Huh, I had no idea that tractors etc. were also facing this no-self-repair crap. Always though them to be something like the gold standard of repairability… but apparently it was just the old ones.
Near as I can tell, this whole thing started with John Deere tractors. US farmers wanted to repair tractors themselves, because the alternative was calling up someone to have their tractor towed to an official John Deere™ repairshop, which was usually hundreds of miles away. The tow alone would cost them hundreds of dollars. So, they sought legal help, went to court and this is when other companies like Apple and Microsoft caught wind of this story and didn’t like the precedent one bit. After all, why let the users repair their own stuff, when the companies could be earning money on repairs? That’s why this outcome is so important.
Anyway, that’s the quick and dirty version. If you’d like to know more, Vice made a really good video about it two years back: https://youtu.be/EPYy_g8NzmI
Huh, I had no idea that tractors etc. were also facing this no-self-repair crap. Always though them to be something like the gold standard of repairability… but apparently it was just the old ones.
Near as I can tell, this whole thing started with John Deere tractors. US farmers wanted to repair tractors themselves, because the alternative was calling up someone to have their tractor towed to an official John Deere™ repairshop, which was usually hundreds of miles away. The tow alone would cost them hundreds of dollars. So, they sought legal help, went to court and this is when other companies like Apple and Microsoft caught wind of this story and didn’t like the precedent one bit. After all, why let the users repair their own stuff, when the companies could be earning money on repairs? That’s why this outcome is so important.
Anyway, that’s the quick and dirty version. If you’d like to know more, Vice made a really good video about it two years back: https://youtu.be/EPYy_g8NzmI