I don’t share the scepticism shared by other commenters. No matter how you look at this it’s a step in the right direction. We have needed this legislation for at least ten years now. Hopefully it will be iterated on and improved if manufacturers try to find ways around it. The EU has shown it’s willing to legislate in many areas for the better (and worse).
This might be a personal impression, but there seems to be a reflexive (negative) response from many posters here regarding any new regulation that the EU produces.
I've been trying to wrap my head about whether that's different than the negative response about any regulation in general (including the US one), and I feel like it is more negative; as for why, I would only be speculating.
The shortcoming is that governments are not nimble enough to revise regulations as often as needed. Laws may need years to formulate, but regulations/quantified guidelines should be updated more regularly.
>Current regulations are seen to be outdated, with more than 55% of washing machines sold in the EU ranked A+++ on the label.
I have said that at every step in these regulations: even a law that can't easily be applied and that has loopholes is a progress as it gives judges, engineers, decisions makers and users a notion of what is wrong and what is right.
Want to make a startup whose business model relies on the impossibility to repair? Have found a loophole that makes it possible? Well investors may evaluate the risk this loophole gets fixed and will not see the plan as particularly safe.
It is not just about changing the rules, it is about changing the ethics around them.
Agreed, whatever your political posture, it's nowt to do with this.
This is a good thing, and however you wish to view things - this is what is right, fair and it's core is to bring fairness to consumers - even if they don't want to liveridge this avenue now open too them. At least they have the choice and it is their choice.
So Bravo for this, it is something that needs to be done globally. The whole artificially obsoleting consumer products has and will be a serious concern as it drives waste, and waste is and never has been, good for the environment upon any level, whatever your perspective is upon that matter.
Let us not forget, many initiatives get driven by standards from one area and they can and do transpose upon other area in the end for the better of everybody. Let's see this for what it is - something wonderful and long overdue.
I will also add, a few decades back, self repair was far more accessible and less needed as appliances lasted, you could get spares, get them fixed. Yet the market and drive towards mass consumerism and product churn has created a monster, one in which we are going to be paying for as all that environmental credit debt we have built up, well, nature's debt collectors are a calling.
Consumers don't want to spend more for appliances. They want cheap. That's why manufacturers build the way they do (if you want quality over 20 years you're already free to buy a Miele)
It is rare for an appliance to break down when just out of warranty, and in any case it is not possible to completely avoid.
I am glad that the new rules do not go farther then they do because I don't think there is an issue that warrant drastic action and widespread price increases.
There are plenty of ways to source spare parts and individuals are simply not able to repair themselves in most cases (and let's not forget health & Safety regulations).
Edit: Thank you guys for killing off any discussion...
I am looking forward to fix the warranty system: if some products are expected to have a long life, spare parts are part of the problem, warranty is another one. If a fridge is expected to work for 15 years, mandate by law the minimum warranty to 12 years for home users, not 2 years. The manufacturers will be forced to design the products to last at least 12 years or to be very cheap to maintain, whatever makes more sense. The 2 year warranty in EU is insignificant in these situations where you have products like fridges, washing machines or TV sets that you can use for 20 years.
I had from the same company several appliances. The fridge is about 20 years old and still running. The washing machine broke after 15 years and I had to replace it due to lack of spare parts. The new washing machine is 5 years old, full of rust and I already replaced the main motor, that costed 1/3 of the full price of the machine. The technician that replaced it told me it is routine now to replace the Chinese motors after 3 to 5 years, a very high number of these washing machines break now in the first 5 years, but after the 2 years of warranty. They are a multi-brand service, when I asked what brand he recommends he said he cannot recommend one as they all have problems lately.
I can't speak for the EU in general, but in the UK, we get the minimum EU 2 years, plus up to six years from purchase to make a claim if the product is faulty according to market expectations of the lifetime of the product. If your fridge breaks after five years, and it's regular market expectation that your fridge, given what you paid for it[1], is expected to last longer, then the seller is in breach of contract.
Retailers try very hard to pretend that the law doesn't exist and that their obligation to you ends after a two year warranty period. This is false.
[1] Market expectation is adjusted according to the advertised price. For example if you buy a pair of shoes for £5, then you cannot expect it to last six years, of course. If a sale advertises an original and a discounted price, then it is the advertised original price that matters.
>>Owners are usually unable to repair the machines themselves - or find anyone else to do it at a decent price
That's just a result of high labour cost in western countries though. Parts for appliances are usually pretty cheap, it's getting a specialist to come out that costs an arm and a leg. A heating element for an oven will be like £40, but good luck finding someone to come out and fit it for less than £80-100. Considering you can buy a brand new oven for as little as £200(with free delivery) the option to replace something instead of repairing it is unsurprisingly tempting. The further East you go the cheaper the labour gets, so it's normal that a repair that's completely unreasonable in the UK is actually pretty reasonable in Poland or Slovakia - the same part fitting would cost you maybe 50-100PLN(£10-20)? So actually the parts are almost always more expansive than labour.
I know I'm overly optimistic, but every time I see anything regarding legislation and "repair" keyword, i silently hope for a price limit on spare parts... and am always disappointed not to see one.
If a new (whole) car(tv,washing machine,...) costs 20k (...) ($,€,..doesn't matter), and you want to replace some parts, the cost of just a few parts quickly becomes higher than a whole new unit. In a modern car, just replacing a few parts costs more than a whole car (both front lights ~1k(eur), rear ones 500eur, ac compressor 500eur(+), radio/navigation unit 1k, foldable mirrors 500eur, 'smart' rearview mirror up to 1k, etc...).
If the sum of costs of all parts to assemble a car is above 2x the price of the car, someone is getting ripped off, and we all know who that is.
Same with laptops... lcd assembly on a shitty 600eur laptop was quoted as 400eur+tax here (luckily ebay exists) - and that's without labour.
For car parts, where are you getting your prices? Here in the US, there's usually online sellers of OEM parts that sell for much less than dealerships.
Of course, even these can be pretty high, depending on the part in question. A lot of the parts you listed are things that should not ever be replaced, unless you have a wreck. If that happens, then part cost shouldn't be your concern, because insurance is covering it (hopefully, the other party's insurance).
And finally, the used parts market is alive and well. Any of those parts can be easily found on Ebay for a fraction of the new OEM price.
And on top of that, many of those parts have Chinese-made aftermarket replacements, which cost much less, and may be acceptable quality.
As for the "smart" rearview mirror (I think you're talking about auto-dimming mirrors here), my Mazda came with one from the factory, but buying it afterwards costs about $300, certainly not 1k.
Generally speaking, if the car is fairly new, you shouldn't be replacing parts like that except through insurance. If the car is old and you're trying to restore it, you should be looking for used parts. And if you have a new car and you're trying to add all the nice options to make it like the top-end trim model, then you're doing it wrong: you need to get the car from the factory with the options you want instead of trying to add them later, because that never makes any economic sense.
Especially for cars, they sell you the product with a very low margin betting on high returns in after sales (spare parts). In the long term regulating spare part prices would likely result in an increase of the full product price. Not sure if it good to regulate prices here, maybe it make sense to leave this task to the market (see third party spare parts vendors).
> If the sum of costs of all parts to assemble a car is above 2x the price of the car, someone is getting ripped off, and we all know who that is.
Not really. The business models are way different and have different costs.
You're paying for someone to store that part, ship it in low volume to and from a parts warehouse, market to you, tie up capital in it, and gamble on the possibility that you'd want to buy it before those models go obsolete.
If you buy 500,000 units via container ship from the factory you could get them for way cheaper too.
I think that price limits would not be very good. I'd worry about availability and creation of second-hand market, where third parties would buy out the supplies, to resell them later at higher price, before the manufacturer manages to re-stock the spare parts supplies.
But I think mandating that replaceable parts have to be standardized, would make it so that multiple manufacturers would be using compatible parts.
As a consumer/repairman you'd be able to choose which one to buy from.
This would introduce competition that would put the pressure on the price.
There would possibly be even less waste because standard parts could be more easilly reused with any fitting brand/manufacturer of the product.
They need to be designed to be easier to repair too. To replace a thermal fuse in my dryer requires that I take apart half my dryer. They could have left it behind some panel in the back.
I smashed the glass top of my Kenmore (Frigidaire) stove and I was surprised to discover that the fix was almost trivial once I got part. It was not cheap, admittedly, but at $250 it was still much cheaper than a new stove.
Honestly, that's the one aspect of the Kenmore stuff that really impressed me. There was lots of good information out there on what parts to buy and how to do the fix.
Small tidbit, but I am delighted when I find boards that still use through-hole components or chip sockets. Apart from cellphones, you often don't really need the extra space.
A thermal fuse isn't a routine consumable. Those are designed to trip when something else is wrong. You need to open it up anyway to fix the root cause or confirm it was a fluke and there is no pending safety hazard.
>>introduced for refrigerating appliances, household dishwashers, household washing machines and household washer-dryers, electronic displays and refrigerating appliances with a direct sales function.
- This may be costing German consumers €110 a month per person (source)
- A long-lasting washing machine will generate over 20 years 1.1 tonnes less CO2 than a short-lived model. This analysis takes into account manufacturing, distribution, use and end-of-life treatment (source)
- Electronic waste is the fastest growing waste stream in the world (source)
- Only 35% of electronic waste in the EU is collected and treated properly (source)
- Illegal flows within the EU are estimated at 4.65 million tonnes in 2012 (source)
One thing I bet it does not include is a requirement to unlock digital devices when support ends (by providing any private keys required to install 3rd party software/operating systems). This would help stop a lot of old devices going to landfill.
I think this should be mostly about information. Sort of 'right to understand'. The law should compel companies that sell on EU market to release to public domain full documentation of the product. Service manuals, precise dimensions of components and such.
I wonder if there is a market for a appliance company to have easy to repair products with easy to source spares that could be done by a competent DIYer
I have to replace a fridge freezer that I inherited as it occasionally leaks/defrosts, I've already out €200+ into it with a repair engineer to replace a motor but I don't want to spend more in case it doesn't work and I have to spend €1000 on a new one anyway.
When I was a teenager my dad got me to replace one of the old rotary switches on a washing machine with a second hand spare he got, if I recall correctly there were 30+ wires and I had to label them all, it worked and I was so satisfied.
Now it would be a new PCB and would be difficult to source.
Definitely think there would be a market even if the initial cost was higher.
This is already a thing with EU made appliances - new original parts can be sourced locally or on ebay at good prices.
As non-profesional I managed to replace dishwasher door springs or washing mashine carbon brushes. It needed some time and research - thanks goodness we have youtube and hobbists forums. At the end the family acclaim is priceless.
Unfortunatelly it is harder to fix some brands from S.Korea or China - no parts on the market, hard to open, fragile plastic, glue instead of screws, rare short lived model lines. My fridge's broken control panel costs about 1/5 of new fridge, plus I am not sure I will manage to assemble it back.
This ruling definitely is going to raise a bar for imported products.
It's a good thing even if I can't use it directly.
The popularity of old 2nd hand mercs in Africa is a direct result of them being fairly easy to fix overengineered gear. No need for a laptop to diagnose it.
So in a way I'm hopeful this will reduce waste indirectly
>The popularity of old 2nd hand mercs in Africa is a direct result of them being fairly easy to fix overengineered gear. No need for a laptop to diagnose it.
Labor is cheap relative to the materials in the 3rd world so they run things as long as they can get parts. What they actually use has more to do with how the second hand car market in the first world works than anything else. For vehicles to be prolific in the 3rd world they need to enter the dealer auction system en-masse at a young age but not young enough to be re-sold as certified pre-owned where they are then bought by exporters/importers. These preconditions basically mean they are bought en-masse by people (or companies) who will drive them 5-10yr and then trade them in on a new one which basically means they are bought en-masse by decently well off people. The stuff that people stretch themselves to buy and then keep until it's totally clapped out (or sell private party to maximize value) never enters that workflow.
Couldn't agree with you more. 10 years is way too short.
Apple forces iPhone 5S and iPhone 6 owners to buy a new model even if they work fine after 6 years. Why couldn't a mobile phone work for 15years?
Just think of the US cars in Cuba, build in the 50s and still on the road. If I remember well, the amount of fossil fuel needed to build a car is more than it will use during it's lifetime on the road.
Changing to Less is more will require either
- a disaster (war, flooding, hunger) or
- long endurance and perseverance against old thinking by Greta Thunberg and the like.
A definite step towards reducing wastage and focusing on improved functionality for products, instead of planned obsolescence and sealed units whose warranty is voided if you repair them.
It's worse than any standard pollution offenses we have in place.
It's surprising we even let companies get away with these practices for this long. The practice is against consumer interests, socially irresponsible and utterly reprehensible as a business method.
If you still sit squarely on the side of the companies on this one, realise capitalisms current growth or bust model is entirely dependent on continual expenditure of Earth's resources.
It might not be they progress we are hopping for. We still have to pay for the repair.
Increasing the devices guarantee from 2 to 5 years (maybe 10?) is probably better. Then it will be on producers to provide long lasting devices.
I watched a right to repair video that suggested that if/when a right to repair law gets signed in the United States that it will cause OEMs to provide repair parts/manuals for not only that state but the rest of the country as well because it would be infeasible to maintain two separate "lines" for the same device.
Does anyone know if this holds true between continents such as Europe and America as well? IE: Because OEMs have right to repair laws in Europe they may just go ahead and furnish America with them as well so they dont have to maintain two separate product lines?
That works for macbooks where there's no difference other than a keyboard, but appliances are already quite different between NA and EU. Voltage and frequency are a big one since AC motors have to be built specifically for it. There's also differences in consumer preferences. You'll never get far selling 24" cooktops and kitchen cabinet washing machines in America.
The main issue is that the new star ratings can only be applied to new appliances. Does the right to repair law also include a clause making it easier to repair? If my new dryer has a fried chip, how much will that chip cost me? Can the 3rd party repair service fix it for cheap? The other big issue we have other than planned obsolescence is that new electronics are chip driven and these are proprietary which means either you go to the original manufacturer and pay quite a bit for the part or throw the damn thing away.
I hope these right to repair laws are solid and also allow the manufacturing of third party parts. But what I would love to see is an upgrade system for older appliances. Like a program where you can buy newer more efficient parts for your appliances instead of buying a whole new one.
The mentioned devices are mains powered (well perhaps not led-lighting) - I can see why legislators are not eager to just let anybody mess about with that.
Speaking of right to repair, As anyone seen the price of hard drives lately? External drives are MUCH cheaper (half price in some cases), which seems backwards when the external drive also comes with an enclosure, power supply and cables.
Leading to the term 'Shucking', where people buy external drives just for the drive inside only to discard the rest.
[+] [-] deanclatworthy|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] DavidHm|6 years ago|reply
I've been trying to wrap my head about whether that's different than the negative response about any regulation in general (including the US one), and I feel like it is more negative; as for why, I would only be speculating.
[+] [-] blue_devil|6 years ago|reply
>Current regulations are seen to be outdated, with more than 55% of washing machines sold in the EU ranked A+++ on the label.
[+] [-] Iv|6 years ago|reply
Want to make a startup whose business model relies on the impossibility to repair? Have found a loophole that makes it possible? Well investors may evaluate the risk this loophole gets fixed and will not see the plan as particularly safe.
It is not just about changing the rules, it is about changing the ethics around them.
[+] [-] Zenst|6 years ago|reply
This is a good thing, and however you wish to view things - this is what is right, fair and it's core is to bring fairness to consumers - even if they don't want to liveridge this avenue now open too them. At least they have the choice and it is their choice.
So Bravo for this, it is something that needs to be done globally. The whole artificially obsoleting consumer products has and will be a serious concern as it drives waste, and waste is and never has been, good for the environment upon any level, whatever your perspective is upon that matter.
Let us not forget, many initiatives get driven by standards from one area and they can and do transpose upon other area in the end for the better of everybody. Let's see this for what it is - something wonderful and long overdue.
I will also add, a few decades back, self repair was far more accessible and less needed as appliances lasted, you could get spares, get them fixed. Yet the market and drive towards mass consumerism and product churn has created a monster, one in which we are going to be paying for as all that environmental credit debt we have built up, well, nature's debt collectors are a calling.
[+] [-] mytailorisrich|6 years ago|reply
Consumers don't want to spend more for appliances. They want cheap. That's why manufacturers build the way they do (if you want quality over 20 years you're already free to buy a Miele)
It is rare for an appliance to break down when just out of warranty, and in any case it is not possible to completely avoid.
I am glad that the new rules do not go farther then they do because I don't think there is an issue that warrant drastic action and widespread price increases.
There are plenty of ways to source spare parts and individuals are simply not able to repair themselves in most cases (and let's not forget health & Safety regulations).
Edit: Thank you guys for killing off any discussion...
[+] [-] asdaddasdad|6 years ago|reply
As usually, when politicians think they can do business better than the businesses themselves, this will probably be a net waste.
[+] [-] AdrianB1|6 years ago|reply
I had from the same company several appliances. The fridge is about 20 years old and still running. The washing machine broke after 15 years and I had to replace it due to lack of spare parts. The new washing machine is 5 years old, full of rust and I already replaced the main motor, that costed 1/3 of the full price of the machine. The technician that replaced it told me it is routine now to replace the Chinese motors after 3 to 5 years, a very high number of these washing machines break now in the first 5 years, but after the 2 years of warranty. They are a multi-brand service, when I asked what brand he recommends he said he cannot recommend one as they all have problems lately.
[+] [-] rlpb|6 years ago|reply
See for example: https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/advice/what-do-i-do-...
Retailers try very hard to pretend that the law doesn't exist and that their obligation to you ends after a two year warranty period. This is false.
[1] Market expectation is adjusted according to the advertised price. For example if you buy a pair of shoes for £5, then you cannot expect it to last six years, of course. If a sale advertises an original and a discounted price, then it is the advertised original price that matters.
[+] [-] buckminster|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] gambiting|6 years ago|reply
That's just a result of high labour cost in western countries though. Parts for appliances are usually pretty cheap, it's getting a specialist to come out that costs an arm and a leg. A heating element for an oven will be like £40, but good luck finding someone to come out and fit it for less than £80-100. Considering you can buy a brand new oven for as little as £200(with free delivery) the option to replace something instead of repairing it is unsurprisingly tempting. The further East you go the cheaper the labour gets, so it's normal that a repair that's completely unreasonable in the UK is actually pretty reasonable in Poland or Slovakia - the same part fitting would cost you maybe 50-100PLN(£10-20)? So actually the parts are almost always more expansive than labour.
[+] [-] ajsnigrutin|6 years ago|reply
If a new (whole) car(tv,washing machine,...) costs 20k (...) ($,€,..doesn't matter), and you want to replace some parts, the cost of just a few parts quickly becomes higher than a whole new unit. In a modern car, just replacing a few parts costs more than a whole car (both front lights ~1k(eur), rear ones 500eur, ac compressor 500eur(+), radio/navigation unit 1k, foldable mirrors 500eur, 'smart' rearview mirror up to 1k, etc...).
If the sum of costs of all parts to assemble a car is above 2x the price of the car, someone is getting ripped off, and we all know who that is.
Same with laptops... lcd assembly on a shitty 600eur laptop was quoted as 400eur+tax here (luckily ebay exists) - and that's without labour.
[+] [-] magduf|6 years ago|reply
Of course, even these can be pretty high, depending on the part in question. A lot of the parts you listed are things that should not ever be replaced, unless you have a wreck. If that happens, then part cost shouldn't be your concern, because insurance is covering it (hopefully, the other party's insurance).
And finally, the used parts market is alive and well. Any of those parts can be easily found on Ebay for a fraction of the new OEM price.
And on top of that, many of those parts have Chinese-made aftermarket replacements, which cost much less, and may be acceptable quality.
As for the "smart" rearview mirror (I think you're talking about auto-dimming mirrors here), my Mazda came with one from the factory, but buying it afterwards costs about $300, certainly not 1k.
Generally speaking, if the car is fairly new, you shouldn't be replacing parts like that except through insurance. If the car is old and you're trying to restore it, you should be looking for used parts. And if you have a new car and you're trying to add all the nice options to make it like the top-end trim model, then you're doing it wrong: you need to get the car from the factory with the options you want instead of trying to add them later, because that never makes any economic sense.
[+] [-] tuxone|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] kube-system|6 years ago|reply
Not really. The business models are way different and have different costs.
You're paying for someone to store that part, ship it in low volume to and from a parts warehouse, market to you, tie up capital in it, and gamble on the possibility that you'd want to buy it before those models go obsolete.
If you buy 500,000 units via container ship from the factory you could get them for way cheaper too.
[+] [-] megous|6 years ago|reply
But I think mandating that replaceable parts have to be standardized, would make it so that multiple manufacturers would be using compatible parts.
As a consumer/repairman you'd be able to choose which one to buy from.
This would introduce competition that would put the pressure on the price.
There would possibly be even less waste because standard parts could be more easilly reused with any fitting brand/manufacturer of the product.
[+] [-] linuxftw|6 years ago|reply
Buying a car based on repair-ability and cost/availability of spare parts is a concern for many of us.
[+] [-] ChuckNorris89|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pkaye|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] strictfp|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] slavik81|6 years ago|reply
Honestly, that's the one aspect of the Kenmore stuff that really impressed me. There was lots of good information out there on what parts to buy and how to do the fix.
[+] [-] noobermin|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] kube-system|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ptah|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] blue_devil|6 years ago|reply
This regulation is part of the EU Ecodesign Directive. In fact, repairability was studied in the 2016-2019 working plan - so for 3-4 years. https://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-19-1596_en.htm
>>introduced for refrigerating appliances, household dishwashers, household washing machines and household washer-dryers, electronic displays and refrigerating appliances with a direct sales function.
Some more facts here: https://eeb.org/europe-paves-way-for-right-to-repair/ >> - The proportion of defective devices being replaced by consumers grew from 3.5% in 2004 to 8.3% in 2012 (source)
- This may be costing German consumers €110 a month per person (source)
- A long-lasting washing machine will generate over 20 years 1.1 tonnes less CO2 than a short-lived model. This analysis takes into account manufacturing, distribution, use and end-of-life treatment (source)
- Electronic waste is the fastest growing waste stream in the world (source)
- Only 35% of electronic waste in the EU is collected and treated properly (source)
- Illegal flows within the EU are estimated at 4.65 million tonnes in 2012 (source)
[+] [-] chaz6|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Joakal|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] criddell|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] scotty79|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] blue_devil|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mywacaday|6 years ago|reply
When I was a teenager my dad got me to replace one of the old rotary switches on a washing machine with a second hand spare he got, if I recall correctly there were 30+ wires and I had to label them all, it worked and I was so satisfied. Now it would be a new PCB and would be difficult to source.
Definitely think there would be a market even if the initial cost was higher.
[+] [-] imhoguy|6 years ago|reply
As non-profesional I managed to replace dishwasher door springs or washing mashine carbon brushes. It needed some time and research - thanks goodness we have youtube and hobbists forums. At the end the family acclaim is priceless.
Unfortunatelly it is harder to fix some brands from S.Korea or China - no parts on the market, hard to open, fragile plastic, glue instead of screws, rare short lived model lines. My fridge's broken control panel costs about 1/5 of new fridge, plus I am not sure I will manage to assemble it back. This ruling definitely is going to raise a bar for imported products.
[+] [-] Havoc|6 years ago|reply
The popularity of old 2nd hand mercs in Africa is a direct result of them being fairly easy to fix overengineered gear. No need for a laptop to diagnose it.
So in a way I'm hopeful this will reduce waste indirectly
[+] [-] dsfyu404ed|6 years ago|reply
Labor is cheap relative to the materials in the 3rd world so they run things as long as they can get parts. What they actually use has more to do with how the second hand car market in the first world works than anything else. For vehicles to be prolific in the 3rd world they need to enter the dealer auction system en-masse at a young age but not young enough to be re-sold as certified pre-owned where they are then bought by exporters/importers. These preconditions basically mean they are bought en-masse by people (or companies) who will drive them 5-10yr and then trade them in on a new one which basically means they are bought en-masse by decently well off people. The stuff that people stretch themselves to buy and then keep until it's totally clapped out (or sell private party to maximize value) never enters that workflow.
[+] [-] blue_devil|6 years ago|reply
10 years is not long enough - big appliances can easily live much longer.
Appliance manufacturers should make it a _core_ business to provide repair services, not think of it as "environmental regulations".
[+] [-] smartbit|6 years ago|reply
Apple forces iPhone 5S and iPhone 6 owners to buy a new model even if they work fine after 6 years. Why couldn't a mobile phone work for 15years?
Just think of the US cars in Cuba, build in the 50s and still on the road. If I remember well, the amount of fossil fuel needed to build a car is more than it will use during it's lifetime on the road.
Changing to Less is more will require either
- a disaster (war, flooding, hunger) or
- long endurance and perseverance against old thinking by Greta Thunberg and the like.
[+] [-] bloogsy|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] lugg|6 years ago|reply
It's worse than any standard pollution offenses we have in place.
It's surprising we even let companies get away with these practices for this long. The practice is against consumer interests, socially irresponsible and utterly reprehensible as a business method.
If you still sit squarely on the side of the companies on this one, realise capitalisms current growth or bust model is entirely dependent on continual expenditure of Earth's resources.
[+] [-] etaty|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] blue_devil|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] greyfox|6 years ago|reply
Does anyone know if this holds true between continents such as Europe and America as well? IE: Because OEMs have right to repair laws in Europe they may just go ahead and furnish America with them as well so they dont have to maintain two separate product lines?
[+] [-] creaturemachine|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] xxs|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] js8|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] investologia|6 years ago|reply
I hope these right to repair laws are solid and also allow the manufacturing of third party parts. But what I would love to see is an upgrade system for older appliances. Like a program where you can buy newer more efficient parts for your appliances instead of buying a whole new one.
[+] [-] JonhRTy|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jalk|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] benj111|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] velox_io|6 years ago|reply
Leading to the term 'Shucking', where people buy external drives just for the drive inside only to discard the rest.