Motorola is setting an example for major manufacturers to embrace a more open attitude towards repair. If you’re a Motorola customer, you can now either send in your broken device directly to Motorola for repair – or you can fix it yourself with the highest quality parts and tools, plus a free step-by-step guide, all included in our official Motorola OEM Fix Kits.
That’s a model worth replicating, and we couldn’t be more thrilled to consider Motorola a repair ally.
This is a very welcome move, and I deeply hope more companies will follow in Motorola’s footsteps here. It’s refreshing to see a large company actually care about repairability, and even more so to see such a company actively working with repair partners to make it easier for consumers to repair devices themselves.
I didn’t have a good place to post this earlier, but some of us may be familiar with Louis Rossmann’s youtube channel where he repairs devices and fights for owners’ right to repair their devices. He’s known for making apple’s authorized repair service look bad since he can fix what they cannot (or will not). Well, just this month apple had the government seize his repair parts.
It’s worth watching the video…
“Apple & Customs STOLE my batteries, that they won’t even provide to AASPs.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVL65qwBGnw
“Apple under fire for allegations of controversial business practices”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XneTBhRPYk
He vows to fight them at any cost, which is admirable, but I’m afraid for his cause given the behemoth corporation he’s up against. Apple can outlast him in a legal battle. The truth is this could happen to any of us too. One asset that he has is public perception in the news and giving apple bad PR, which would cost more for apple than his tiny lawsuit. So hopefully if we can spread the word as much as possible and highlight how other companies like Motorola are helping to promote owner’s right to repair, then it could make a difference.
I don’t do grassroots campaigning often, but for anyone who cares about owner rights, there’s a lot at stake. It sucks that we have to fight for ownership rights that we feel we should be to take for granted, but this is where we are at. Please do inform your friends about malicious manufacturer repair tactics when they are buying new devices. If possible, sign right to repair petitions.
https://repair.org/
Edited 2018-10-24 00:46 UTC
You just don’t get how free markets work, Alfman…
If we regulate the corporations they will no longer be “free” to stomp on the consumers and destroy anyone who gets in their way. If the consumer doesn’t like it then they are “free” to take a hike. Also, do you have any idea what that would do to all of those poor politicians’ stock portfolios?
We are trying to end vacation homelessness in this country, not make it worse..
emojim,
Bill Shooter of Bul clued me in that I wasn’t detecting sarcasm properly, so I’m trying to re-calibrate, haha.
http://www.osnews.com/thread?662543
The trouble is that there probably are people who actually think this way, so to them I say this: companies using government intervention to block competitors are actually *against* free market principals.
There are very few big companies actually for free market principals. A free market means competitors can eat your market share, reducing profits for your company.
Why do you think all OS makers are going for the closed walled-garden model? If it was truly a free and open market, competitors could start their own app stores on your platform, and eat into those “hard earned” profits developers produce for you.
The free market is a myth.
Maybe he should just ditch Apple and use products from a consumer friendly competitor of Apple instead.
Louis Rossman profits too much from Apples uncompetitive practises. If Apple made their devices easier to repair, he’d be out of a job
As it is, there’s very few others out there with the equipment and capability to repair those devices, so he profits greatly from Apple’s current business practises/
Apple’s shortcomings keep/kept him in business.
Dr Cyber,
Well, nobody said he’s an apple user. You may not have realized that he runs a repair shop in NYC. People bring their products to him to be fixed after being turned away by apple (as the second video shows).
Anyways, let me try to understand you: you don’t think owners should be allowed to repair the products they own? Why not? And even if you want to blame the user here, shouldn’t consumers at least be told at the point of sale about apple’s intention to ban repairs for the products they are selling? If nothing else, it seems really scummy for apple to deprive buyers of informed consent on the matter.
To me, the right to repair is not merely about owner convenience or saving money, it’s actually about protecting the environment, becoming sustainable, and making a meaningful dent in our planet’s e-waste problem. Whether it’s apple banning repairs, or android vendors not providing long term OS support, making us buy new products all the time is harmful for our environment. Planned obsolescence needs to end. So long as companies continue to obstruct owners from doing what is right for themselves and for the planet, we need to stand together and insist they change.
I am very environment conscious but for me it all starts and ends with myself. I am not going on a crusade to try to force other people to live according to my standards.
I vote with my wallet, and so do other customers.
Dr.Cyber,
Was I forcing anyone though? I see it as trying to raise awareness. Voting with your wallet is fine, but if you remain quiet and don’t communicate your opinion on the environment or right to repair, then it’s highly doubtful that corporations or even your friends and family will get the message. No one is going to listen if we aren’t talking.
We have a tragedy of the commons, the reality is we’re affected by the environmental impact that others make too. At the very least we need talk openly about our concerns to those around us, because if we can’t even do that, then corporations are going to use our collective silence and apathy as justification to do whatever they want. And who can blame them. It’s our responsibility to become unified in holding them accountable.
Corporations are just money making machines. The only thing that corporations care to justify is the amount of money they get for the shareholders. And the only language that corporations speak is money. Either you talk with money or you might as well be silent as far as they are concerned.
Dr.Cyber,
PR is a very powerful motivator. Companies like apple are extremely concerned about brand image. After all, they spend tons of advertising money to build it. Yet negative publicity like the CBC piece can reshape customer’s minds against apple. Even just 1% of apple customers represents ten billion dollars now. While they have a financial incentive to bury these stories, if we persist in exposing their practices and informing more users about them, then it will come to the point where ignoring the message will cost them real money and the incentive will be to improve themselves, which is what we want. But it’s not enough to stay quite, they have to know why it’s costing them money. That’s why we need to speak up!
Edited 2018-10-25 01:16 UTC
Brand image?
Are you kidding?
Apple fanbois keep on buying Apple, just like Trump voters will keep on voting for Trump.
No matter what happens. And Apple knows it.
Mac
How many people are tech savy enough to repair a phone, but not security savy enough to trust a Chinese company not to build a back door into their products?
I came very close to buying a Lenovo once. The Superfish Scandal came to light shortly after I opted to buy a Surface instead.
I felt like I dodged a bullet. I will never consider a Lenovo/Motorola product again.
You do realise that Lenovo didn’t create Superfish, but that Superfish was an American based company right?
(source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superfish)
And you do realise that Motorola is an American company right?
(source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorola)
Also, Superfish was only included in some consumer products, not on business (thinkpad) models. And Lenovo acted remarkably well: https://support.lenovo.com/nl/en/product_security/superfish
Superfish should have never been included and Lenovo deserves a bad reputation because of it. But how that somehow makes you mistrust Motorola, especially given the topic of this news item, is really beyond me
Umm…. Motorola’s Mobility/Mobile was sold to Lenovo (i.e. The Chinese) YEARS ago. How do you not know this?
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=motorola+bought+by+lenovo
Goes to show why most schools and universities will immediately fail anybody that references Wikipedia.
Not to defend miker, but you’re probably wrong about Superfish as well now.
Edited 2018-10-24 10:07 UTC
Actually Wikipedia does say that Motorola was acquired by Lenovo. So I guess in this case it merely goes to show that you both are bad at reading.
Edited 2018-10-24 10:37 UTC
Logic fail. Superfish, similar to Cambridge Analytica just changed its name and continued their business. They are still Western scum, not Chinese scum.
China is a surveillance state. If politicians in the US and Europe are calling for back doors into phones, what do you think the Chinese government is doing?
Edited 2018-10-24 14:01 UTC
Who trusts American softwaremakers, hardwarecompanies, cloudservices or government?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriot_Act
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Safe_Harbor_Privacy_Prin…‘s_reach
(I am not saying China is good, just that the USA might not be better)
Hi
I can not say much about your Chinese paranoia, there are rumors about a secret chip on Chinese devices that spies you, but for the moment nobody had found it.
For what I know Lenovo had taken action about the super fish scandal, the almost discontinued all of their “bundled software” for Windows 10 and consolidated as much as possible on “Lenovo Vantage”.
If Lenovo are spying their Worldwide customers, just because they are Chinese we need evidence.
Regards
I have no reason to believe that Lenovo is spying on their customers.
Government mandated backdoors are a frightening possibility, and could come from any country.
My fear is that Chinese companies have no recourse to fight such mandates. In other countries companies can fight in courts, press, and by supporting privacy conscious politicians. None of those options are options for Chinese firms.
I don’t know if we will every see these kinds of laws in western nations, but I have far more faith that we w ill be able to resist these regulations.
uhm…Patriot Act already happened
Gag orders turned out to be common at least also in the US / remeber Snowden revalations?
You’re sure your Surface wasn’t made in China?
It is always good to specify which company it is.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorola
– Motorola Mobility = Owned by Lenovo = Smartphones
– Mororola Solutions = Considered the successor to Motorola
It seems that this news refer to Motorola Mobility, right?
Regards
Strongly considering Motorola Again..
Kudos.
[Repairing is further away to AI. Anyway is excelent news to OUR environment].
Edited 2018-10-24 17:48 UTC
It’s just as well that Motorola are doing this, as they are infamous for refusing to honour the warranties on their products, which I can confirm from personal experience.
No way I will ever buy anything from that reprehensible company again.
Minuous,
I share this gripe since I’ve experienced rejected warranty claims myself (though not motorola in my case). They’ll use warranties as a sales tool up front, but then deny your rights and refuse to honor their warranty. It is dishonest, reprehensible, and maybe illegal. Not all companies are guilty of it, but it’s certainly more common in my experience than it used to be. This has lead me to discount the value of warranties in general.