I will speak to "the repair is the user's right" Approaching the actual situation of disassembled group "iFixit"

Every time the latest gadget is released, it breaks apart by hasteIFixit"By decomposing, we are announcing how difficult it is to repair the gadget on your own. The iFixit is approaching the motherboard of IT related media as to why such a thing is done and what kind of belief is.

How to Fix Everything | Motherboard
http://motherboard.vice.com/read/how-to-fix-everything

Normally, if a purchased electronic device fails, it is necessary to inquire repair to the manufacturer who developed it, and if the broken electronic device is an expensive smartphone, purchase a new item if it is not included in the dedicated support plan We may pay the same repair price as that.

Even if you repair yourself without paying the repair fee, it will be difficult if you do not have expert knowledge, or that the user will repair it will be out of the scope of the warranty and that the purchaser will repair itself It is currently not possible to recommend it to flattery. Kyle Wiens, the founder and CEO of iFixit, has criticized manufacturers who created such environments as "the right for users to repair their own electronic devices purchased by their users is a natural right".

When Wiens is a college student, somehow save money and use expensive Apple notebook PC "IBookAlthough I bought it, it broke down a few days after purchase and I could not find the official repair manual even if I looked it up on the Internet, so I decided to decompose it and repair it myself. However, because Mr. Wiens was poor in expertise, I could not find out where to break it even after disassembling and eventually I could not repair it.

ByIñigo

According to Mr. Wiens who wondered "Why is there no official manual?", The law which regulates the copyright of digitized information "Digital Millennium Copyright Law"I found that Apple had been shutting down several websites that had published official documentation. "It was a shocking fact that Apple was preventing users from repairing themselves for copyright reasons," Mr. Wiens looks back on at the time.

Mr. Wiens wondering that Apple does not allow the user to repair the device, Mr. Wiens will collaborate with a friend to create a repair manual for the iBook and PowerBook and sell it for $ 15 (about 2000 yen) I made it. Sales did not go well, but when I released the repair manual for free, it was picked up on Apple related blogs, Mr. Wiens' name was known to the DIY industry.

"We came to the judgment that an open source repair manual is necessary for all electronic equipment.In order for users to repair electronic equipment themselves, we ask companies to release a repair manual, There are only two options to make a repair manual in. We do not give up on letting companies publish repair manuals, but now we focus our efforts on making repair manuals for themselves and making them public I am talking. "

ByThe DEMO Conference

Mr. Wiens wants to appeal to the world via iFixit is not just the user's right to repair the purchased electronic equipment. In the word Wiens said to Motherboard "Our competitors are dumping grounds"Electrical and electronic equipment wasteThe idea of ​​contributing to the problem solving (E-waste) is put in it.

E-waste is the waste of electronic equipment products, and in some cases it contains toxic substances and is taken up as an environmental problem in developing countries. Mr. Wiens who knew the environmental problem by E-waste went to Ghana in Africa, which is described as "the world's largest E-waste disposal site", and he saw the misery of the site actually occurring. According to Mr. Wiens, "It is generally accepted that developed countries abandon E-waste in African countries including Ghana," but what actually happens is "developed countries Users in developing countries who purchased the products that they purchased can not repair themselves at the time of product failure, there is no way to repair them and there is no way to use them again, so we have to destroy them as E-waste " It was that.

"Although the structure of the latest electronic equipment becomes complicated year by year, the manufacturer who develops will not disclose the repair method to the user, 1 million units of printer has 1 million ways of using it, There is one million way to throw it away.We would like to teach people how to repair electronic equipment through iFixit and I would like to contribute to solving the big problem called E-waste.If I manage iFixit This is the reason why it is there. "

ByCurtis Palmer

IFixit is not the only thing that shows the opposite stance to companies' business monopolizing repair. In the Internet auction, you may see that parts of existing electronic equipment such as "Xperia screen" and "iPhone home button" that individual made for repair are on sale. According to Motherboard, it is said that the act of selling and selling parts that do not contain corporate logos for repair is not illegal in the United States, and in America there are many shops selling parts of electronic equipment and handling repairs There are even communities that support its activities.

Many of the shops handling such electronic equipment are importing parts necessary for repair from outside the United States, but a compulsory investigation was conducted by the US Customs and Border Protection Bureau in 2014, and a large number of domestic A shop says that repair parts equivalent to $ 162 million (about 19.9 billion yen) have been seized and that many shops are in business difficulties.

Like iFixit and repair specialty shops, people in the position to support user repair are opposed by government and enterprises, but iFixit, together with the community supporting DIY, clearly defines the right for users to repair themselves It is said that we will continue to release repair manuals in the future.