There are the fixers and there are those who can’t wait to get the latest, greatest gadget. My friend Jane and her best friend You Tube-diagnosed and fixed a plugged stovetop burner and a leaking refrigerator. She loves to fix things!
My preference for fixing rather than replacing first emerged from my desire to save money. Later on my determination was to reduce my impact on landfills.
Even more recently, I strive to make electronics last because of the precious metals mining required to produce them. Repairing rather than replacing is a quadruple win or more.
Contrarily, manufacturers have made it more difficult to repair items over the last couple of decades.
External parts have become thinner and more fragile. Electronic components are often designed all in one piece, so that replacing, say, a memory chip requires replacing all the internal parts.
Repair manuals are sketchy or non-existent, and the parts are unavailable in the aftermarket or sometimes even from the manufacturer. They would prefer you buy a new gadget.
“The planned obsolescence is beyond measure. It’s ridiculous,” protests Ricardo Frustrockl, owner of Santa Barbara PC Tech.
Two developments may help turn the tide for the sake of our pocketbooks, our bulging landfills, and toxic mining.
One is the “Failing the Fix” scorecard published last month by the California Public Interest Research Group (CALPIRG). CALPIRG just released its third annual list, which calculates a repairability score for the most popular cell phone and laptop brands on the market.
Consumers can use this list to choose products that will last longer. In turn, manufacturers may decide to rethink planned obsolescence.
Tellingly, the easiest popular cellphones to repair receive only mediocre grades: there’s much room for improvement.
Three Motorola models received a C+, iPhones and Google Pixels rated C, and Samsung Galaxys rated C-.
Computers rate slightly better in their fixability. Asus Zenbooks received a B+ and Acers a B, while Dell, Microsoft, HP, and Lenovo received C+s and Cs. Apple Macbooks got Ds.
Even if shaming the manufacturers doesn’t improve products, a second development is coming to the rescue.
Last October, California became the fourth state, after New York, Colorado and Minnesota, to pass a Right to Repair bill.
SB244, the California Right to Repair Act, requires manufacturers to “facilitate the diagnosis, maintenance, or repair of electronic or appliance products by offering documentation, parts, and tools to any owner, service and repair facilities, and service dealers on fair and reasonable terms.”
The documentation, parts, and tools must be available for at least three years after the last manufacture of a part priced between $50 and $99, and seven years for a product priced at $100 or more, regardless of warranty. The bill comes into effect in July.
U.S. households spend an average of $1,767 annually on electronic devices and appliances. US PIRG estimates families could save over 20 percent by repairing these items.
Given that more than 4 million tons of small devices and major appliances ended up in landfills each year, significantly more money can be saved on waste disposal and storage.
“This [bill] is a victory for consumers and the planet, and it just makes sense,” said Jenn Engstrom, state director of CALPIRG. “Right now, we mine the planet’s precious minerals, use them to make amazing phones and other electronics, ship these products across the world, and then toss them away after just a few years’ use. What a waste.”
Frustockl agrees it’s a step in the right direction. “However,” he adds, “giving us the right to repair products that are designed to break down and be difficult to repair is really a band-aid on a consumer wound that needs industrial stitches.”
It’s clear that for the market system to work, consumers must demand good options and then choose them when they’re offered.
Time will tell if our new Right to Repair powers yield a renaissance in entrepreneurial fix-it shops and volunteer repair cafes.