Traditionally, when a car breaks down,
But when a computer or smartphone breaks, it's hard to get it fixed, and much more common to throw the broken device away. Even small electronic devices can add up to massive amounts of electronic waste – between 20 million and 50 million metric tons of electronic devices every year, worldwide. Some of this waste is recycled, but most – including components involving lead and mercury – goes into landfills.
Bigger equipment can be just as difficult to repair. Today's farmers often can't fix the computers running their tractors, because manufacturers claim that farmers don't actually own them. Companies argue that specialized software running tractors and other machines is protected by copyright and patent laws, and allowing farmers access to it would harm the companies' intellectual property rights.
Users' right to repair – or to pay others to fix – objects they own is in jeopardy. However, in our surveys and examinations of product life cycles, my colleagues and I are finding that supporting people who want to repair and reuse their broken devices can yield benefits – including profits – for electronics manufacturers.
A CORPORATE QUANDARY
At least eight states – Nebraska, Kansas, Wyoming, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York and Tennessee – are considering laws that would require companies to let customers fix their broken electronics. The proposals typically make manufacturers sell parts, publish repair manuals and make available diagnostic tools, such as scanning devices that identify sources of malfunctions. In an encouraging move, the U.S. Copyright Office suggested in June that similar rules should apply nationwide. And the U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that companies' patent rights don't prevent people from reselling their electronics privately.
Source http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/gadgets/news/a27299/why-cant-we-fix-our-own-devices/
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