Lawmaker Kills Repair Bill Because 'Cellphones Are Throwaways' (vice.com) 139
The New Hampshire State House rejected the Digital Fair Repair Act earlier this week in part thanks to a representative who seems to think that cell phones are literally garbage that no one should bother repairing. From a report: The bill would have forced manufacturers such as Apple to share repair manuals and parts with independent repair stores. House members didn't kill the bill, but sent it back to committee for a year of interim study, citing security concerns and, in the words of Rep. John Potucek (R-Derry) the ubiquity, cheapness, and -- in his opinion -- disposability of new smart phones. "In the near future, cellphones are throwaways," Potucek said, according to New Hampshire Business Review. "Everyone will just get a new one."
That is, of course, the problem that right to repair is trying to solve. The new iPhone 11 costs between $699 and $1,349. And it can be hard to find one at the moment. Google's Pixel 4 costs between $799 and $999. Manufacturers seal smartphones to make it difficult to replace the battery and do basic repairs. Often, getting repairs through the company is so expensive that people simply purchase a new phone. Apple's repair monopoly is so dominant that it's the center of an investigation by the United States House of Representatives' Judiciary Committee.
That is, of course, the problem that right to repair is trying to solve. The new iPhone 11 costs between $699 and $1,349. And it can be hard to find one at the moment. Google's Pixel 4 costs between $799 and $999. Manufacturers seal smartphones to make it difficult to replace the battery and do basic repairs. Often, getting repairs through the company is so expensive that people simply purchase a new phone. Apple's repair monopoly is so dominant that it's the center of an investigation by the United States House of Representatives' Judiciary Committee.
Don't like it? (Score:2)
Re:Don't like it? (Score:5, Insightful)
New Hampshire's motto is "Live Free, or Die." I kind a like it.
If this guy was defending his views on libertarian principles, and arguing this is best left to the market, I could respect that. But he isn't. He is asserting that the government knows more than individuals about how they should use their devices.
NH has often been hypocritical about their motto. A citizen had to appeal all the way to the Supreme Court [wikipedia.org] to defend his freedom to express himself and disagree with the motto.
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
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No, you're asserting that the government knows more than the market about how people want to use their devices. You're asserting the government forcing them to provide repairs won't increase costs for the customer and help the majority of people. Your evidence is scant
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You're claiming a monopoly exists where there is none.
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> and arguing this is best left to the market
So what about the 3rd party device repair market? Isn't the point of this bill to make sure they can have it left to them?
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Go try to buy a joint for recreational use in New Hampshire.
What do you guys do... (Score:2)
... if somebody's living free consists of taking away somebody else's ability to live free?
(And what if the other person's living free consists of taking the first one's ability to live free too?)
(Also, what in the case of kids or heavily mentally disabled people who lack an individual personality to base an actually independent will on?)
Honest question. This is a philosophically very interesting question.
(Also: If you believe the answer is simple... keep thinking. :)
I agree with that. But ... (Score:2)
The philosophical problem with that is, of course, that you would still put your rules above his, thereby taking his freedom (to harm you).
The core problem is, that every absolute right or wrong would always be egoistic and unfair.
E.g. I thing if a bunch of people got together on an uninhabited island to make it their new country, and then everyone would agree that murder and violence and rape are OK (on that island), then who am I to forbid that?
This works fine ... until there are childen born and disabled
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I Need a New Rep! (Score:5, Insightful)
You know what I need? I need a new US representative. Mine is broken and should be thrown away. I hear that replacements are getting cheaper every day.
Register to Vote! [usa.gov]
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You mean that you'd use this tool to get rid of the old? https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
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Also send any "burn" phone to him then. Would be "interesting".
All those use and throw-away devices are really bad for the environment too.
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You haven't heard? The Environment is a "throw-away". New generations will just get their own new environments. There is no need to repair the environment when it will just become obsolete soon anyway.
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deepmagicbeginshere@gmail.com is the guy
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How about send a message to Rep. John Potucek (R-Derry) like, "Hey, you fucking moron, the whole idea of the repair bill is so the phones can be cheaply repaired and so are not throw away items wasting tax payers money, requiring a new phone wasting more raw materials, creating new pollution and creating new rubbish, you idiotically corrupt double speaking CUNT". Something along those lines perhaps a bit politer or perhaps less so.
Re: I Need a New Rep! (Score:2)
Better just to send him a couple trash bags full of obsolete cellphones.
Good joke. (Score:2)
Yeah. Go pick one of the lobbyists you get to choose from , aka "vote" for. ;)
Sorry, he's not broken. You just don't know that what this is a democracy for, and who gets represented, are corporations.
I think people misunderstood the sentence "corporations are people". I think it is implicitly prepended by a "ONLY". Like in "Look at me. I'm the people now!". ;)
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Funny, Google and Apple will feel the same way about "your" representative if he ever fails to work they way they expect.
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You know what I need? I need a new US representative. Mine is broken and should be thrown away. I hear that replacements are getting cheaper every day.
Register to Vote! [usa.gov]
Be sure to destroy it to prevent someone else from using it. I suggest using a shredder.
He's just... (Score:2, Insightful)
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There are two classes of cell phones now the cheap straight talk phone you can get for under $100 new is very much a throw away, the iphone is not.
That being said if i'm paying over $200 for a phone it better have a easily replaceable battery.
Re:He's just... (Score:5, Insightful)
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Bullshit (Score:5, Insightful)
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Yeah, there's no way this isn't corruption.
What I don't understand is why we tolerate this (Score:5, Informative)
I mean, I get it that we have to choose between a turd sandwich and a giant douche when we don't show up for our primaries, but why the hell, in 2019, haven't people figured out that the way to end corruption is to show up for your primary and vote for politicians who refuse corporate PAC money?
And on this issue I don't care if you're GOP, Dem, Green party, Libertarian, or Pastafarian. Show up to your primary and refuse to vote for anyone that takes corporate cash. Demand politicians who are uncorrupted.
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You seem confused over what the problem is.
If you think a candidate is so corrupt that they will vote based on who gives them money, then you shouldn't be voting for that candidate in the first place. It doesn't matter if the donors are corporate or private.
Of course it matters (Score:2)
The problem comes when a) the gift is so outsized that it's clearly meant to be a bribe and b) you're not giving the person money because you support their cause but because they're going to disproportionately favor you and/or your business to the detriment of everybody else.
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There are plenty of people who will be dumbasses for free.
not the only device (Score:5, Insightful)
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The devices that people really care about is expensive agricultural Tractors. That cannot be repaired without the manufacturer.
Who votes for people this stupid? (Score:2)
This isn't a left or right thing, this guy is clearly a moron. Why would he even be elected to a local school board, never mind this position? I'm not american, perhaps things are different there.
Re:Who votes for people this stupid? (Score:5, Insightful)
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People always care about sex and things tangential to sex far beyond the actual importance of those issues. I think it's some sort of instinctive, genetic thing.
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Because we just vote for the person on our team (left vs. right, dem vs. repub) and don't care about the person at all, or their lack of qualifications.
Honestly, it's true. Tribalism is rampant. Issues don't actually matter anymore. All you have to do it look for "D" or "R" and cast your vote.
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Tribal thinking goes beyond politics, many spend their entire lives letting their brain divide everything into "us-them", they care more about the banner than the message.
There are a million nag bumper stickers to choose from, but I feel like STOP TRIBAL THINKING would be a genuinely useful reminder.
Re:Who votes for people this stupid? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Who votes for people this stupid? (Score:4, Insightful)
You get what you pay for (Score:2)
I recently talked to an alderman in a Texas city, also not paid. He liked it because he had an employer that would let him take as much time off as he needed for his "civic duty", while allowing him to be elected unopposed. 99% of potential candidates simply cannot afford it.
This was a big reform in the 19th century in Britain. MPs were not paid, so only gentlemen of independent means could apply.
Re: Who votes for people this stupid? (Score:2)
When you basically donâ(TM)t pay politicians you ensure that your politicians are all going to be either people who donâ(TM)t need a job(at least not one regular or time consuming enough to prevent them from also being a politician) or who have found...alternatives... to a salary for making politics pay.
For stuff that requires very modest time commitment the benefit of unpaid
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The downside to not paying them is that everyone that's there either:
A. Incredibly wealthy.
B. Retired.
C. Property Developer (90%).
Option C go into state government to get sweetheart deals for property. In my state these type C legislators went and mandated the state prison move so that all that ground the prison sits on could be given to one of the developers connected to all the legislators and they could make a boatload of money robbing the taxpayers. They did this when EVERY study they did showed the exi
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The other part of this is just the resources needed to run for election. We (Canada) just had an election, much more regulated then America. Maximum allowed spending is $100,000, the Conservatives averaged about $90,000. Liberals a little less and then down the party lines to the Greens whose candidates spent minimally. Then there is the 3 months that need to be devoted to running, which can cause conflicts with jobs and family. Then the hatred that might be slung your way.
All in all, just running here is n
Nothing stupid about it. (Score:2)
He got voted for aka hired by a full US citized, aka a corporation. To represent them. And he's doing his job.
What, you still thought that cross in that booth meant you get to decide? When all the (pre-selected) options were of the above kind? ;)
Somebody more evil and with even worse English than me, might say: "Who citizens that stupid??"
Re:Who votes for people this stupid? (Score:4, Informative)
I wouldn't assume that at all. Rather, I see the (R) by his name, and automatically assume that the guy has probably never been poor enough that dropping $500 to replace a phone that broke out of warranty would make the difference between paying his rent/tuition/medical bills and not doing so.
The reality is that most Republicans come from wealthy backgrounds, and right to repair doesn't matter at all to the wealthy, beyond that it discourages excessive consumption, which lowers stock prices. Right to repair does, however, matter for people who can't afford to treat cell phones that cost as much as their cars as disposable.
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John Potucek is a retired middle school math teacher.
Rockingham, NH, pays its teachers about 35% below average, so he was making somewhere between $35,000 and $50,000 per year.
His current address is a small 50 year old house, worth about $300,000 according to Zillow.
That's not rich. That's distinctly middle class. He does not seem to be wealthy and does not appear to suffer from Affluenza.
No, he's just an idiot au naturel.
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Wow. A teacher... running as a Republican... that's... yeah, I've got nothing.
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That's pretty expensive house for that type of salary.
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Depends when he bought it and whether the value increased much faster then inflation like what happens in some markets.
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Not really.
First off, even assuming that he bought the house at $300,000, rather than bought the house decades ago when it was worth much less, it suggests a monthly payment of roughly $1100 for the mortgage. That's about $13,000 per year.
The general rule of thumb is 1/3 of your income to housing, no more. If we assume he made a median $40,000 per year, that's almost exactly 33%.
Since he is retired (age 70 I think), I assume he bought the house back when he was employed. It might have been more house tha
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I wouldn't assume that at all. Rather, I see the (R) by his name, and automatically assume that the guy has probably never been poor enough that dropping $500 to replace a phone that broke out of warranty would make the difference between paying his rent/tuition/medical bills and not doing so.
Are you saying that anyone could become wealthy if they register as a Republican and vote for Republicans?
I'm pretty sure that's not what you are saying but it should make people think why there is a correlation between wealth and the GOP. I mean that people should REALLY REALLY think about how this correlation happened. I came up with my own theories, none of which can be tested in any definitive way. Just think, if people equate being wealthy with being a Republican then how is it that wealthy people b
I've tried to repair several phones (Score:5, Insightful)
I've tried to repair several different phones that I originally paid anywhere from $350-$650 for. The main impediments are documentation and access to OEM parts.
It's particularly egregious that you often can't buy or easily replace OEM batteries, which are one of the primary points of degradation and failure on every single modern phone.
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I have repaired a shitload of them. Aliexpress is your friend. All kinds of phone parts there, although not necessarily of the same quality.
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Aliexpress is your friend. All kinds of phone parts there, although not necessarily of the same quality.
Yes, chances I'd rather not take on a lithium ion battery that rides in my pocket all day.
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Even genuine ones catch fire every now and then. The safer thing would be to carry a phone elsewhere, like in a backpack.
For Samsung and many Chinese brands ... (Score:2)
... you can find them on e-Bay, no problem.
(Samsung even has a site for them, I have been told.)
Although I highly recommend not disconnecting the antenna plugs until you really have to. As they are specced to only last 3 plug/unplug cycles.
And: Never EVER buy a glued phone. There are plenty of other options.
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Glued phones are notva big deal when you have a hot plate. Since the screens are always glued in, it is pretty handy to have anyway. Also useful as a soldering bath if you have a small ceramic container and can keep the food warm.
No fitness for an purpose then? (Score:2)
Sorry, but I'm not paying above $50 to buy/produce garbage that lasts only two years, even if their plan fails and none of the predetermined breaking points (like glass) get me before that.
I can get repairable cheap Chinese phones and repairable fair non-Chinese phones instead.
Wealthy politicians think expensive items are junk (Score:3)
We know that too many politicians are wealthy, either before they get into office, or due to kickbacks and hidden bribes while in office. As a result, is it any wonder that they think that $1000 is "chump change" that people can just throw around as if it isn't a lot of money?
"Cell Phones Aren't Worth Repairing" (Score:3)
Say that about guns and let's see what happens. Let's make sure gun repair shops following the same idiocy that cellphone users have had to deal with. Then we'll see if he changes his mind.
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At this point I'm really surprised no gun manufacturer has introduced a proprietary bullet. Stick a silly trademark on and some token innovation they can patent, and every gun sale becomes a recurring customer.
I'd call it the 'SuperSmooth' - a bullet coated with graphite for a self-lubricating, smoother travel. Also 2% wider than standard bullets.
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THIRD PARTY COMPONENTS DETECTED
PLEASE USE GENUINE SUPERSMOOTH SUPPLIES FOR BEST, RELIABLE SERVICE
[Cancel] [Exit]
Yes, those would be the two options to click on.
Filter error: Don't use so many caps. It's like YELLING.
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At this point I'm really surprised no gun manufacturer has introduced a proprietary bullet. Stick a silly trademark on and some token innovation they can patent, and every gun sale becomes a recurring customer.
I'd call it the 'SuperSmooth' - a bullet coated with graphite for a self-lubricating, smoother travel. Also 2% wider than standard bullets.
That's been tried many times. The problem is that when such ammunition became popular anti self defense legislators called such bullets "cop killers" and had them banned.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
Bringing any new kind of ammunition to market got real expensive after that.
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I was thinking of it more as a flimsy excuse to claim innovation and get a patent. I don't imagine graphite coating would actually do anything other than make the bullets look cooler, but if people will buy $500 audiophile-grade ethernet cables, they'll buy graphite-coated bullets.
From the headline alone, I knew he was Republican (Score:2, Informative)
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I think it is futile to explain it any other way. The Republican Party is proud to be pro-business at the expense of consumers.
For the record this bill died in a legislative body that is majority (D) [ballotpedia.org] by a large margin. The (R) contingent has no power and is only responsible for this outcome in the minds of the idiots such as you.
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What do you mean they have no power? They can't single-handedly pass anything they want, sure, but unless there were fewer than 34 Democrats for the bill, they could've passed this one (assuming it requires a simple majority). I didn't see voting records in TFA, but I doubt this was the case.
Anyway, that opinion is dumb as hell, but this kind of bill would make much more sense on the federal level.
Can Voters Afford Him? (Score:3, Insightful)
Maybe this guy's constituents should ask themselves how someone on his salary can afford to deem between $699 and $1,349 "throwaway".
Comment removed (Score:5, Interesting)
DMCA (Score:2)
The DMCA means that manufactures can not only lock you into OEM parts that they refuse to provide, they can also make it impossible to replace broken parts for OEM salvage parts. Oh yeah, and it is ILLEGAL to even attempt to bypass such software locks.
Go look what is happening with John Deer tractors.
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There's more to it than that. For example, when an OEM goes out of it's way to use DRM like methods to lock out otherwise suitable repair parts and then abuses copyright law if you try to circumvent the lock out. In that sense, there *IS* something stopping me legally from fixing my own devices.
There have been a number of cases where people get sued for independently producing device schematics and parts database in a process that can only be called abuse of IP law. So there's another legal impediment to se
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Stop trying to infer this is more than what it is. The right to repair laws are an attempt to stop companies like apple from putting software locks into the parts that would prevent their replacement by even OEM parts.
The current copyright laws make it impossible for you to do parts if those parts have software attached and it's trivial for the manufacturer to put in just enough logic to lock out replacements. Apple has already begun to do this, EVEN when using OEM parts.
The goal here is to stop manufacture
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What are you talking about? Apple's phone batteries are secured by removable adhesive strips. They're incredibly easy to remove and replace (both the strips and the batteries they hold in place).
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Phones use glue-in batteries because they're all using Li-Poly batteries in cases with super slim margins. The batteries don't have hard shell packaging or any meaningful puncture resistance. To make them suitable to be replaceable they would need much thicker outer shells. If these thicker replaceable batteries were used in current phones the phones would have shit lifetimes. A good half of the battery's envelope would be plastic shell.
People want phones with hiDPI bright displays, powerful CPUs and GPUs,
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I think the point many of us here would vehemently disagree with is the assertion that a phone being "thin" is the be-all and end-all of urgently-demanded phone features.
Up to a reasonable point, the collection of dimensions that really matters is, "can the phone fit in the back pocket of an average male wearing normal jeans"... and one aspect of that is, "does the phone have enough structural rigidity to avoid getting the screen cracked through flexure alone just from BEING in that pocket while the user is
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The point you're missing is that the CPLDs and comparable parts aren't the ones likely to fail. The parts that account for 99% of device breakage are the screen, the USB port, and the battery... and the battery is the one part that's absolutely, positively guaranteed to die sooner rather than later.
Ironically, the RF modules are likely to fail in the long term as well, though THEIR failure mode is usually more subtle and gradual. Most cell phones have HORRIBLE, life-long endemic problems with SWR, and progr
Contradicted by the cell phone makers themselves.. (Score:5, Insightful)
a representative who seems to think that cell phones are literally garbage that no one should bother repairing.
So, nobody bothers to repair these, right?
The bill would have forced manufacturers such as Apple to share repair manuals and parts with independent repair stores.
Well, THAT'S strange. It seems that Apple DOES repair cell phones. Hmm, it's almost like this representative is either a clueless moron or bought off by the cell phone manufacturers. Or I guess it could be both...
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Wow a dem that is owned by (Score:3)
Just my 2 cents
Interesting differences in nations (Score:2)
In America and a number of 3rd world nations (brazil), Companies and foreign governments are obviously in control of their government (with full-blown traitors at the white house along with Senate majority lead
Phones Vs. Guitars (Score:3)
If you buy a guitar for the price of a high end phone, you're getting a nice one that should last a lifetime or more. It's something you look after.
The idea that a $1300 phone is a throwaway is only something a politician would think.
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The idea that a phone costs $1300 is something only a slashdotter would think.
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The idea that a phone costs $1300 is something only a slashdotter would think.
"Another detail missing from the carriers' announcements is how much you can expect to pay for the Hydrogen One. If the pre-order price is any indication, though, prepare for a sizable dent in your bank account. An aluminum version of the phone had a pre-order price of $1,295, while a titanium version was listed at $1,595. (Red is no longer taking orders for the upcoming phone.)"
https://www.tomsguide.com/us/r... [tomsguide.com]
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Yes, because many people who pay for them through their cell phone contracts have no idea how much they are actually paying for them.
Dumber Than A Rock (Score:2)
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Go back to cheap dumbphones (Score:3)
So I guess I'm all on-board with this: dump smartphones, then no one needs to worry about 'repairing' them anymore.
Now, all that being said: 'Right to repair' other electronics, vehicles, farm equipment, etc? That needs to be a real thing. Now.
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It's actually unlikely you could make a dumbphone chaper than the cheapest smartphone. The latter can be designed around whatever components have the best economy of scale while the former would be stuck with low volumes of custom parts. This has been true since they started putting microprocessors into microwave ovens, and also why your lightbulbs are now voice activated.
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Actually, we're probably getting close to the point where making the whole thing a touchscreen would be cheaper than building a good quality keypad with physical buttons.
As for your voice activated light bulbs, one could always make them cheaper if they didn't care about the smarts by taking the lighting element and wiring it directly to the socket.
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LED bulbs require a regulated current source. Once you have that level of integration and a package to put it in, adding a microcontroller with WiFi adds almost no marginal cost. The magic phrase is "Non-Recurring Engineering".
Circular logic (Score:2)
Meaning.... No-one will need to repair phones because they will be disposable, or people will be forced to buy new phones because they are prevented from repair them?
Manufacturers seal smartphones (Score:2)
"Manufacturers seal smartphones to make it difficult to replace the battery and do basic repairs."
Well actually, they seal smartphones because it's a lot easier to do waterproofing and dustproofing if the device can't be opened by users. And it's also cheaper to make and simpler to design.
Any moron, including the author, can lean how to fix their smartphone online - and you can buy the tools at iFixIt, the site that constantly complains that tools to open smartphones are obscure and hard-to-obtain.
The state
Make him do the throwing away. (Score:2)
John Potucek
18 Sunset Ave
Derry, NH 03038
Send all your 'throwaway' phones to him. Since he thinks they can be just tossed out, he can be the one to do the job for The People.
Dear Apple, Is repairperson a gender? (Score:4, Funny)
I'm asking for Mr. P. Star here.
Yours faithfully,
Brigadier Sir Charles Arthur Strong (Mrs.)
P.S. I have never kissed the editor of the Radio Times.
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At least one person is standing up to it, and destroying the lobbyist arguments [youtube.com] while he's as it. I'm talking about Louis Rossman who has always championed the cause.
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