1 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:07,800 Speaker 1: Welcome to tex Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:12,000 --> 00:00:14,840 Speaker 1: Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 3 00:00:15,040 --> 00:00:18,560 Speaker 1: Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio. 4 00:00:18,680 --> 00:00:23,360 Speaker 1: And how the tech are you. Well, it's Thanksgiving here 5 00:00:23,520 --> 00:00:26,160 Speaker 1: in the United States, which means we are actually off 6 00:00:26,200 --> 00:00:29,840 Speaker 1: work today, but we thought we'd bring you a rerun episode. 7 00:00:30,480 --> 00:00:35,440 Speaker 1: This episode published last year March nine, two thousand twenty one, 8 00:00:36,200 --> 00:00:39,720 Speaker 1: with the title Planned Obsolescence and the Right to Repair. 9 00:00:40,240 --> 00:00:43,200 Speaker 1: I thought this would be an appropriate topic to bring 10 00:00:43,280 --> 00:00:47,160 Speaker 1: back up because we are in the heart of holiday 11 00:00:47,159 --> 00:00:50,960 Speaker 1: gift buying season. You know, tomorrow is Black Friday, which 12 00:00:51,040 --> 00:00:54,240 Speaker 1: is traditionally a big shopping day, but we all know 13 00:00:54,360 --> 00:00:57,480 Speaker 1: that those shopping days have been expanded both before and 14 00:00:57,720 --> 00:01:01,240 Speaker 1: after Black Friday. But one of the big things people 15 00:01:01,240 --> 00:01:05,639 Speaker 1: like to get our tech gifts for their loved ones. 16 00:01:06,200 --> 00:01:09,720 Speaker 1: And one of the downsides to tech is that it 17 00:01:09,800 --> 00:01:14,760 Speaker 1: can go obsolete pretty quickly, and sometimes when stuff goes wrong, 18 00:01:15,760 --> 00:01:19,280 Speaker 1: there's not necessarily an easy way to fix it, and 19 00:01:19,280 --> 00:01:22,039 Speaker 1: that brings us to the right to Repair movement. So 20 00:01:22,240 --> 00:01:25,160 Speaker 1: sit back, relax, and enjoy this episode from last year, 21 00:01:25,319 --> 00:01:31,679 Speaker 1: Planned Obsolescence and the Right to Repair. I recently did 22 00:01:31,760 --> 00:01:35,080 Speaker 1: a series of episodes about General Motors, and one of 23 00:01:35,120 --> 00:01:38,319 Speaker 1: the many things I talked about in those episodes was 24 00:01:38,360 --> 00:01:42,600 Speaker 1: how Alfred Sloan, who was an absolutely critical leader of 25 00:01:43,080 --> 00:01:48,600 Speaker 1: GM early on, established a practice of planned obsolescence. That 26 00:01:48,800 --> 00:01:53,400 Speaker 1: is part of Sloan's market strategy was creating a company 27 00:01:53,440 --> 00:01:57,760 Speaker 1: that every year would release cars that had updated styling 28 00:01:57,960 --> 00:02:02,000 Speaker 1: and features in order to entire not just first time 29 00:02:02,040 --> 00:02:05,280 Speaker 1: car buyers, but people who had already, you know, purchased 30 00:02:05,560 --> 00:02:08,000 Speaker 1: a car in the past. And that got me to 31 00:02:08,040 --> 00:02:11,160 Speaker 1: thinking that I should really talk about planned obsolescence in 32 00:02:11,200 --> 00:02:14,880 Speaker 1: general and examine the facts and consider the myths, and 33 00:02:15,280 --> 00:02:18,120 Speaker 1: also chat a bit about the right to repair movement 34 00:02:18,600 --> 00:02:23,440 Speaker 1: and recycling, because all of this is kind of connected together. 35 00:02:23,600 --> 00:02:29,360 Speaker 1: We're talking about casual consumption of electronic goods, almost a 36 00:02:29,440 --> 00:02:34,760 Speaker 1: disposable approach to them, and electronic goods are not necessarily 37 00:02:34,800 --> 00:02:37,720 Speaker 1: the best thing in the world to treat as disposable. 38 00:02:37,919 --> 00:02:41,320 Speaker 1: So let's just start off by defining what planned obsolescence 39 00:02:41,440 --> 00:02:45,120 Speaker 1: is really all about. Now. Generally, people talk about planned 40 00:02:45,120 --> 00:02:49,119 Speaker 1: obsolescence as a strategy in which the maker of a thing, 41 00:02:49,639 --> 00:02:53,600 Speaker 1: whether it's a physical good or an app or whatever, 42 00:02:54,240 --> 00:03:00,399 Speaker 1: builds into that thing a predetermined end of life. Other words, 43 00:03:00,400 --> 00:03:04,320 Speaker 1: you've already determined how long this thing is supposed to last. 44 00:03:04,680 --> 00:03:07,880 Speaker 1: And the purpose of planned obsolescens is to not just 45 00:03:08,080 --> 00:03:11,560 Speaker 1: sell one thing to each customer one time, but to 46 00:03:11,639 --> 00:03:17,400 Speaker 1: sell many of that same thing to every customer over time. 47 00:03:17,919 --> 00:03:20,440 Speaker 1: It's the same reason why a lot of software companies 48 00:03:20,720 --> 00:03:25,040 Speaker 1: will migrate toward a subscription based revenue model, because it's 49 00:03:25,040 --> 00:03:29,519 Speaker 1: more profitable to get customers to regularly give you money 50 00:03:29,639 --> 00:03:32,840 Speaker 1: than to bank on selling them a lot of the 51 00:03:32,880 --> 00:03:36,640 Speaker 1: same thing to a huge customer base. Like if I'm 52 00:03:36,640 --> 00:03:40,080 Speaker 1: selling a software package for two hundred dollars, I'm going 53 00:03:40,120 --> 00:03:43,120 Speaker 1: to get you know, X number of customers, and chances 54 00:03:43,160 --> 00:03:45,320 Speaker 1: are they're not going to buy another product for me 55 00:03:45,360 --> 00:03:49,000 Speaker 1: for a while. If I offer a subscription fee for 56 00:03:49,040 --> 00:03:52,280 Speaker 1: a much lower monthly plan, I might get people locked 57 00:03:52,320 --> 00:03:55,680 Speaker 1: into that system for years and thus make way more 58 00:03:55,760 --> 00:03:58,000 Speaker 1: money off of them in the long run than I 59 00:03:58,000 --> 00:03:59,920 Speaker 1: would if I had gone with the big ticket i'd 60 00:04:00,440 --> 00:04:05,480 Speaker 1: up front. This can actually manifest in lots of different ways. Now, typically, 61 00:04:05,480 --> 00:04:09,480 Speaker 1: I get the sense that the popular perception of you know, 62 00:04:09,640 --> 00:04:13,840 Speaker 1: planned ups lessons is that companies make stuff that's just 63 00:04:13,920 --> 00:04:16,839 Speaker 1: designed to stop working after a certain number of hours 64 00:04:16,880 --> 00:04:20,599 Speaker 1: of operation. So, in other words, the manufacturer isn't making 65 00:04:20,640 --> 00:04:23,560 Speaker 1: products that are meant to stand the test of time. Rather, 66 00:04:23,839 --> 00:04:26,800 Speaker 1: these are products that will at some point break down 67 00:04:27,040 --> 00:04:31,640 Speaker 1: and either require repairs or a replacement. Now, repairs were 68 00:04:31,680 --> 00:04:35,800 Speaker 1: great if you happen to be the not only the 69 00:04:35,839 --> 00:04:39,000 Speaker 1: company that's selling the thing, but you're also the company 70 00:04:39,040 --> 00:04:43,960 Speaker 1: that provides maintenance and repair services. Car dealerships often fall 71 00:04:44,000 --> 00:04:47,120 Speaker 1: into this category. You can purchase a car at a dealership, 72 00:04:47,600 --> 00:04:51,480 Speaker 1: and then most dealerships have service centers as well, or 73 00:04:51,640 --> 00:04:54,480 Speaker 1: they have, you know, an agreement with a service center, 74 00:04:54,760 --> 00:04:57,800 Speaker 1: so the dealership can continue to make money off of 75 00:04:57,839 --> 00:05:00,960 Speaker 1: a sale if the salesperson can and convince the customer 76 00:05:01,040 --> 00:05:04,040 Speaker 1: to bring the car back to the dealership's service center 77 00:05:04,440 --> 00:05:08,640 Speaker 1: for regular maintenance or repair work. But not all technology 78 00:05:08,720 --> 00:05:12,160 Speaker 1: has the value of a car. Obviously, there's a lot 79 00:05:12,200 --> 00:05:15,200 Speaker 1: of tech out there that's fairly inexpensive to make, and 80 00:05:15,320 --> 00:05:19,160 Speaker 1: companies might price that technology it's such a relatively low 81 00:05:19,240 --> 00:05:23,000 Speaker 1: cost that a repair might set you back the same 82 00:05:23,040 --> 00:05:26,480 Speaker 1: amount or more than buying just a new version of 83 00:05:26,520 --> 00:05:29,120 Speaker 1: whatever that tech is. For a lot of us, I 84 00:05:29,160 --> 00:05:32,040 Speaker 1: figure the reaction to that as well, I might as 85 00:05:32,040 --> 00:05:33,800 Speaker 1: well buy a new one if I'm going to be 86 00:05:33,839 --> 00:05:36,840 Speaker 1: spending that kind of money. Heck, the new thing of 87 00:05:36,880 --> 00:05:39,240 Speaker 1: a jig might have more features than the old one, 88 00:05:39,560 --> 00:05:42,800 Speaker 1: or it might look a little different, you know, more stylish, 89 00:05:43,000 --> 00:05:46,640 Speaker 1: and so we toss aside whatever old thing of a 90 00:05:46,720 --> 00:05:48,320 Speaker 1: jig we have and then we go out and buy 91 00:05:48,320 --> 00:05:51,680 Speaker 1: a new one. Or maybe you would actually like to 92 00:05:51,680 --> 00:05:54,640 Speaker 1: do repairs yourself. That's something we're going to chat about 93 00:05:54,640 --> 00:05:57,479 Speaker 1: more towards the end of this episode. But some companies 94 00:05:57,520 --> 00:06:01,960 Speaker 1: have been known to make it challenge or maybe even impossible, 95 00:06:02,000 --> 00:06:05,479 Speaker 1: for the end customer to really repair the technology they purchase, 96 00:06:06,160 --> 00:06:09,960 Speaker 1: whether it's through using proprietary screws that need a specific 97 00:06:09,960 --> 00:06:14,880 Speaker 1: tool to remove them, or actually sealing components into compartments 98 00:06:14,880 --> 00:06:19,000 Speaker 1: with glue and rivets and solder or other fasteners, making 99 00:06:19,040 --> 00:06:22,239 Speaker 1: it impossible to open without risk of causing further damage. 100 00:06:22,520 --> 00:06:25,960 Speaker 1: Companies have used a few different ways to obscure or 101 00:06:26,000 --> 00:06:33,479 Speaker 1: impede repairs mm apple. Or you could also get to 102 00:06:33,520 --> 00:06:36,360 Speaker 1: a point with stuff like cars where it just becomes 103 00:06:36,360 --> 00:06:39,480 Speaker 1: harder to make repairs because it's hard to even determine 104 00:06:39,480 --> 00:06:43,720 Speaker 1: what is wrong with the thing without a special diagnostic 105 00:06:43,920 --> 00:06:46,200 Speaker 1: device like a computer. This is the case with a 106 00:06:46,240 --> 00:06:48,880 Speaker 1: lot of modern cars. You might be able to lift 107 00:06:48,920 --> 00:06:51,240 Speaker 1: the hood and look around a little bit, but some 108 00:06:51,400 --> 00:06:55,520 Speaker 1: vehicles have various covers or engine configurations that make it 109 00:06:55,600 --> 00:06:59,560 Speaker 1: really challenging for the average person to access specific parts 110 00:06:59,680 --> 00:07:03,440 Speaker 1: of the motor, let alone do any work on it. Again, 111 00:07:03,760 --> 00:07:06,039 Speaker 1: this limits what you can do with tech once it 112 00:07:06,120 --> 00:07:09,960 Speaker 1: starts to fail, and all tech does fail over time, 113 00:07:10,000 --> 00:07:15,480 Speaker 1: because well, entropy is something we just can't avoid. It's 114 00:07:15,480 --> 00:07:19,160 Speaker 1: it's a fundamental law of the universe, particularly when it 115 00:07:19,200 --> 00:07:23,440 Speaker 1: comes to cheap technology. The sort of disposable approach has 116 00:07:23,480 --> 00:07:28,160 Speaker 1: a lot of negative drawbacks, including what to do with 117 00:07:28,280 --> 00:07:30,840 Speaker 1: old tech that no longer works. I mean, a lot 118 00:07:30,880 --> 00:07:35,280 Speaker 1: of technology contains stuff that's pretty toxic, so throwing it 119 00:07:35,280 --> 00:07:37,880 Speaker 1: out in the garbage could lead to it ending up 120 00:07:37,880 --> 00:07:40,800 Speaker 1: in a landfill somewhere, and then harmful stuff like lead 121 00:07:41,080 --> 00:07:44,680 Speaker 1: or mercury could leach into the environment. Because of that, 122 00:07:44,680 --> 00:07:48,080 Speaker 1: that's not great. So we'll touch a tiny bit on 123 00:07:48,160 --> 00:07:51,040 Speaker 1: electronics recycling in this episode two, but I have done 124 00:07:51,040 --> 00:07:54,040 Speaker 1: full episodes about e waste recycling, so I'm not going 125 00:07:54,080 --> 00:07:56,800 Speaker 1: to spend too much time on it, and there are 126 00:07:56,960 --> 00:08:02,280 Speaker 1: often ways to make older tech obsle elite that are 127 00:08:02,320 --> 00:08:04,720 Speaker 1: not necessarily obvious on the face of it. So let's 128 00:08:04,760 --> 00:08:08,440 Speaker 1: talk about smartphones, for example. That's an easy one. One 129 00:08:08,480 --> 00:08:11,080 Speaker 1: of the big trends we see in technology is that 130 00:08:11,200 --> 00:08:16,640 Speaker 1: as devices or components within devices get more powerful, the 131 00:08:16,720 --> 00:08:20,880 Speaker 1: software developers end up making software that eats up that 132 00:08:21,000 --> 00:08:25,840 Speaker 1: extra power. Nicholas Worth wrote about this pro problem back 133 00:08:25,840 --> 00:08:28,800 Speaker 1: in the ninety nineties. He wrote a paper titled a 134 00:08:28,960 --> 00:08:33,960 Speaker 1: Plea for Lean Software, and his point has essentially boiled 135 00:08:33,960 --> 00:08:37,160 Speaker 1: down into what we now call Worth's law, which is 136 00:08:37,200 --> 00:08:41,800 Speaker 1: that software is getting slower. That is, it's getting more 137 00:08:42,040 --> 00:08:46,599 Speaker 1: resource hungry at a rate that's faster than hardware is 138 00:08:46,640 --> 00:08:50,760 Speaker 1: getting faster. So while subsequent generations of hardware are getting 139 00:08:50,760 --> 00:08:56,040 Speaker 1: more powerful, the requirements of software are outpacing that progress, 140 00:08:56,360 --> 00:08:58,520 Speaker 1: and the end result is that we often feel our 141 00:08:58,520 --> 00:09:01,200 Speaker 1: shiny new devices just aren't keeping up as much as 142 00:09:01,240 --> 00:09:04,920 Speaker 1: we expected them to. We're basing our perception on what 143 00:09:05,080 --> 00:09:07,679 Speaker 1: the new device should be able to do based on 144 00:09:07,800 --> 00:09:10,520 Speaker 1: what we have right now, and that's just not how 145 00:09:10,559 --> 00:09:14,320 Speaker 1: stuff works. Unfortunately, gamers who want to be on the 146 00:09:14,320 --> 00:09:18,560 Speaker 1: bleeding edge of computing capability experience this a lot. A 147 00:09:18,679 --> 00:09:22,680 Speaker 1: top gaming rig would cost thousands of dollars. It requires 148 00:09:22,679 --> 00:09:27,720 Speaker 1: a powerful central processor or CPU, and quite likely multiple 149 00:09:27,760 --> 00:09:32,440 Speaker 1: powerful graphics processing units or GPUs. Plus you need a 150 00:09:32,480 --> 00:09:35,520 Speaker 1: power supply that's capable of providing the juice that these 151 00:09:35,520 --> 00:09:38,880 Speaker 1: components need, and you need a killer cooling system to 152 00:09:38,960 --> 00:09:41,840 Speaker 1: make sure the whole thing doesn't overheat. And just as 153 00:09:41,880 --> 00:09:44,960 Speaker 1: you get all of this stuff set up and running 154 00:09:44,960 --> 00:09:48,200 Speaker 1: the latest games, developers start making games that are so 155 00:09:48,360 --> 00:09:51,720 Speaker 1: resource hungry that even with your killer rig you might 156 00:09:51,760 --> 00:09:55,120 Speaker 1: have to knock a few of the game's settings down 157 00:09:55,240 --> 00:09:59,160 Speaker 1: a couple of notches just to make it run smoothly. Meanwhile, 158 00:09:59,400 --> 00:10:02,800 Speaker 1: you're already anticipating the next big development and hardware that 159 00:10:02,880 --> 00:10:05,160 Speaker 1: will let you move all those sliders all the way 160 00:10:05,200 --> 00:10:07,320 Speaker 1: to the top. That's going to set you back a 161 00:10:07,320 --> 00:10:11,240 Speaker 1: few more thousand dollars, which is brutal. With smartphones, we 162 00:10:11,320 --> 00:10:15,200 Speaker 1: see this happen a lot as newer models use better processors, 163 00:10:15,240 --> 00:10:20,199 Speaker 1: and typically new processors are usually more powerful and hopefully 164 00:10:20,240 --> 00:10:23,760 Speaker 1: more efficient, so in other words, you're not seeing battery 165 00:10:23,840 --> 00:10:27,040 Speaker 1: life just plummet from one generation to the next, or 166 00:10:27,160 --> 00:10:31,120 Speaker 1: phones get way bigger because you need a bigger battery 167 00:10:31,160 --> 00:10:34,400 Speaker 1: in order to make them last long enough. Processor technologies 168 00:10:34,480 --> 00:10:38,319 Speaker 1: follow pretty close to Moore's law, and we typically interpret 169 00:10:38,400 --> 00:10:42,880 Speaker 1: that as meaning that a processor's capabilities effectively double every 170 00:10:42,920 --> 00:10:45,800 Speaker 1: two years or so. Not the same processor, but rather 171 00:10:46,240 --> 00:10:49,400 Speaker 1: new processors on the market end up being twice as 172 00:10:49,400 --> 00:10:52,280 Speaker 1: powerful as the processors that came out two years earlier. 173 00:10:52,320 --> 00:10:57,400 Speaker 1: That's generally what we mean. More's laws more subtle than that, 174 00:10:57,480 --> 00:11:00,720 Speaker 1: but we won't go into it. Battery life does not 175 00:11:00,960 --> 00:11:05,840 Speaker 1: follow this same trajectory. It's again a law of physics. 176 00:11:05,880 --> 00:11:09,200 Speaker 1: We're talking about electrochemical reactions, and so there's not a 177 00:11:09,240 --> 00:11:12,480 Speaker 1: magic way to make batteries just last longer. It requires 178 00:11:12,920 --> 00:11:16,880 Speaker 1: more incremental improvement. So if we only concentrated on making 179 00:11:16,920 --> 00:11:20,480 Speaker 1: processors more powerful, they would just pull more juice per 180 00:11:20,520 --> 00:11:23,800 Speaker 1: hour than older processors, and soon we would have smartphones. 181 00:11:24,000 --> 00:11:26,240 Speaker 1: They would only have a couple of hours of useful 182 00:11:26,280 --> 00:11:30,679 Speaker 1: battery life. So there is a balance to be made here. Meanwhile, 183 00:11:31,000 --> 00:11:35,120 Speaker 1: smartphone apps still follow Worth's law. The apps drawn more 184 00:11:35,200 --> 00:11:38,800 Speaker 1: processor power, or they interact with more components, and smartphones 185 00:11:38,880 --> 00:11:43,319 Speaker 1: like GPS receivers or accelerometers or the camera or microphone, 186 00:11:43,400 --> 00:11:46,480 Speaker 1: or some combination of all of these and more, and 187 00:11:46,520 --> 00:11:51,280 Speaker 1: the smartphone operating systems themselves evolved to support these apps 188 00:11:51,320 --> 00:11:56,040 Speaker 1: and provide more functionality. Well, older smartphones just can't keep 189 00:11:56,160 --> 00:11:58,960 Speaker 1: up with this all the time, and so you will 190 00:11:59,000 --> 00:12:02,960 Speaker 1: often see companies make a cut off for operating system updates. 191 00:12:03,280 --> 00:12:06,800 Speaker 1: Older phones might stall out at a certain OS version 192 00:12:06,920 --> 00:12:10,040 Speaker 1: and be unable to install more recent updates of the 193 00:12:10,080 --> 00:12:13,760 Speaker 1: operating system. So you could have an Android smartphone that's 194 00:12:13,800 --> 00:12:16,520 Speaker 1: maybe a few years old, and it's running a version 195 00:12:16,559 --> 00:12:20,280 Speaker 1: of Android that's several generations old at this point because 196 00:12:20,320 --> 00:12:23,840 Speaker 1: Google has determined that the hardware you're using simply cannot 197 00:12:24,120 --> 00:12:29,280 Speaker 1: meet the needs of later operating systems. Meanwhile, the app 198 00:12:29,320 --> 00:12:31,760 Speaker 1: developers are focusing on what they can do with the 199 00:12:31,800 --> 00:12:35,400 Speaker 1: most recent OS version, which means you might not be 200 00:12:35,480 --> 00:12:38,959 Speaker 1: able to run a new app with all of its features, 201 00:12:39,000 --> 00:12:40,360 Speaker 1: or you might not even be able to run the 202 00:12:40,360 --> 00:12:43,440 Speaker 1: app at all if you're using an older phone. And 203 00:12:43,480 --> 00:12:47,920 Speaker 1: since apps are what makes smartphones smart, that ends up 204 00:12:47,920 --> 00:12:50,719 Speaker 1: being a big problem. And so now the incentive is 205 00:12:50,760 --> 00:12:53,280 Speaker 1: there for you to upgrade your phone, even if your 206 00:12:53,320 --> 00:12:56,280 Speaker 1: old phone still works, so that you can, you know, 207 00:12:56,559 --> 00:12:59,120 Speaker 1: just use your smartphone the way you want to. And 208 00:12:59,160 --> 00:13:02,439 Speaker 1: you're not stuck older versions of apps. And that's particularly 209 00:13:02,480 --> 00:13:06,520 Speaker 1: important because sometimes these older versions of apps end up 210 00:13:06,600 --> 00:13:09,880 Speaker 1: being tied to servers that could go offline, or they 211 00:13:09,960 --> 00:13:12,920 Speaker 1: might swap over to a new process, and then you 212 00:13:12,960 --> 00:13:15,520 Speaker 1: have an outdated smartphone that has a bunch of inactive 213 00:13:15,559 --> 00:13:20,320 Speaker 1: apps stored on it and it becomes practically useless. On 214 00:13:20,360 --> 00:13:24,400 Speaker 1: a related note, battery life decreases over time and use, 215 00:13:24,559 --> 00:13:27,080 Speaker 1: so older batteries just don't hold as much of a 216 00:13:27,200 --> 00:13:31,839 Speaker 1: charge as newer batteries, and they drain faster, which means 217 00:13:31,880 --> 00:13:36,040 Speaker 1: that your older battery operated devices will need recharging more frequently. 218 00:13:36,559 --> 00:13:40,959 Speaker 1: Apple famously tried to address this problem by purposefully throttling 219 00:13:41,000 --> 00:13:45,160 Speaker 1: the processing speed of older iPhones. The processors would work 220 00:13:45,240 --> 00:13:48,920 Speaker 1: more slowly so that they would consume less battery power, 221 00:13:48,960 --> 00:13:51,840 Speaker 1: thus extending the usefulness of a battery at the cost 222 00:13:52,000 --> 00:13:57,400 Speaker 1: of smartphone performance. But Apple didn't, you know, tell anyone 223 00:13:57,440 --> 00:13:59,680 Speaker 1: about it, and a lot of users figured out that 224 00:13:59,679 --> 00:14:02,960 Speaker 1: there too, vices were slowing down due to age. That's 225 00:14:03,000 --> 00:14:05,480 Speaker 1: what they assumed. It's just, oh, this is older, that's 226 00:14:05,480 --> 00:14:08,439 Speaker 1: why it's getting slower. And in a way that was 227 00:14:08,520 --> 00:14:10,560 Speaker 1: kind of true, but not in the same way that 228 00:14:10,640 --> 00:14:13,320 Speaker 1: these users thought. They just thought, this thing is getting old, 229 00:14:13,679 --> 00:14:15,720 Speaker 1: I need a new one, so they opted to buy 230 00:14:15,800 --> 00:14:21,200 Speaker 1: a new, later generation iPhone. But in iPhone, users figured 231 00:14:21,240 --> 00:14:23,840 Speaker 1: out that their phones were being throttled and they had 232 00:14:23,880 --> 00:14:26,000 Speaker 1: no choice in the matter, and that led to a 233 00:14:26,000 --> 00:14:29,680 Speaker 1: big class action lawsuit. As users said, had they known 234 00:14:29,760 --> 00:14:32,840 Speaker 1: what was going on, they would have opted to replace 235 00:14:32,920 --> 00:14:36,720 Speaker 1: the battery in their old iPhone rather than buy a 236 00:14:36,800 --> 00:14:39,480 Speaker 1: brand new iPhone. And I should add that Apple does 237 00:14:39,520 --> 00:14:41,880 Speaker 1: not make it easy for you to do this. You 238 00:14:41,880 --> 00:14:45,960 Speaker 1: you really can't replace a battery in your iPhone, at 239 00:14:46,040 --> 00:14:51,120 Speaker 1: least not without violating your warranty. But under certain circumstances, 240 00:14:51,160 --> 00:14:55,120 Speaker 1: like if you enroll in Apple Care Plus, then Apple 241 00:14:55,240 --> 00:15:00,520 Speaker 1: actually will replace an iPhone battery free of charge. I say, 242 00:15:00,560 --> 00:15:03,800 Speaker 1: for your charge. Really, I should say that prices included 243 00:15:03,960 --> 00:15:08,040 Speaker 1: in your enrollment into Apple Care Plus. So for those users, 244 00:15:08,080 --> 00:15:10,760 Speaker 1: the people who had enrolled in Apple Care Plus, they 245 00:15:10,760 --> 00:15:13,120 Speaker 1: could have chosen to have a new battery put into 246 00:15:13,160 --> 00:15:16,120 Speaker 1: their older iPhone and it would have extended the life 247 00:15:16,360 --> 00:15:19,440 Speaker 1: of that device, but they weren't told about what was 248 00:15:19,480 --> 00:15:22,160 Speaker 1: going on, so instead they opted to buy a brand 249 00:15:22,160 --> 00:15:26,520 Speaker 1: new phone, which was way more expensive. In Apple reached 250 00:15:26,520 --> 00:15:30,120 Speaker 1: a settlement agreement, actually to settlement agreements for two different 251 00:15:30,120 --> 00:15:34,240 Speaker 1: class action lawsuits brought against the company about this very issue. 252 00:15:34,720 --> 00:15:38,080 Speaker 1: The first settlement was for five hundred million dollars a 253 00:15:38,240 --> 00:15:42,280 Speaker 1: princely some, and the second was for another one thirteen 254 00:15:42,560 --> 00:15:46,720 Speaker 1: million dollars. In both cases, prosecution argued that Apple was 255 00:15:46,800 --> 00:15:50,920 Speaker 1: deliberately hiding the fact that it was throttling processing output 256 00:15:51,360 --> 00:15:54,600 Speaker 1: and that the battery was degrading over time, and they 257 00:15:54,680 --> 00:15:57,760 Speaker 1: knew that most users would opt to upgrade to a 258 00:15:57,760 --> 00:16:00,680 Speaker 1: newer iPhone as long as they didn't realize that there 259 00:16:00,760 --> 00:16:03,960 Speaker 1: was an alternative path they could have taken. Now, that 260 00:16:04,000 --> 00:16:07,840 Speaker 1: pretty much hits the planned obsolescence definition right on the nose. 261 00:16:08,400 --> 00:16:10,960 Speaker 1: So it turns out there are a lot of different 262 00:16:10,960 --> 00:16:15,080 Speaker 1: approaches to planned obsolescence. While the phrase might make you 263 00:16:15,120 --> 00:16:18,040 Speaker 1: think that the company is purposefully making stuff that just 264 00:16:18,120 --> 00:16:20,920 Speaker 1: won't stand the test of time, as in the company 265 00:16:21,000 --> 00:16:25,320 Speaker 1: is choosing to create substandard products knowing that these products 266 00:16:25,360 --> 00:16:28,000 Speaker 1: will break down and the customer is likely to come 267 00:16:28,000 --> 00:16:30,800 Speaker 1: back and buy another one. Really, that's just the tip 268 00:16:30,840 --> 00:16:33,520 Speaker 1: of the iceberg, and it's usually not even the case. 269 00:16:33,680 --> 00:16:37,120 Speaker 1: If a company's reputation gets tied to the idea that 270 00:16:37,200 --> 00:16:41,440 Speaker 1: the stuff they make breaks easily. That's not good for business. 271 00:16:42,000 --> 00:16:43,840 Speaker 1: And the rest of this episode, we're going to take 272 00:16:44,040 --> 00:16:47,880 Speaker 1: a closer look at some historical examples of planned obsolescence 273 00:16:48,320 --> 00:16:51,520 Speaker 1: and what was going on from different perspectives, and we'll 274 00:16:51,560 --> 00:16:54,320 Speaker 1: also get into the right to Repair movement and what 275 00:16:54,600 --> 00:16:58,120 Speaker 1: it might mean to the tech industry moving forward, assuming 276 00:16:58,240 --> 00:17:02,160 Speaker 1: the movement actually achieves its goal. But first let's take 277 00:17:02,640 --> 00:17:14,200 Speaker 1: a quick break. We're back and on December twenty three, 278 00:17:14,920 --> 00:17:19,159 Speaker 1: nineteen twenty four, a group of elite entrepreneurs met to 279 00:17:19,320 --> 00:17:24,280 Speaker 1: establish some shady guidelines, which was pretty ironic because they 280 00:17:24,320 --> 00:17:27,919 Speaker 1: were all in the lightbulb business. That's sort of a 281 00:17:28,000 --> 00:17:33,240 Speaker 1: pun I guess anyway. The leaders represented some of the 282 00:17:33,320 --> 00:17:37,840 Speaker 1: largest light bulb manufacturers in the world. There was General Electric, 283 00:17:38,040 --> 00:17:41,000 Speaker 1: the grand daddy of big tech companies in the United States. 284 00:17:41,800 --> 00:17:45,240 Speaker 1: There was the company Phillips from the Netherlands, as Rum, 285 00:17:45,440 --> 00:17:48,560 Speaker 1: a company from Germany had a representative present, and the 286 00:17:48,600 --> 00:17:51,720 Speaker 1: French had their place too, with executives from the company 287 00:17:51,880 --> 00:17:56,760 Speaker 1: De Lump And together they created a powerful idea, which 288 00:17:56,840 --> 00:18:00,439 Speaker 1: we can represent as a very large lightbulb turning on 289 00:18:00,520 --> 00:18:02,919 Speaker 1: behind their heads or at least we could if this 290 00:18:02,960 --> 00:18:06,399 Speaker 1: were a video and not an audio podcast. Their idea 291 00:18:06,800 --> 00:18:09,840 Speaker 1: was to form a new company, an organization that would 292 00:18:09,880 --> 00:18:13,919 Speaker 1: coordinate how lightbulbs should work, as in how bright they 293 00:18:13,960 --> 00:18:16,880 Speaker 1: should be and how long they should last, as well 294 00:18:16,920 --> 00:18:19,840 Speaker 1: as which company would be allowed to sell its products 295 00:18:19,880 --> 00:18:24,480 Speaker 1: in certain specific regions. It was collusion of the highest order, 296 00:18:24,800 --> 00:18:27,920 Speaker 1: and it violated pretty much every antitrust law you can 297 00:18:27,920 --> 00:18:31,480 Speaker 1: think of. And it became known as the Phoebus Cartel. 298 00:18:32,400 --> 00:18:35,720 Speaker 1: Cute huh, because Phoebus is another name for Apollo, the 299 00:18:35,760 --> 00:18:40,080 Speaker 1: god of the sun. Before the cartel, manufacturers were making 300 00:18:40,160 --> 00:18:43,600 Speaker 1: lightbulbs that could last between fifteen hundred and two thousand 301 00:18:43,680 --> 00:18:48,600 Speaker 1: hours of operation. But the cartel collectively decided that their 302 00:18:48,680 --> 00:18:51,879 Speaker 1: light bulbs should have a life expectancy of one thousand 303 00:18:51,960 --> 00:18:55,680 Speaker 1: hours of use. A ha. These companies were producing a 304 00:18:55,760 --> 00:18:59,879 Speaker 1: technology that already had a limited lifespan just because of 305 00:19:00,000 --> 00:19:02,879 Speaker 1: how it works. You know, the filaments and light bulbs, 306 00:19:02,960 --> 00:19:06,000 Speaker 1: the part that actually gives off light, they eventually burned 307 00:19:06,000 --> 00:19:10,600 Speaker 1: through and break, and that's what makes incandescent lightbulbs die. Clearly, 308 00:19:11,119 --> 00:19:13,719 Speaker 1: this group of people were all agreeing to a worldwide 309 00:19:13,800 --> 00:19:16,520 Speaker 1: limit on the useful number of hours a light bulb 310 00:19:16,560 --> 00:19:20,479 Speaker 1: would operate in in order to sell more light bulbs. Right, 311 00:19:20,480 --> 00:19:24,320 Speaker 1: they were making a predetermined end of life cycle for 312 00:19:24,440 --> 00:19:27,680 Speaker 1: light bulbs, and by making everyone agree to this limitation, 313 00:19:28,080 --> 00:19:31,080 Speaker 1: no manufacturer would be able to defy the others and 314 00:19:31,119 --> 00:19:35,040 Speaker 1: start selling bulbs that had longer lifespans, which would ruin 315 00:19:35,119 --> 00:19:38,200 Speaker 1: it for everybody else. Now you can see the appeal 316 00:19:38,359 --> 00:19:42,840 Speaker 1: of that narrative, right, rich fat cats are cynically limiting 317 00:19:42,840 --> 00:19:47,920 Speaker 1: a technology just to sell more light bulbs, while simultaneously 318 00:19:48,000 --> 00:19:52,159 Speaker 1: creating pressure to prevent any other company from offering up 319 00:19:52,200 --> 00:19:56,760 Speaker 1: a superior product. You could just hear the thumbs twiddling, 320 00:19:57,080 --> 00:20:02,680 Speaker 1: you know, the mustaches waxing, and the chore as shortling. Heck, 321 00:20:02,760 --> 00:20:06,600 Speaker 1: the cartel would even test light bulbs from each manufacturer, 322 00:20:06,840 --> 00:20:09,199 Speaker 1: and if any of those light bulbs proved to have 323 00:20:09,240 --> 00:20:12,320 Speaker 1: a lifespan that was well beyond those one thousand hours 324 00:20:12,320 --> 00:20:18,200 Speaker 1: of operation, the cartel would find the responsible manufacturer keep 325 00:20:18,200 --> 00:20:22,719 Speaker 1: those light bulbs lives shorter or else. But if we 326 00:20:22,760 --> 00:20:25,360 Speaker 1: want to be a little more fair, we should take 327 00:20:25,359 --> 00:20:29,680 Speaker 1: into consideration another factor. As light bulbs age, they would 328 00:20:29,720 --> 00:20:35,720 Speaker 1: give off less light. Incandescent bulbs they are less luminously efficient, 329 00:20:35,840 --> 00:20:39,000 Speaker 1: in other words, and so the counter argument was made 330 00:20:39,400 --> 00:20:42,439 Speaker 1: that by limiting the lifespan to one thousand hours, it 331 00:20:42,560 --> 00:20:47,520 Speaker 1: was more about maximizing luminous efficiency. It was to make 332 00:20:47,560 --> 00:20:50,920 Speaker 1: certain that the light bulbs were providing enough light throughout 333 00:20:50,960 --> 00:20:55,840 Speaker 1: their lifespans and not just turning into increasingly dim light sources. 334 00:20:55,880 --> 00:20:59,040 Speaker 1: So there was an argument being made that the restriction 335 00:20:59,119 --> 00:21:02,480 Speaker 1: of the life span was more about improving the quality 336 00:21:02,640 --> 00:21:06,320 Speaker 1: of the performance of light bulbs rather than speeding up 337 00:21:06,359 --> 00:21:09,560 Speaker 1: the need to replace those light bulbs. It was a 338 00:21:09,600 --> 00:21:12,720 Speaker 1: compelling enough argument to lead the u K's Monopolies and 339 00:21:12,760 --> 00:21:16,840 Speaker 1: Restrictive Practices Commission to give the companies some slack with 340 00:21:16,920 --> 00:21:20,440 Speaker 1: that regard. Though there were many other things the Phoebus 341 00:21:20,440 --> 00:21:23,280 Speaker 1: Cartel did that did not get a free pass, but 342 00:21:23,359 --> 00:21:27,160 Speaker 1: those are more market focused than tech focused, so I'm 343 00:21:27,200 --> 00:21:29,560 Speaker 1: not going to go into them. The cartel itself, by 344 00:21:29,600 --> 00:21:33,119 Speaker 1: the way, dissolved in the late nineteen thirties, not because 345 00:21:33,119 --> 00:21:36,199 Speaker 1: of government pressure, or at least not the kind of 346 00:21:36,359 --> 00:21:39,760 Speaker 1: regulation pressure, but because of a little thing called World 347 00:21:39,760 --> 00:21:44,359 Speaker 1: War Two. Now, I suspect that the decision to arrive 348 00:21:44,480 --> 00:21:48,240 Speaker 1: at one thousand hours of useful life was guided both 349 00:21:48,280 --> 00:21:53,000 Speaker 1: by practical considerations and good old fashioned greed. So I 350 00:21:53,040 --> 00:21:56,359 Speaker 1: suspect there is some truth to both of the scenarios 351 00:21:56,400 --> 00:22:01,520 Speaker 1: I mentioned, or if you listen to ridiculous history scenarios 352 00:22:02,160 --> 00:22:05,520 Speaker 1: and considering that some of the other moves that the 353 00:22:05,560 --> 00:22:10,600 Speaker 1: cartel made, like namely price fixing, you definitely cannot count 354 00:22:10,680 --> 00:22:14,600 Speaker 1: greed out because that was the primary motivator for those decisions. 355 00:22:15,040 --> 00:22:16,800 Speaker 1: But there are at least some people who are a 356 00:22:16,800 --> 00:22:20,600 Speaker 1: little more charitable toward the idea of limiting bulb lifespan 357 00:22:21,240 --> 00:22:25,400 Speaker 1: in an effort to favor better luminous efficiency. So we'll 358 00:22:25,440 --> 00:22:28,639 Speaker 1: move on. The next big example is the one that 359 00:22:28,680 --> 00:22:30,919 Speaker 1: I mentioned earlier and talked about a little bit in 360 00:22:31,000 --> 00:22:34,680 Speaker 1: my episodes about General Motors. This was the GM under 361 00:22:34,720 --> 00:22:37,879 Speaker 1: Alfred B. Sloan, the man who took a big mess 362 00:22:37,960 --> 00:22:41,920 Speaker 1: of companies that were acquired by GM founder William C. Durant, 363 00:22:42,280 --> 00:22:46,560 Speaker 1: and then he organized all of this mishmash into individual 364 00:22:46,640 --> 00:22:51,040 Speaker 1: business units looking over specific makes of car, and each 365 00:22:51,080 --> 00:22:54,080 Speaker 1: of those units had a great deal of autonomy between them. 366 00:22:54,119 --> 00:22:58,080 Speaker 1: He was also a consummate capitalist, and I don't necessarily 367 00:22:58,119 --> 00:23:01,280 Speaker 1: mean that in a flattering way. He had a habit 368 00:23:01,359 --> 00:23:05,879 Speaker 1: of focusing on profits and ignoring people. But you can 369 00:23:05,960 --> 00:23:09,199 Speaker 1: learn more about that in the GM episodes. One of 370 00:23:09,240 --> 00:23:13,600 Speaker 1: Sloan's many contributions to the automotive industry was the introduction 371 00:23:13,680 --> 00:23:18,560 Speaker 1: of stylistic changes to various car models year over year. 372 00:23:19,160 --> 00:23:22,879 Speaker 1: In the early days of automobiles, the dominating manufacturer was 373 00:23:22,960 --> 00:23:27,400 Speaker 1: the Ford Motor Company. Henry Ford's company produced the famous 374 00:23:27,440 --> 00:23:31,040 Speaker 1: Model T. Ford and first introduced that Model T in 375 00:23:31,160 --> 00:23:35,240 Speaker 1: nineteen o eight, and it remained in production until nineteen 376 00:23:35,320 --> 00:23:40,560 Speaker 1: twenty seven. By nine, this was a mass produced cars, 377 00:23:40,560 --> 00:23:44,960 Speaker 1: so on a huge scale, Ford dominated car sales in 378 00:23:45,000 --> 00:23:50,080 Speaker 1: the United States for like decades now. Allegedly, Ford himself 379 00:23:50,119 --> 00:23:53,000 Speaker 1: once said that there was no use in overtaking and 380 00:23:53,080 --> 00:23:56,600 Speaker 1: passing a Model T on the road because you would 381 00:23:56,600 --> 00:24:00,440 Speaker 1: just find yourself behind a different Model T. That's how 382 00:24:01,080 --> 00:24:05,120 Speaker 1: commonplace they were. He also reportedly said that a customer 383 00:24:05,160 --> 00:24:07,600 Speaker 1: could get a Model T and whatever color they wanted 384 00:24:07,920 --> 00:24:10,680 Speaker 1: as long as it was black. While the company would 385 00:24:10,680 --> 00:24:14,160 Speaker 1: offer Model T s and other colors up to nineteen fourteen, 386 00:24:14,600 --> 00:24:20,040 Speaker 1: between nineteen fourteen and nineteen Ford only churned out black 387 00:24:20,160 --> 00:24:24,679 Speaker 1: Model T cars. This meant that Ford's factories could build 388 00:24:24,920 --> 00:24:27,960 Speaker 1: nearly identical cars, one right after the other, using mass 389 00:24:27,960 --> 00:24:33,199 Speaker 1: production techniques, thus increasing efficiency and keeping costs down. And 390 00:24:33,240 --> 00:24:36,000 Speaker 1: it also meant that Ford could sell these cars at 391 00:24:36,040 --> 00:24:41,080 Speaker 1: affordable prices. They were meant to be practical, durable, and reliable, 392 00:24:41,240 --> 00:24:44,160 Speaker 1: and that's how he made so many early sales. Now 393 00:24:44,160 --> 00:24:47,600 Speaker 1: there was a big emphasis on uniformity and consistency, in 394 00:24:47,640 --> 00:24:50,480 Speaker 1: other words, because those are things that make it easier 395 00:24:50,520 --> 00:24:54,920 Speaker 1: to mass produce something. And Alfred Sloan saw an opportunity 396 00:24:55,000 --> 00:24:58,120 Speaker 1: to appeal to people on a different level over at 397 00:24:58,160 --> 00:25:01,119 Speaker 1: General Motors. He thought it would be a good idea 398 00:25:01,160 --> 00:25:03,840 Speaker 1: to change up the style of a model of car 399 00:25:04,119 --> 00:25:07,480 Speaker 1: on a regular basis. At a glance, you would be 400 00:25:07,520 --> 00:25:11,159 Speaker 1: able to give a ballpark estimate of the year when 401 00:25:11,200 --> 00:25:15,119 Speaker 1: a certain model came out due to distinguishing features that 402 00:25:15,160 --> 00:25:17,879 Speaker 1: were on that car. You know, maybe the headlights are 403 00:25:17,880 --> 00:25:20,800 Speaker 1: in a slightly different spot, or maybe the car has 404 00:25:20,800 --> 00:25:22,919 Speaker 1: a different kind of grill on the front of it, 405 00:25:23,040 --> 00:25:25,639 Speaker 1: or maybe you put a pair of big old tail 406 00:25:25,760 --> 00:25:28,120 Speaker 1: fins on the back of the thing. That's the sort 407 00:25:28,160 --> 00:25:31,879 Speaker 1: of thing that Sloan was thinking about. Harley Earl, a 408 00:25:31,880 --> 00:25:35,920 Speaker 1: man whom many historians credit as the first professional designer 409 00:25:36,000 --> 00:25:39,240 Speaker 1: to work in the automotive industry. Worked was Sloan to 410 00:25:39,359 --> 00:25:42,640 Speaker 1: make this vision a reality, and Earl would sculpt models 411 00:25:42,680 --> 00:25:46,359 Speaker 1: out of clay and then mold them in different ways 412 00:25:46,400 --> 00:25:49,880 Speaker 1: to create new features, and as tastes changed, he could 413 00:25:49,880 --> 00:25:54,040 Speaker 1: reflect that in different car body designs, and now cars 414 00:25:54,040 --> 00:25:58,560 Speaker 1: could appeal to people by embodying certain design trends. This 415 00:25:58,640 --> 00:26:01,159 Speaker 1: approach meant that car has now had a sort of 416 00:26:01,320 --> 00:26:07,120 Speaker 1: planned obsolescence. As time passes, fashions change and older cars 417 00:26:07,359 --> 00:26:12,119 Speaker 1: will pass out of fashion. Out of style, they'll become unfashionable, 418 00:26:12,320 --> 00:26:15,960 Speaker 1: and that creates a psychological lever that GM could lean 419 00:26:16,040 --> 00:26:19,120 Speaker 1: on to convince people to come in trade in their 420 00:26:19,119 --> 00:26:22,800 Speaker 1: older cars and buy newer ones. The older cars might 421 00:26:22,840 --> 00:26:25,840 Speaker 1: still work perfectly well from an operational point of view, 422 00:26:26,320 --> 00:26:28,800 Speaker 1: but they could be seen as being old fashioned, and 423 00:26:28,840 --> 00:26:31,399 Speaker 1: that was enough to push some people to upgrade to 424 00:26:31,440 --> 00:26:34,720 Speaker 1: a new vehicle. It was still important for GM to 425 00:26:34,760 --> 00:26:38,119 Speaker 1: make cars that were perceived to be reliable and powerful. 426 00:26:38,359 --> 00:26:40,800 Speaker 1: If the cars were known to break down quickly, that 427 00:26:40,880 --> 00:26:44,000 Speaker 1: kind of reputation would hurt sales. So while you could 428 00:26:44,080 --> 00:26:47,439 Speaker 1: keep driving the same car for many years, assuming you 429 00:26:47,480 --> 00:26:50,840 Speaker 1: took good care of the car, Sloan's goal was to 430 00:26:50,840 --> 00:26:53,200 Speaker 1: make you feel like a like kind of a social 431 00:26:53,280 --> 00:26:56,920 Speaker 1: pariah if you did that for a really long time, Like, Oh, 432 00:26:57,040 --> 00:26:59,640 Speaker 1: that poor so and so they can't afford a new car. 433 00:26:59,760 --> 00:27:03,040 Speaker 1: Look them driving that old, you know, Chevy or whatever 434 00:27:03,080 --> 00:27:08,240 Speaker 1: it might be. Sloan's approach accelerated car pon the role 435 00:27:08,320 --> 00:27:12,439 Speaker 1: of a car as a status symbol. GM offered several 436 00:27:12,480 --> 00:27:15,879 Speaker 1: different makes of cars, and each make targeted a different 437 00:27:15,920 --> 00:27:20,000 Speaker 1: economic demographic. So on the cheaper end was the Chevrolet 438 00:27:20,040 --> 00:27:22,719 Speaker 1: line and on the opposite side of the spectrum was 439 00:27:22,800 --> 00:27:25,840 Speaker 1: the Cadillac. But no matter which make of car you 440 00:27:25,920 --> 00:27:30,520 Speaker 1: talked about, that strategy of planned obsolescence was at play. 441 00:27:30,720 --> 00:27:34,359 Speaker 1: You can see Sloan's impact in consumer products across the board, 442 00:27:34,800 --> 00:27:37,919 Speaker 1: and not just in tech, though it tends to be 443 00:27:37,960 --> 00:27:42,040 Speaker 1: particularly evident in the tech world. It's why Apple releases 444 00:27:42,080 --> 00:27:45,560 Speaker 1: a new iPhone every year, or more to the point, 445 00:27:46,000 --> 00:27:50,399 Speaker 1: it's why companies like Apple hold really big exclusive press 446 00:27:50,440 --> 00:27:53,080 Speaker 1: events to hype the release of a new model of 447 00:27:53,119 --> 00:27:56,119 Speaker 1: iPhone every year. And to be clear, Apple does this 448 00:27:56,200 --> 00:27:58,960 Speaker 1: with lots of its products, not just the iPhone. It's 449 00:27:59,000 --> 00:28:01,680 Speaker 1: just the iPhone event tends to get the most attention. 450 00:28:02,240 --> 00:28:05,000 Speaker 1: So let's think about that yearly schedule for a moment, 451 00:28:05,240 --> 00:28:08,119 Speaker 1: and also think back to how phones were marketed in 452 00:28:08,160 --> 00:28:12,080 Speaker 1: the US when the iPhone first launched in two thousand seven. 453 00:28:12,520 --> 00:28:16,960 Speaker 1: So at that time, Apple had signed an exclusive agreement 454 00:28:17,080 --> 00:28:19,639 Speaker 1: with the carrier A T and T here in the 455 00:28:19,720 --> 00:28:23,720 Speaker 1: United States. Now, the reasons behind that agreement are fascinating, 456 00:28:24,000 --> 00:28:26,040 Speaker 1: but they also go beyond what I'm going to talk about, 457 00:28:26,080 --> 00:28:29,200 Speaker 1: so I'll save that for some future episode. You're welcome. 458 00:28:29,720 --> 00:28:32,880 Speaker 1: But back in those days, it was pretty common practice 459 00:28:33,040 --> 00:28:35,960 Speaker 1: in the United States for carriers like A T and 460 00:28:36,000 --> 00:28:41,200 Speaker 1: T to offer subsidized phones in return for signing two 461 00:28:41,320 --> 00:28:45,680 Speaker 1: year contracts where you agreed that this was your carrier 462 00:28:45,720 --> 00:28:48,560 Speaker 1: for two years. You were locked into a carrier. That 463 00:28:48,680 --> 00:28:51,960 Speaker 1: made the initial purchase price of phones a little bit 464 00:28:52,040 --> 00:28:56,280 Speaker 1: more affordable, at least initially, so rather than shelling out 465 00:28:56,320 --> 00:28:59,640 Speaker 1: a thousand dollars for a phone, you might spend a 466 00:28:59,680 --> 00:29:03,520 Speaker 1: couple hundred by signing onto a two year agreement with 467 00:29:03,680 --> 00:29:07,960 Speaker 1: the carrier. Typically, those agreements would limit your options when 468 00:29:07,960 --> 00:29:10,520 Speaker 1: it came to upgrades. Normally you would have to wait 469 00:29:10,560 --> 00:29:12,920 Speaker 1: out the two years to get to the point where 470 00:29:12,920 --> 00:29:16,960 Speaker 1: you would renew your agreement or sign whatever newer version 471 00:29:17,000 --> 00:29:19,880 Speaker 1: of the agreement the carrier was offering, and then you 472 00:29:19,920 --> 00:29:22,760 Speaker 1: could upgrade to a new phone at a reduced cost, 473 00:29:22,920 --> 00:29:26,080 Speaker 1: or sometimes the phone would be included as part of 474 00:29:26,080 --> 00:29:30,280 Speaker 1: the agreement. But Apple was releasing a brand new iPhone 475 00:29:30,440 --> 00:29:34,360 Speaker 1: every year, and each new iPhone would have new features 476 00:29:34,400 --> 00:29:38,000 Speaker 1: and new styling, so the phones were following Sloan's approach 477 00:29:38,080 --> 00:29:43,080 Speaker 1: to product design. A new iPhone wasn't just flashy technology. 478 00:29:43,160 --> 00:29:45,520 Speaker 1: It was also a status symbol, and a lot of 479 00:29:45,520 --> 00:29:48,120 Speaker 1: folks would choose to upgrade to the new version, even 480 00:29:48,200 --> 00:29:50,240 Speaker 1: if it meant they had to pay more to do 481 00:29:50,320 --> 00:29:53,760 Speaker 1: it because they were only a year into a service 482 00:29:53,760 --> 00:29:57,680 Speaker 1: agreement with their carrier and they could not yet qualify 483 00:29:57,920 --> 00:30:01,800 Speaker 1: for a subsidized phone. Now. This happened for a few years, 484 00:30:01,800 --> 00:30:04,720 Speaker 1: but gradually US carriers kind of phased out those two 485 00:30:04,760 --> 00:30:08,600 Speaker 1: year contract plans, which also meant that the subsidized phone 486 00:30:08,640 --> 00:30:12,600 Speaker 1: model began to disappear. Customers had more freedom to choose 487 00:30:12,600 --> 00:30:16,040 Speaker 1: whichever carrier they wanted to without getting locked into things, 488 00:30:16,360 --> 00:30:19,320 Speaker 1: but it also meant that they often had to pay 489 00:30:19,440 --> 00:30:22,840 Speaker 1: full price for phones. For those who had been upgrading 490 00:30:22,840 --> 00:30:25,840 Speaker 1: to a new iPhone every year, despite the limitations of 491 00:30:25,880 --> 00:30:29,600 Speaker 1: two year contracts. This was actually probably a welcome change 492 00:30:29,800 --> 00:30:32,200 Speaker 1: to the rest of us. It was a bit of 493 00:30:32,640 --> 00:30:35,280 Speaker 1: an adjustment, not a bad thing, but it did take 494 00:30:35,320 --> 00:30:38,120 Speaker 1: some time to adjust to it. The brilliant thing about 495 00:30:38,120 --> 00:30:42,120 Speaker 1: Sloan's approach, the thing that Apple often relies upon, is 496 00:30:42,160 --> 00:30:48,560 Speaker 1: that you're encouraging customers to crave the new There's this 497 00:30:48,680 --> 00:30:51,600 Speaker 1: built in desire in the market to get the coolest 498 00:30:51,680 --> 00:30:54,960 Speaker 1: new toy with the latest features and the latest options. 499 00:30:55,640 --> 00:30:59,000 Speaker 1: Companies don't have to trash the older technology. They just 500 00:30:59,080 --> 00:31:02,080 Speaker 1: helped the new things that the latest version can do. 501 00:31:02,560 --> 00:31:05,120 Speaker 1: And it might mean that companies take steps to roll 502 00:31:05,160 --> 00:31:08,760 Speaker 1: out new features very carefully. So in some cases a 503 00:31:08,840 --> 00:31:12,080 Speaker 1: company might be ready to implement a brand new feature, 504 00:31:12,120 --> 00:31:15,440 Speaker 1: at least from a technological level. However, the whole back, 505 00:31:15,880 --> 00:31:19,520 Speaker 1: they'll make a market based decision to wait and sit 506 00:31:19,640 --> 00:31:22,080 Speaker 1: on that technology for a little bit in order to 507 00:31:22,160 --> 00:31:26,040 Speaker 1: maximize sales. You might say, well, we could install these 508 00:31:26,080 --> 00:31:28,880 Speaker 1: three new features in our next phone, but if we 509 00:31:28,920 --> 00:31:31,680 Speaker 1: only install one of them, and then the phone after 510 00:31:31,720 --> 00:31:34,000 Speaker 1: that we add a second one, and the phone after 511 00:31:34,040 --> 00:31:37,200 Speaker 1: that we add the third one, we are able to 512 00:31:37,280 --> 00:31:40,720 Speaker 1: keep boosting sales year over year. If we do all 513 00:31:40,760 --> 00:31:43,920 Speaker 1: three right now, we might not have enough of an 514 00:31:43,960 --> 00:31:47,320 Speaker 1: improvement to get that same boost next year. So it 515 00:31:47,400 --> 00:31:50,440 Speaker 1: becomes this kind of game of chess. So why would 516 00:31:50,480 --> 00:31:52,160 Speaker 1: you put in all the bells and whistles if you 517 00:31:52,200 --> 00:31:54,680 Speaker 1: can hold back a few of them and then make 518 00:31:54,880 --> 00:31:58,680 Speaker 1: many more sales in the next update. Now, is this insidious? 519 00:31:59,600 --> 00:32:02,680 Speaker 1: I don't really think so. I mean, from a business perspective, 520 00:32:03,080 --> 00:32:06,320 Speaker 1: it does make a lot of sense. From a consumer perspective, 521 00:32:06,640 --> 00:32:08,880 Speaker 1: I say, what this should do is teach us that 522 00:32:09,160 --> 00:32:12,080 Speaker 1: jumping on a brand new technology, or even just a 523 00:32:12,080 --> 00:32:15,760 Speaker 1: new model of an existing technology, might not be the 524 00:32:15,800 --> 00:32:18,480 Speaker 1: best option right out of the gate. We might need 525 00:32:18,520 --> 00:32:22,000 Speaker 1: to use some self control before we buy the next 526 00:32:22,200 --> 00:32:26,680 Speaker 1: shiny thing. Of course, this approach requires moderation as well, 527 00:32:26,880 --> 00:32:29,680 Speaker 1: or else you would never buy anything at all. If 528 00:32:29,680 --> 00:32:31,640 Speaker 1: I need a new phone and I know that I'm 529 00:32:31,720 --> 00:32:33,920 Speaker 1: three months out from the release of something that I 530 00:32:33,960 --> 00:32:36,840 Speaker 1: think is really worthwhile, then I can wait that out. 531 00:32:37,280 --> 00:32:40,480 Speaker 1: But if I'm perpetually waiting for a phone that blows 532 00:32:40,520 --> 00:32:44,000 Speaker 1: me away with all the features, I'll probably be worried 533 00:32:44,400 --> 00:32:47,160 Speaker 1: that I'm going to experience buyer's remorse. If I jump 534 00:32:47,200 --> 00:32:50,080 Speaker 1: in right. So in other words, if I buy something 535 00:32:50,400 --> 00:32:52,840 Speaker 1: and I don't feel like it's really what I was 536 00:32:52,880 --> 00:32:55,640 Speaker 1: waiting for, then maybe the next thing that comes out 537 00:32:55,680 --> 00:32:58,680 Speaker 1: the next month makes me feel badly about it, and 538 00:32:58,760 --> 00:33:02,720 Speaker 1: so that can actually become um a bit of a crisis. 539 00:33:02,760 --> 00:33:05,360 Speaker 1: It can. It can prevent you from taking action because 540 00:33:05,400 --> 00:33:07,840 Speaker 1: you're always worried that once you take action, you're committed, 541 00:33:08,360 --> 00:33:11,280 Speaker 1: and then the next day you find out there was 542 00:33:11,280 --> 00:33:14,760 Speaker 1: a better option. But yeah, that desire for the new 543 00:33:15,280 --> 00:33:18,480 Speaker 1: is something that's really ingrained in the tech world. Companies 544 00:33:18,520 --> 00:33:21,600 Speaker 1: don't have to make products that will break after a 545 00:33:21,640 --> 00:33:23,360 Speaker 1: certain amount of time. They don't have to have that 546 00:33:23,440 --> 00:33:26,440 Speaker 1: kind of planned obsolescence because with lots of tech, just 547 00:33:26,560 --> 00:33:29,360 Speaker 1: the desire to have the latest thing is enough all 548 00:33:29,360 --> 00:33:32,080 Speaker 1: on its own. That means the companies just have to 549 00:33:32,120 --> 00:33:35,520 Speaker 1: focus on offering up products that are different enough from 550 00:33:35,520 --> 00:33:39,760 Speaker 1: the previous generation to spark our desire. When we come back, 551 00:33:40,080 --> 00:33:42,120 Speaker 1: i'll talk a little bit more about this, and then 552 00:33:42,160 --> 00:33:45,440 Speaker 1: we'll learn about the right to repair. But first let's 553 00:33:45,480 --> 00:33:57,120 Speaker 1: take a quick break. So, if manufacturers are actually giving 554 00:33:57,200 --> 00:34:00,320 Speaker 1: the people what they want, that is update, it's to 555 00:34:00,520 --> 00:34:03,640 Speaker 1: technology that flesh out what it can do at least 556 00:34:03,680 --> 00:34:06,960 Speaker 1: in the ways that consumers desire. Then we can't really 557 00:34:07,040 --> 00:34:11,080 Speaker 1: put all the blame on manufacturers for planned obsolescence. We 558 00:34:11,280 --> 00:34:14,839 Speaker 1: are somewhat responsible for it too. It's good to keep 559 00:34:14,840 --> 00:34:17,560 Speaker 1: in mind, and if we recognize that part of us, 560 00:34:18,080 --> 00:34:20,480 Speaker 1: we can try to make a better balance of when 561 00:34:20,520 --> 00:34:24,800 Speaker 1: we actually need something new and when we just want 562 00:34:25,080 --> 00:34:29,600 Speaker 1: something new. I struggle with this all the time, whether 563 00:34:29,960 --> 00:34:33,640 Speaker 1: it's a new flagship phone. I mean, when Android comes 564 00:34:33,719 --> 00:34:36,440 Speaker 1: up with a brand new flagship phone, I feel the 565 00:34:36,480 --> 00:34:40,399 Speaker 1: temptation to jump on it. Not literally jump on it, 566 00:34:41,000 --> 00:34:43,720 Speaker 1: but you know what I mean. However, in most cases, 567 00:34:43,920 --> 00:34:46,160 Speaker 1: the phone I have at the time tends to be 568 00:34:46,239 --> 00:34:49,319 Speaker 1: perfectly fine for my needs. The last time I did 569 00:34:49,440 --> 00:34:52,560 Speaker 1: upgrade a phone, it was because the microphone on my 570 00:34:52,600 --> 00:34:56,040 Speaker 1: phone had broken. I could use Bluetooth devices and talk 571 00:34:56,120 --> 00:34:58,520 Speaker 1: on the phone, but I couldn't use my phone as 572 00:34:58,520 --> 00:35:01,040 Speaker 1: a phone just on its own, so I did have 573 00:35:01,080 --> 00:35:04,480 Speaker 1: to upgrade then. But I tend to stick to getting 574 00:35:04,520 --> 00:35:07,080 Speaker 1: a new phone just every few years as the older 575 00:35:07,080 --> 00:35:10,279 Speaker 1: one starts to lag behind, especially when it comes to 576 00:35:10,320 --> 00:35:13,120 Speaker 1: what apps it can run. And the same is true 577 00:35:13,160 --> 00:35:16,400 Speaker 1: for game systems. I've gotten a lot better about that too. 578 00:35:16,680 --> 00:35:18,719 Speaker 1: It used to be that as soon as a game 579 00:35:18,760 --> 00:35:21,640 Speaker 1: system came out, I felt the urge to rush out 580 00:35:21,680 --> 00:35:24,600 Speaker 1: and buy it. I usually didn't because I usually didn't 581 00:35:24,640 --> 00:35:27,359 Speaker 1: have the money, but I always wanted to. However, now 582 00:35:27,400 --> 00:35:30,840 Speaker 1: I actually prefer to hang back, both so that any 583 00:35:30,960 --> 00:35:33,560 Speaker 1: bugs in those early versions can be worked out. I mean, 584 00:35:33,600 --> 00:35:36,680 Speaker 1: I do not want another red Ring of Death situation 585 00:35:36,800 --> 00:35:40,680 Speaker 1: ever again, and also so that game developers can release 586 00:35:40,760 --> 00:35:44,320 Speaker 1: more titles for the system. It's not much fun pouring 587 00:35:44,360 --> 00:35:46,680 Speaker 1: a bunch of money into a technology and then having 588 00:35:46,719 --> 00:35:49,680 Speaker 1: to wait around for it to become useful. But now 589 00:35:49,800 --> 00:35:52,000 Speaker 1: we also have to talk about the issue of right 590 00:35:52,080 --> 00:35:56,760 Speaker 1: to repair. So earlier I talked about the ways companies 591 00:35:56,840 --> 00:36:00,120 Speaker 1: make it challenging or impossible for the average person and 592 00:36:00,120 --> 00:36:03,160 Speaker 1: to repair stuff. And initially my reaction to that kind 593 00:36:03,160 --> 00:36:06,160 Speaker 1: of thing is this is how they get you. They 594 00:36:06,200 --> 00:36:08,440 Speaker 1: want you to get back to them and bring all 595 00:36:08,480 --> 00:36:11,759 Speaker 1: the stuff to get it fixed by them themselves. But 596 00:36:11,880 --> 00:36:14,399 Speaker 1: there can be other reasons for this that, while you 597 00:36:14,520 --> 00:36:16,520 Speaker 1: may or may not agree with them, can be a 598 00:36:16,600 --> 00:36:20,640 Speaker 1: little more subtle. So, for example, let's take Apple again. 599 00:36:21,080 --> 00:36:24,040 Speaker 1: For most of the company's history, Apple products have been 600 00:36:24,120 --> 00:36:27,480 Speaker 1: largely inaccessible to those who wish to do their own repairs, 601 00:36:27,960 --> 00:36:31,560 Speaker 1: at least to do so without violating a warranty. But 602 00:36:31,719 --> 00:36:34,040 Speaker 1: one of the big reasons for that is that Apple 603 00:36:34,120 --> 00:36:37,760 Speaker 1: has a specific vision as to how consumers are supposed 604 00:36:37,800 --> 00:36:42,360 Speaker 1: to experience Apple products. This was a philosophy that Steve 605 00:36:42,480 --> 00:36:45,880 Speaker 1: Jobs had pushed pretty hard. The goal was to create 606 00:36:45,920 --> 00:36:49,600 Speaker 1: a controlled experience from beginning to end. The company would 607 00:36:49,600 --> 00:36:52,879 Speaker 1: have an enormous amount of authority in deciding this, from 608 00:36:53,000 --> 00:36:56,440 Speaker 1: hardware configurations to the kinds of software that would be 609 00:36:56,480 --> 00:36:59,759 Speaker 1: allowed to run on the device. We see this reflected 610 00:37:00,000 --> 00:37:02,480 Speaker 1: in the iPhone app store, where developers have to get 611 00:37:02,480 --> 00:37:05,920 Speaker 1: approval from Apple before their apps will actually appear on 612 00:37:06,000 --> 00:37:10,200 Speaker 1: the market. This level of control helps a company deliver 613 00:37:10,320 --> 00:37:15,360 Speaker 1: consistent quality to users. The challenge is then selling users 614 00:37:15,400 --> 00:37:18,520 Speaker 1: on the idea that the company's approach is what the 615 00:37:18,600 --> 00:37:23,439 Speaker 1: customer actually wants. Jobs was amazing at this. He could 616 00:37:23,600 --> 00:37:26,239 Speaker 1: bring a device to a crowd and by the end 617 00:37:26,239 --> 00:37:30,080 Speaker 1: of a presentation have that crowd convinced that Apple's product 618 00:37:30,239 --> 00:37:34,440 Speaker 1: is exactly what the crowd wanted and needed. But Apple 619 00:37:34,520 --> 00:37:37,920 Speaker 1: relinquishing control in any way wouldn't make that more difficult 620 00:37:37,920 --> 00:37:41,520 Speaker 1: to do. Because a third party might not perform up 621 00:37:41,560 --> 00:37:45,120 Speaker 1: to Apple's standards and it would reflect poorly on Apple. 622 00:37:45,800 --> 00:37:49,560 Speaker 1: But that also meant that Apple products were difficult to modify. 623 00:37:49,719 --> 00:37:53,960 Speaker 1: Early consumer computers came out as kits, and the people 624 00:37:53,960 --> 00:37:57,360 Speaker 1: who bought those kits would typically put them together themselves. 625 00:37:57,440 --> 00:37:59,880 Speaker 1: You could also pay to have some of those kits 626 00:38:00,200 --> 00:38:03,040 Speaker 1: fully assembled. You would have to pay extra for that, 627 00:38:03,400 --> 00:38:06,000 Speaker 1: but a lot of early computer owners actually enjoyed the 628 00:38:06,040 --> 00:38:09,600 Speaker 1: experience of building the computers from the kits, and this 629 00:38:09,640 --> 00:38:13,520 Speaker 1: meant that really enterprising hobbyists could even make little tweaks 630 00:38:13,560 --> 00:38:16,879 Speaker 1: to the design to change the performance of the end 631 00:38:17,000 --> 00:38:20,680 Speaker 1: machine a little bit. This was the early era of 632 00:38:20,719 --> 00:38:23,960 Speaker 1: the hacker, as people figured out how these systems worked, 633 00:38:24,280 --> 00:38:27,120 Speaker 1: and then they modified those systems in different ways. And 634 00:38:27,200 --> 00:38:31,600 Speaker 1: it was pretty common practice along many different computer manufacturers 635 00:38:31,840 --> 00:38:35,360 Speaker 1: to have components that you could swap out, like RAM chips. 636 00:38:35,680 --> 00:38:38,360 Speaker 1: So if you wanted your computer to have more memory, 637 00:38:38,880 --> 00:38:42,320 Speaker 1: you could open up your computer case and install more RAM, 638 00:38:42,480 --> 00:38:47,560 Speaker 1: assuming your computer's motherboard and processor could support the additional RAM. 639 00:38:47,600 --> 00:38:51,440 Speaker 1: But Apple typically made this really hard to do. If 640 00:38:51,440 --> 00:38:54,719 Speaker 1: you wanted an Apple computer with more RAM, you were 641 00:38:54,719 --> 00:38:57,240 Speaker 1: going to have to pay extra to buy a computer 642 00:38:57,320 --> 00:39:00,200 Speaker 1: model that was a step up from whichever one we're 643 00:39:00,280 --> 00:39:03,680 Speaker 1: looking at. And that also extends to making it really 644 00:39:03,719 --> 00:39:07,440 Speaker 1: hard to repair Apple computers if something were to go wrong, 645 00:39:07,760 --> 00:39:10,480 Speaker 1: and thus we get to the birth of the genius bar. 646 00:39:10,920 --> 00:39:15,080 Speaker 1: So we get companies creating complicated electronic devices, many of 647 00:39:15,120 --> 00:39:18,759 Speaker 1: which have proprietary fasteners and such holding them together, and 648 00:39:18,800 --> 00:39:21,319 Speaker 1: the message that the customer is to bring any of 649 00:39:21,360 --> 00:39:23,839 Speaker 1: those devices that aren't working, you know, they might need 650 00:39:23,920 --> 00:39:26,920 Speaker 1: some repair. You're supposed to bring those back to the 651 00:39:26,960 --> 00:39:31,880 Speaker 1: company or maybe an authorized service vendor. Critics of this 652 00:39:31,920 --> 00:39:36,440 Speaker 1: approach say it's anti competitive and it hurts the consumer. Ideally, 653 00:39:36,960 --> 00:39:39,960 Speaker 1: the consumer would have an open choice as to whom 654 00:39:40,040 --> 00:39:43,000 Speaker 1: they could bring a broken device for a repair. So 655 00:39:43,040 --> 00:39:46,480 Speaker 1: if I were particularly talented at repairs, I would be 656 00:39:46,520 --> 00:39:48,600 Speaker 1: able to open up a shop and work on all 657 00:39:48,600 --> 00:39:52,000 Speaker 1: sorts of devices. I might offer more competitive rates than 658 00:39:52,040 --> 00:39:55,640 Speaker 1: what people might find going through the original manufacturer or 659 00:39:55,760 --> 00:39:59,799 Speaker 1: enrolling in an extended care or warranty program. And these 660 00:39:59,800 --> 00:40:02,680 Speaker 1: are ideas are the underlying principles of the right to 661 00:40:02,760 --> 00:40:06,799 Speaker 1: repair movement. There are a lot of organizations that advocate 662 00:40:06,880 --> 00:40:09,560 Speaker 1: for the right to repair, and they weren't to lobby 663 00:40:09,719 --> 00:40:14,200 Speaker 1: governments to pass legislation that would mandate it. Primarily we 664 00:40:14,239 --> 00:40:16,799 Speaker 1: see the movement in the United States and even more 665 00:40:16,880 --> 00:40:20,600 Speaker 1: prominently in the European Union. This is also tied to 666 00:40:20,640 --> 00:40:24,160 Speaker 1: the problem of electronic waste. As I mentioned earlier. According 667 00:40:24,200 --> 00:40:27,120 Speaker 1: to the Public Internet Research Group, which I should add 668 00:40:27,200 --> 00:40:31,560 Speaker 1: is not an unbiased source of information, but according to them, 669 00:40:31,600 --> 00:40:35,800 Speaker 1: Americans throughout four hundred sixteen thousand cell phones a day. 670 00:40:36,280 --> 00:40:39,720 Speaker 1: I find that number a little hard to believe. Maybe 671 00:40:39,760 --> 00:40:43,600 Speaker 1: it's true. I didn't find, you know, other sources that 672 00:40:43,680 --> 00:40:46,120 Speaker 1: backed this up, but I did find other sources that 673 00:40:46,160 --> 00:40:50,600 Speaker 1: had similar eye popping statistics. Only a fraction of the 674 00:40:50,600 --> 00:40:54,640 Speaker 1: electronic devices we throw away, ever, end up in recycling centers. 675 00:40:54,800 --> 00:40:57,000 Speaker 1: I mean, that's mostly on us. If we just toss 676 00:40:57,040 --> 00:40:58,960 Speaker 1: it in the garbage, then that's where it's gonna go. 677 00:40:59,760 --> 00:41:03,880 Speaker 1: Take effort to find good recycling centers. Not all of 678 00:41:03,880 --> 00:41:06,560 Speaker 1: them are ethical, by the way. It takes some research. 679 00:41:07,160 --> 00:41:11,920 Speaker 1: So considering all the stuff that's in electronics, including valuable metals. 680 00:41:12,320 --> 00:41:15,040 Speaker 1: There's like gold and copper in this stuff, it's a 681 00:41:15,080 --> 00:41:17,279 Speaker 1: real shame to just throw them out. And then you 682 00:41:17,360 --> 00:41:21,040 Speaker 1: consider the environmental impact and it gets worse. Right to 683 00:41:21,160 --> 00:41:24,320 Speaker 1: repair groups want to see companies include access to stuff 684 00:41:24,320 --> 00:41:28,080 Speaker 1: like repair guides, so make it possible to understand how 685 00:41:28,120 --> 00:41:30,839 Speaker 1: these things work and how to fix them. Make it 686 00:41:30,920 --> 00:41:35,120 Speaker 1: repair tools accessible if any proprietary tools are needed, and 687 00:41:35,200 --> 00:41:39,279 Speaker 1: also make us accessible parts needed for repairs. Sell the 688 00:41:39,320 --> 00:41:42,960 Speaker 1: parts individually as well, so none of this would be free. 689 00:41:43,400 --> 00:41:45,600 Speaker 1: You know, the companies could still make money. They could 690 00:41:45,640 --> 00:41:49,200 Speaker 1: actually offer repair kits that you can purchase. But imagine 691 00:41:49,200 --> 00:41:51,719 Speaker 1: that instead of having to bring back your smartphone to 692 00:41:51,800 --> 00:41:54,960 Speaker 1: some store or send it off to a manufacturer through 693 00:41:55,000 --> 00:41:58,239 Speaker 1: the mail, you instead could order a repair kit, and 694 00:41:58,320 --> 00:42:01,360 Speaker 1: if you have steady hands, maybe you replace that cracked 695 00:42:01,400 --> 00:42:05,840 Speaker 1: screen or that dead battery by yourself. That's the appeal 696 00:42:06,239 --> 00:42:10,000 Speaker 1: of the right to repair movement. But as electronics get 697 00:42:10,120 --> 00:42:14,400 Speaker 1: more complicated, it's more challenging to meet that kind of standard. 698 00:42:14,880 --> 00:42:18,400 Speaker 1: Some devices are complex enough that it requires a person 699 00:42:18,560 --> 00:42:23,200 Speaker 1: with specialized knowledge and skill in order to tackle the problem, 700 00:42:23,239 --> 00:42:27,120 Speaker 1: and a lot of us, myself included, would probably find 701 00:42:27,120 --> 00:42:30,400 Speaker 1: ourselves popping into an independent repair shop to have our 702 00:42:30,440 --> 00:42:33,759 Speaker 1: stuff fixed rather than take it on ourselves and risk 703 00:42:33,920 --> 00:42:37,319 Speaker 1: breaking it more. Look, all I'm saying is I know 704 00:42:37,360 --> 00:42:40,640 Speaker 1: what my track record is for taking stuff apart versus 705 00:42:40,680 --> 00:42:44,600 Speaker 1: putting it together again, and that ratio is way out 706 00:42:44,640 --> 00:42:48,640 Speaker 1: of balance. We're seeing this movement embrace not just consumer 707 00:42:48,680 --> 00:42:52,759 Speaker 1: goods like smartphones, but really big stuff like farming equipment 708 00:42:52,840 --> 00:42:57,640 Speaker 1: and tractors. Farmers have criticized manufacturer John Dear for including 709 00:42:58,000 --> 00:43:02,000 Speaker 1: essentially the equivalent of a digital lock and those limits 710 00:43:02,040 --> 00:43:05,640 Speaker 1: who can actually make repairs to a machine. For farmers 711 00:43:05,680 --> 00:43:09,080 Speaker 1: who depend upon these big vehicles for their livelihood, that 712 00:43:09,120 --> 00:43:13,000 Speaker 1: represents a lack of freedom and lack of options, and 713 00:43:13,080 --> 00:43:16,759 Speaker 1: it really does feel anti competitive. It's saying you have 714 00:43:16,920 --> 00:43:20,399 Speaker 1: to go to people of our choosing if you want 715 00:43:20,440 --> 00:43:24,760 Speaker 1: to have the thing you bought repaired. And this also 716 00:43:24,840 --> 00:43:28,000 Speaker 1: gets into that weird area we find ourselves in in 717 00:43:28,080 --> 00:43:31,399 Speaker 1: the digital age. In the old days, you would buy 718 00:43:31,520 --> 00:43:34,439 Speaker 1: something and you would just think this is mine, right, 719 00:43:34,560 --> 00:43:38,319 Speaker 1: Like you bought a watch, that's your watch. You could 720 00:43:38,320 --> 00:43:42,200 Speaker 1: repair that watch however you liked. But these days things 721 00:43:42,280 --> 00:43:44,400 Speaker 1: are being sold not just as a product but as 722 00:43:44,440 --> 00:43:48,080 Speaker 1: an ongoing service. And it's not so much that you 723 00:43:48,200 --> 00:43:53,319 Speaker 1: own the thing, it's that you own access to that thing, 724 00:43:53,719 --> 00:43:58,239 Speaker 1: and some ownership is retained by the original manufacturer. This 725 00:43:58,280 --> 00:44:02,560 Speaker 1: is an idea that I'm not super keen on because 726 00:44:02,600 --> 00:44:05,200 Speaker 1: it does put a lot more power back in the 727 00:44:05,239 --> 00:44:07,560 Speaker 1: hands of the manufacturers and and takes a lot of 728 00:44:07,560 --> 00:44:11,560 Speaker 1: power away from consumers. Well, in the United States, twenty 729 00:44:11,680 --> 00:44:15,040 Speaker 1: states have filed legislation in an effort to address these 730 00:44:15,120 --> 00:44:18,600 Speaker 1: kinds of issues, and in the EU some progress on 731 00:44:18,640 --> 00:44:21,800 Speaker 1: this front has already been made. This month a series 732 00:44:21,840 --> 00:44:25,520 Speaker 1: of regulations that apply to manufacturers that make appliances like 733 00:44:25,600 --> 00:44:31,600 Speaker 1: washing machines, refrigerators, dishwashers, I think computer monitors too. It 734 00:44:31,719 --> 00:44:36,200 Speaker 1: goes into effect and those regulations state that companies need 735 00:44:36,239 --> 00:44:41,080 Speaker 1: to offer products that have replaceable components, and moreover, that 736 00:44:41,440 --> 00:44:44,920 Speaker 1: anyone would be able to make these replacements using common tools. 737 00:44:44,960 --> 00:44:47,759 Speaker 1: You shouldn't need anything special in order to do this 738 00:44:47,880 --> 00:44:50,840 Speaker 1: repair work. So, in other words, companies are not supposed 739 00:44:50,880 --> 00:44:54,560 Speaker 1: to solder stuff together or otherwise make it impossible or 740 00:44:54,600 --> 00:44:58,600 Speaker 1: difficult to access components without causing further damage. And you 741 00:44:58,640 --> 00:45:01,960 Speaker 1: shouldn't need a you know, number seventy three spanner up 742 00:45:01,960 --> 00:45:05,560 Speaker 1: to iconological wrench or something in order to work on it. 743 00:45:06,120 --> 00:45:08,879 Speaker 1: The EU has yet to pass regulations that would cover 744 00:45:08,960 --> 00:45:13,040 Speaker 1: stuff like cell phones, computers, and tablets, though and that 745 00:45:13,239 --> 00:45:15,560 Speaker 1: is a big problem because these are some of the 746 00:45:15,560 --> 00:45:19,640 Speaker 1: most common and harmful forms of consumer waste. People go 747 00:45:19,719 --> 00:45:23,000 Speaker 1: through these types of devices on a pretty regular basis, 748 00:45:23,360 --> 00:45:25,440 Speaker 1: and some of the member nations of the EU have 749 00:45:25,640 --> 00:45:29,120 Speaker 1: gone on to move ahead and pass their own regulations 750 00:45:29,160 --> 00:45:31,640 Speaker 1: since the EU as a whole has been a little 751 00:45:31,719 --> 00:45:35,480 Speaker 1: slow on this. So, for example, in France, a new 752 00:45:35,520 --> 00:45:39,399 Speaker 1: piece of information will be included with consumer electronics. It's 753 00:45:39,480 --> 00:45:43,600 Speaker 1: essentially a repair index, is a score that ranges between 754 00:45:43,680 --> 00:45:47,200 Speaker 1: one and ten. The index gives consumers the idea of 755 00:45:47,200 --> 00:45:50,560 Speaker 1: how easy or difficult it is to disassemble a device, 756 00:45:51,120 --> 00:45:53,920 Speaker 1: whether or not you can find information on how to 757 00:45:54,000 --> 00:45:56,640 Speaker 1: repair the device, you know, if it's readily available or not, 758 00:45:57,360 --> 00:46:00,160 Speaker 1: whether or not you can find spare parts of that 759 00:46:00,239 --> 00:46:03,600 Speaker 1: kind of device, how expensive those spare parts are, So 760 00:46:03,840 --> 00:46:07,200 Speaker 1: you know, the the more difficult it is to repair something, 761 00:46:07,239 --> 00:46:09,719 Speaker 1: the lower that score is going to be for that 762 00:46:09,760 --> 00:46:13,680 Speaker 1: particular item. Now, where we go from here will depend 763 00:46:13,719 --> 00:46:18,160 Speaker 1: upon how governments either past legislation or they opt not to, 764 00:46:18,920 --> 00:46:24,279 Speaker 1: plus how they intend to enforce legislation. Companies have very 765 00:46:24,320 --> 00:46:28,279 Speaker 1: little incentive to offer up, you know, repair options to 766 00:46:28,320 --> 00:46:31,200 Speaker 1: the end user because those can end up hitting revenue 767 00:46:31,239 --> 00:46:34,200 Speaker 1: down the line. Now, personally, I would love to see 768 00:46:34,239 --> 00:46:37,080 Speaker 1: a lot more options for repair. I'd like to see 769 00:46:37,120 --> 00:46:39,440 Speaker 1: an approach similar to what it was like to buy 770 00:46:39,480 --> 00:46:43,080 Speaker 1: a car twenty years ago, because yeah, you could bring 771 00:46:43,080 --> 00:46:46,600 Speaker 1: your car back to the dealership for maintenance, but chances 772 00:46:46,600 --> 00:46:50,000 Speaker 1: are you might find a great mechanic who is more 773 00:46:50,040 --> 00:46:53,120 Speaker 1: convenient to where you live, or maybe they have more 774 00:46:53,120 --> 00:46:56,399 Speaker 1: competitive rates and that might end up being your first 775 00:46:56,440 --> 00:46:59,360 Speaker 1: choice instead of bringing it back to the dealership, or 776 00:46:59,640 --> 00:47:02,600 Speaker 1: maybe you invest the time and energy to learn how 777 00:47:02,680 --> 00:47:06,680 Speaker 1: to do the repairs yourself. I think the options should 778 00:47:06,719 --> 00:47:09,840 Speaker 1: all be there, and I definitely think that's an improvement 779 00:47:09,880 --> 00:47:13,000 Speaker 1: over the status quo we have now. Well, that wraps 780 00:47:13,120 --> 00:47:16,640 Speaker 1: up this episode. I hope you enjoyed learning about planned 781 00:47:16,680 --> 00:47:20,279 Speaker 1: obsolescence and the right to repair. If you have suggestions 782 00:47:20,280 --> 00:47:22,920 Speaker 1: for topics I should tackle in future episodes of tech Stuff, 783 00:47:23,000 --> 00:47:25,440 Speaker 1: let me know. The best way to reach out is 784 00:47:25,480 --> 00:47:29,200 Speaker 1: over on Twitter. The handle is tech stuff h s 785 00:47:29,440 --> 00:47:34,400 Speaker 1: W and I'll talk to you again really soon. Ye. 786 00:47:38,600 --> 00:47:41,640 Speaker 1: Tex Stuff is an I Heart Radio production. For more 787 00:47:41,719 --> 00:47:45,120 Speaker 1: podcasts from my Heart Radio, visit the i Heart Radio app, 788 00:47:45,239 --> 00:47:48,400 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows,