Fixit culture is on the rise… but repair legislation faces resistance

Americans are increasingly interested in fixing things rather than throwing them away, but repair legislation faces resistance from manufacturers.

Shift in mindset: Fixit culture is rising in the US, with consumers showing more interest in prolonging the life of their belongings.
* Online how-to videos get hundreds of thousands of views, and community repair workshops have taken off since around 2009.

Policy work needed: “Right to Repair” legislation aims to have manufacturers provide consumers and independent repair companies with access to necessary parts, tools, and service information.
* Dozens of Right to Repair bills are in progress, and some states like New York have already passed related legislation.

Resistance from manufacturers: Tech sector trade association TechNet is concerned the bills would provide “unvetted third parties” with ~~”sensitive diagnostic information tools and parts.”~~
* Apple and Samsung have expanded their self-repair programs and independent service provider networks in response to consumer demand.

Fix My Phone SF owner Michael Ghadieh says the availability of replacement parts has improved but manufacturers’ trade-in deals may have negatively affected his repair business.

View original article on NPR

This summary was created by an AI system. The use of this summary is subject to our Terms of Service.

Contact us about this post

Posted

in

by

Tags:

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *