California, the biggest state in the US when it comes to both population and the sheer volume of tech companies squeezed into its borders, has just passed the country’s most extreme right to repair bill in the US (via Ars Technica). It’s the third state to pass such a bill, but goes further than either Minnesota or New York in that it forces companies to support their products for longer. But while it will cover gaming PCs and laptops, games console manufacturers get a free pass.
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There are exceptions, however, and it seems like games consoles are somehow exempt from this right to repair requirement. Guess someone’s been lobbying against the inclusion of consoles, eh? The bill itself talks specifically about an “electronic or appliance product” or just a “product”, but stipulates that doesn’t include a video game console.
“‘Video game console’ means a computing device, including its components and peripherals, that is primarily used by consumers for playing video games, such as a console machine, a handheld console device, or another device or system. ‘Video game console’ does not include a general or an all-purpose computer, which includes, but is not limited to, a desktop computer, laptop, tablet, or cell phone.”
So, that means your Xbox, PlayStation, and Switch consoles are all seemingly exempt from having to offer long term support, but at least in the computing space your PC and laptop will be covered.
“Again, how are you going to repair something where a 12 nanometer chip burned out?” you don’t fix the chip, you replace it, just as you don’t fix your car’s spark plug wires. “maybe you can save the PCB (the green part) but that costs next to nothing and” and “Which gets back to “okay, replace the entire board”” are you suggesting that we should throw away an entire notebook because a chip (which can be replaced for 20 bucks) has burnt out?
Nobody is saying that you are going to repair something yourself, but that the components are available for qualified people to repair. You probably don’t change your car’s spark plugs, you take it to a mechanic to have them changed, now imagine that there are no spare spark plugs to buy and your only option is to find another car that isn’t working and hope that some of this car’s spark plugs are working so that you can repair yours, that’s exactly how it is today and why these laws are important.
I feel like they’re being disingenuous. Lots of what-aboutisms and moving goal posts and ignoring the issues that got us to needing right to repair laws in the first place, namely Apple and John Deere and all the copy cats, but also with the goal of reducing e-waste.
it’s all a big lie with the aim of creating planned obsolescence and generating more sales. In the 80s and early 90s you received an electronic schematic for all the equipment you bought, open up an old crt TV and you’ll see the electronic schematic sometimes stuck inside the casing. Drivers and even some programs were opensource, you bought them and could modify them to work on your hardware.
Today these companies deny you this under the excuse of “security” or “stifling innovation” or the famous “think of the children”. And the worst thing about it is that some people swallow these lies and think that corporations have their best interests at heart.
That’s exactly what “they” (aka ChatGPT/shill) are doing.