpsites
there is shot of a dump of motor armatures which could be argued to be one of the least likely failure points in consumer goods that use motors like washing machines, blenders, drills, et al
the film was even released in 2006, one year before smartphones become a cultural ubiquity
it is also wild to think that most of what is being documented is a result of manufacture happening only over the previous 50 or so years.. which is only 0.00025% of the hypothesised almost 200k year human history
it is a film 'documenting a photographer's technique' so retains an air of lacking bias but the subject matter is just so affecting that audience bias becomes seemingly inevitable
you could just as easily goog 'ewaste concerns' and find a myriad of issues but i highly recommend this film.. i was in awe from the opening sequence
(o) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manufactured_Landscapes
the film addresses ewaste issues like the fact that a lot of electronics rely on toxic elements, but there is also the shear vastness of dumpsites
there is shot of a dump of motor armatures which could be argued to be one of the least likely failure points in consumer goods that use motors like washing machines, blenders, drills, et al
the film was even released in 2006, one year before smartphones become a cultural ubiquity
it is also wild to think that most of what is being documented is a result of manufacture happening only over the previous 50 or so years.. which is only 0.00025% of the hypothesised almost 200k year human history
it is a film 'documenting a photographer's technique' so retains an air of lacking bias but the subject matter is just so affecting that audience bias becomes seemingly inevitable
you could just as easily goog 'ewaste concerns' and find a myriad of issues but i highly recommend this film.. i was in awe from the opening sequence
(o) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manufactured_Landscapes
thanks bud :D
Thank you for recommending this documentary. It was horrifying because the photography looked like a breathtaking scifi dystopia but it was real life. The woman who makes 400 gadgets at a factory a day, the laborer who makes 20-30 yuan ($3-4) a day...
The only positive thing was seeing women welding and operating heavy machinery. I've only seen women like that in ads and posters so it was refreshing to see badass women.
If anyone wants to check it out this documentary is available to watch for free on Amazon Prime.
The only positive thing was seeing women welding and operating heavy machinery. I've only seen women like that in ads and posters so it was refreshing to see badass women.
If anyone wants to check it out this documentary is available to watch for free on Amazon Prime.
I haven't been to one but (there was one yesterday close to where I live) but fixitclinic another option if there is no repair cafe close to you. I can't remember how I found it, but I was planning on try and check one out. It seems like pretty similar thing.
http://fixitclinic.blogspot.com/
http://fixitclinic.blogspot.com/
I am starting to shift my perspective when buying things.
New perspective, instead of the thing looking to buy should last approx 3 years I have the outlook it should last 10-40 years. Sometime that means buying a more initially expensive thing but since it will last longer it will be cheaper overall over its lifetime and have better build quality. What is good in the long run is also good for the environment. When having a repairability mindset when buying things that also sometime mean buying simpler things, I buy headphones without built in electronics since the electronics inside will fast become obsolete more than speaker elements.
Less waste less pollution Less bought stuff less co2 emissions and global warming.
Would love to have more modular devices more repairable devices
Do not want a wall-e future but a green one. Thanks to the repair cafes good movement!
Less waste less pollution Less bought stuff less co2 emissions and global warming.
Would love to have more modular devices more repairable devices
Do not want a wall-e future but a green one. Thanks to the repair cafes good movement!
How can headphones not have electronics inside them?
A speaker/headphone can produce sound with only the wire coming from your computer/phone, a magnet, and the cone. The electricity from the audio cable manipulates the magnetic field in the speaker, causing the cone to vibrate.
So while the audio cable is transmitting electricity into the headphones, it's just wrapped around a magnet instead of having other electric components.
This is a good graphic on them: https://animagraffs.com/loudspeaker/
A microphone is just the reverse: vibrations in the air move the cone and its attached magnet, which induces electrical current in the wire.
So while the audio cable is transmitting electricity into the headphones, it's just wrapped around a magnet instead of having other electric components.
This is a good graphic on them: https://animagraffs.com/loudspeaker/
A microphone is just the reverse: vibrations in the air move the cone and its attached magnet, which induces electrical current in the wire.
If you disassemble a basic set of wired headphones it is literally just a set of wires from the TRS or TRRS plug to a set of speakers.
At the linked site, click "Find a repair cafe" for a map of the many local ones. In particular for the SF Bay Area note Palo Alto and Mountain View ones. The Palo Alto cafe[1] is particularly active with quarterly events that are very well attended, processing over 100 repairs each time. The video on that page gives a good feel for a typical event. I've been a volunteer "fixer" there a couple of times and it's great fun if you have some basic repair skills.
[1] http://www.repaircafe-paloalto.org/
[1] http://www.repaircafe-paloalto.org/
Wonder if the CBC should have found any of them for their story: https://www.cbc.ca/news/thenational/complete-control-apple-a...
Its a pity to hear the International Repair Café Week ended exactly today.
I posted it a few days ago, it only just got reupped unfortunately!
Next year maybe post it in the week before and with a direct link to the repair week (2019) instead of the more general repaircafe.org
It seems there is growing sentiment for keeping hardware repairable (while manufacturers more and more want to prevent that). Part of HN will certainly appreciate this initiative.
It seems there is growing sentiment for keeping hardware repairable (while manufacturers more and more want to prevent that). Part of HN will certainly appreciate this initiative.
I'm not sure the idea of manufacturers wanting things to fail is as reliable as it sounds (it is a common assumption). Having worked in manufacturing, it was generally a case of not wanting something to cost any more than it needed to when competing with other companies/countries so you didn't spend what you needed to in order to get a better motor/circuit design etc.
People like Miele on the other hand, spend a great deal on reliable design but then their goods can cost 3x more than others and lots of people don't want their goods to last forver, they want to upgrade to something that looks modern and trendy.
Different business models!
People like Miele on the other hand, spend a great deal on reliable design but then their goods can cost 3x more than others and lots of people don't want their goods to last forver, they want to upgrade to something that looks modern and trendy.
Different business models!
> I'm not sure the idea of manufacturers wanting things to fail is as reliable as it sounds
I was refering to a trend where manufacturers actively prevent any other party (user or otherwise) from doing repairs. See for example this discussion about Apple: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18154371
I was refering to a trend where manufacturers actively prevent any other party (user or otherwise) from doing repairs. See for example this discussion about Apple: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18154371
While I love the idea/concept, the logo is horrible...
apropos: the "will it run?" videos on the "mustie1" YouTube channel
Shame it’s over D:
How is this anything but unnessary branding? Am I missing something, the website is all marketing, no message, no repair tech.
The front page layout sucks, but click the Menu button at top right and you'll find the content.
* One of the worst things to repair are electric shavers. It feels like horology, but dirty.
* Sewing machines are suprisingly complex. The electrical issues are easy to fix, but the internal mechanical parts are really unfarmiliar.
* Outright hostile designs are rarely found in cheap products. The main problem is usually worn out platic threads or breaking clips.
* People almost never bring in smartphones or computers.
* Many visitors are very interested in what we are doing and often suprised how simple a repair can be.