1 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:07,800 Speaker 1: Welcome to Tech Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:12,240 --> 00:00:15,080 Speaker 1: Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 3 00:00:15,240 --> 00:00:18,480 Speaker 1: Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio 4 00:00:18,560 --> 00:00:21,759 Speaker 1: and a love of all things tech and I recently 5 00:00:21,880 --> 00:00:25,360 Speaker 1: did a series of episodes about General Motors, and one 6 00:00:25,440 --> 00:00:28,200 Speaker 1: of the many things I talked about in those episodes 7 00:00:28,640 --> 00:00:32,680 Speaker 1: was how Alfred Sloan, who was an absolutely critical leader 8 00:00:32,880 --> 00:00:38,480 Speaker 1: of GM early on, established a practice of planned obsolescence. 9 00:00:38,960 --> 00:00:43,400 Speaker 1: That is part of Sloan's market strategy was creating a 10 00:00:43,440 --> 00:00:47,440 Speaker 1: company that every year would release cars that had updated 11 00:00:47,560 --> 00:00:52,080 Speaker 1: styling and features in order to entice not just first 12 00:00:52,080 --> 00:00:55,040 Speaker 1: time car buyers, but people who had already, you know, 13 00:00:55,200 --> 00:00:58,280 Speaker 1: purchased a car in the past. And that got me 14 00:00:58,320 --> 00:01:01,480 Speaker 1: to thinking that I should really talk about planned obsolescence 15 00:01:01,480 --> 00:01:05,120 Speaker 1: in general and examine the facts and consider the myths, 16 00:01:05,160 --> 00:01:08,000 Speaker 1: and also chat a bit about the right to repair 17 00:01:08,120 --> 00:01:12,720 Speaker 1: movement and recycling, because all of this is kind of 18 00:01:12,760 --> 00:01:18,640 Speaker 1: connected together. We're talking about casual consumption of electronic goods, 19 00:01:19,319 --> 00:01:24,360 Speaker 1: almost a disposable approach to them, and electronic goods are 20 00:01:24,400 --> 00:01:27,080 Speaker 1: not necessarily the best thing in the world to treat 21 00:01:27,120 --> 00:01:30,240 Speaker 1: as disposable, so let's just start off by defining what 22 00:01:30,400 --> 00:01:34,800 Speaker 1: planned obsolescence is really all about. Now. Generally, people talk 23 00:01:34,840 --> 00:01:38,679 Speaker 1: about planned obsolescence as a strategy in which the maker 24 00:01:38,920 --> 00:01:42,959 Speaker 1: of a thing, whether it's a physical good or an 25 00:01:42,959 --> 00:01:49,000 Speaker 1: app or whatever, builds into that thing a predetermined end 26 00:01:49,160 --> 00:01:52,520 Speaker 1: of life. In other words, you've already determined how long 27 00:01:52,560 --> 00:01:55,920 Speaker 1: this thing is supposed to last. And the purpose of 28 00:01:55,920 --> 00:01:59,480 Speaker 1: planned obsolescence is to not just sell one thing to 29 00:01:59,520 --> 00:02:03,840 Speaker 1: each cut stomer one time, but to sell many of 30 00:02:03,880 --> 00:02:08,639 Speaker 1: that same thing to every customer over time. It's the 31 00:02:08,680 --> 00:02:11,959 Speaker 1: same reason why a lot of software companies will migrate 32 00:02:12,000 --> 00:02:16,200 Speaker 1: toward a subscription based revenue model, because it's more profitable 33 00:02:16,240 --> 00:02:20,600 Speaker 1: to get customers to regularly give you money than to 34 00:02:20,800 --> 00:02:23,799 Speaker 1: bank on selling them a lot of the same thing 35 00:02:23,880 --> 00:02:27,520 Speaker 1: to a huge customer base. Like if I'm selling a 36 00:02:27,520 --> 00:02:30,840 Speaker 1: software package for two hundred dollars, I'm going to get 37 00:02:31,000 --> 00:02:33,919 Speaker 1: you know, X number of customers, and chances are they're 38 00:02:33,960 --> 00:02:36,320 Speaker 1: not going to buy another product for me for a while. 39 00:02:36,919 --> 00:02:40,440 Speaker 1: If I offer a subscription fee for a much lower 40 00:02:40,520 --> 00:02:43,560 Speaker 1: monthly plan, I might get people locked into that system 41 00:02:43,600 --> 00:02:46,840 Speaker 1: for years and thus make way more money off of 42 00:02:46,880 --> 00:02:48,880 Speaker 1: them in the long run than I would if I 43 00:02:48,919 --> 00:02:52,080 Speaker 1: had gone with the big ticket item up front. This 44 00:02:52,160 --> 00:02:55,880 Speaker 1: can actually manifest in lots of different ways. Now, typically 45 00:02:55,919 --> 00:02:59,840 Speaker 1: I get the sense that the popular perception of you know, 46 00:03:00,080 --> 00:03:04,240 Speaker 1: planned ups lessons is that companies make stuff that's just 47 00:03:04,320 --> 00:03:07,280 Speaker 1: designed to stop working after a certain number of hours 48 00:03:07,280 --> 00:03:11,000 Speaker 1: of operation. So, in other words, the manufacturer isn't making 49 00:03:11,040 --> 00:03:13,960 Speaker 1: products that are meant to stand the test of time. Rather, 50 00:03:14,240 --> 00:03:17,239 Speaker 1: these are products that will at some point break down 51 00:03:17,440 --> 00:03:22,079 Speaker 1: and either require repairs or a replacement. Now, repairs were 52 00:03:22,120 --> 00:03:26,200 Speaker 1: great if you happen to be the not only the 53 00:03:26,240 --> 00:03:29,440 Speaker 1: company that's selling the thing, but you're also the company 54 00:03:29,480 --> 00:03:34,399 Speaker 1: that provides maintenance and repair services. Car dealerships often fall 55 00:03:34,440 --> 00:03:37,560 Speaker 1: into this category. You can purchase a car at a dealership, 56 00:03:38,040 --> 00:03:41,920 Speaker 1: and then most dealerships have service centers as well, or 57 00:03:42,040 --> 00:03:44,920 Speaker 1: they have you know, an agreement with a service center, 58 00:03:45,200 --> 00:03:48,200 Speaker 1: so the dealership can continue to make money off of 59 00:03:48,240 --> 00:03:51,520 Speaker 1: a sale if the salesperson can convince the customer to 60 00:03:51,560 --> 00:03:54,920 Speaker 1: bring the car back to the dealership's service center for 61 00:03:55,040 --> 00:03:59,400 Speaker 1: regular maintenance or repair work. But not all technology has 62 00:03:59,520 --> 00:04:02,560 Speaker 1: the value you of a car. Obviously, there's a lot 63 00:04:02,600 --> 00:04:05,600 Speaker 1: of tech out there that's fairly inexpensive to make, and 64 00:04:05,760 --> 00:04:09,560 Speaker 1: companies might price that technology. It's such a relatively low 65 00:04:09,680 --> 00:04:13,440 Speaker 1: cost that a repair might set you back the same 66 00:04:13,480 --> 00:04:16,880 Speaker 1: amount or more than buying just a new version of 67 00:04:16,920 --> 00:04:19,560 Speaker 1: whatever that tech is. For a lot of us, I 68 00:04:19,600 --> 00:04:22,440 Speaker 1: figure the reaction to that as well, I might as 69 00:04:22,440 --> 00:04:24,240 Speaker 1: well buy a new one if I'm going to be 70 00:04:24,240 --> 00:04:27,279 Speaker 1: spending that kind of money. Heck, the new thing of 71 00:04:27,320 --> 00:04:29,680 Speaker 1: a jig might have more features than the old one, 72 00:04:29,960 --> 00:04:32,880 Speaker 1: or it might look a little different, you know, more stylish, 73 00:04:33,440 --> 00:04:37,040 Speaker 1: and so we toss aside whatever old thing of a 74 00:04:37,120 --> 00:04:38,719 Speaker 1: jig we have and then we go out and buy 75 00:04:38,720 --> 00:04:42,080 Speaker 1: a new one. Or maybe you would actually like to 76 00:04:42,120 --> 00:04:45,039 Speaker 1: do repairs yourself. That's something we're going to chat about 77 00:04:45,080 --> 00:04:47,880 Speaker 1: more towards the end of this episode. But some companies 78 00:04:47,920 --> 00:04:52,359 Speaker 1: have been known to make it challenging or maybe even impossible, 79 00:04:52,440 --> 00:04:55,880 Speaker 1: for the end customer to really repair the technology they purchase, 80 00:04:56,560 --> 00:05:00,360 Speaker 1: whether it's through using proprietary screws that need up specific 81 00:05:00,440 --> 00:05:05,240 Speaker 1: tool to remove them, or actually sealing components into compartments 82 00:05:05,279 --> 00:05:09,440 Speaker 1: with glue and rivets and solder or other fasteners, making 83 00:05:09,440 --> 00:05:12,680 Speaker 1: it impossible to open without risk of causing further damage. 84 00:05:12,920 --> 00:05:16,359 Speaker 1: Companies have used a few different ways to obscure or 85 00:05:16,400 --> 00:05:23,919 Speaker 1: impede repairs. M apple or You could also get to 86 00:05:23,960 --> 00:05:26,760 Speaker 1: a point with stuff like cars where it just becomes 87 00:05:26,760 --> 00:05:29,880 Speaker 1: harder to make repairs because it's hard to even determine 88 00:05:29,920 --> 00:05:34,159 Speaker 1: what is wrong with the thing without a special diagnostic 89 00:05:34,320 --> 00:05:36,640 Speaker 1: device like a computer. This is the case with a 90 00:05:36,640 --> 00:05:39,320 Speaker 1: lot of modern cars. You might be able to lift 91 00:05:39,360 --> 00:05:41,680 Speaker 1: the hood and look around a little bit, but some 92 00:05:41,800 --> 00:05:45,920 Speaker 1: vehicles have various covers or engine configurations that make it 93 00:05:46,000 --> 00:05:50,000 Speaker 1: really challenging for the average person to access specific parts 94 00:05:50,120 --> 00:05:53,880 Speaker 1: of the motor, let alone do any work on it. Again, 95 00:05:54,200 --> 00:05:56,440 Speaker 1: this limits what you can do with tech once it 96 00:05:56,520 --> 00:06:01,799 Speaker 1: starts to fail, and all tech does fail time, because well, 97 00:06:02,760 --> 00:06:06,159 Speaker 1: entropy is something we just can't avoid. It's it's a 98 00:06:06,160 --> 00:06:10,000 Speaker 1: fundamental law of the universe, particularly when it comes to 99 00:06:10,240 --> 00:06:14,440 Speaker 1: cheap technology. This sort of disposable approach has a lot 100 00:06:14,560 --> 00:06:19,279 Speaker 1: of negative drawbacks, including what to do with old tech 101 00:06:19,520 --> 00:06:22,000 Speaker 1: that no longer works. I mean, a lot of technology 102 00:06:22,400 --> 00:06:25,920 Speaker 1: contains stuff that's pretty toxic, so throwing it out in 103 00:06:25,960 --> 00:06:28,440 Speaker 1: the garbage could lead to it ending up in a 104 00:06:28,520 --> 00:06:32,359 Speaker 1: landfill somewhere, and then harmful stuff like lead or mercury 105 00:06:32,760 --> 00:06:35,760 Speaker 1: could leach into the environment. Because of that, that's not great. 106 00:06:36,240 --> 00:06:39,800 Speaker 1: So we'll touch a tiny bit on electronics recycling in 107 00:06:39,800 --> 00:06:42,479 Speaker 1: this episode two. But I have done full episodes about 108 00:06:42,640 --> 00:06:45,200 Speaker 1: e waste recycling, so I'm not going to spend too 109 00:06:45,279 --> 00:06:48,200 Speaker 1: much time on it. And there are often ways to 110 00:06:48,240 --> 00:06:54,279 Speaker 1: make older tech obsolete that are not necessarily obvious on 111 00:06:54,320 --> 00:06:57,000 Speaker 1: the face of it. So let's talk about smartphones, for example. 112 00:06:57,040 --> 00:06:59,839 Speaker 1: That's an easy one. One of the big trends we 113 00:07:00,040 --> 00:07:04,320 Speaker 1: see in technology is that as devices or components within 114 00:07:04,440 --> 00:07:09,920 Speaker 1: devices get more powerful, the software developers end up making 115 00:07:09,960 --> 00:07:14,120 Speaker 1: software that eats up that extra power. Nicholas Worth wrote 116 00:07:14,160 --> 00:07:17,760 Speaker 1: about this pro problem back in the ninety nineties. He 117 00:07:17,800 --> 00:07:21,880 Speaker 1: wrote a paper titled a Plea for Lean Software, and 118 00:07:21,960 --> 00:07:25,360 Speaker 1: his point has essentially boiled down into what we now 119 00:07:25,440 --> 00:07:30,320 Speaker 1: call Worth's law, which is that software is getting slower, 120 00:07:30,680 --> 00:07:34,800 Speaker 1: that is, it's getting more resource hungry at a rate 121 00:07:34,840 --> 00:07:39,520 Speaker 1: that's faster than hardware is getting faster. So while subsequent 122 00:07:39,560 --> 00:07:43,320 Speaker 1: generations of hardware are getting more powerful, the requirements of 123 00:07:43,360 --> 00:07:47,760 Speaker 1: software are outpacing that progress, and the end result is 124 00:07:47,800 --> 00:07:50,480 Speaker 1: that we often feel our shiny new devices just aren't 125 00:07:50,560 --> 00:07:53,400 Speaker 1: keeping up as much as we expected them. To. We're 126 00:07:53,400 --> 00:07:57,200 Speaker 1: basing our perception on what the new device should be 127 00:07:57,200 --> 00:07:59,280 Speaker 1: able to do based on what we have right now, 128 00:07:59,760 --> 00:08:04,000 Speaker 1: and that's just not how stuff works. Unfortunately, gamers who 129 00:08:04,040 --> 00:08:06,760 Speaker 1: want to be on the bleeding edge of computing capability 130 00:08:06,880 --> 00:08:10,960 Speaker 1: experience this a lot. A top gaming rig would cost 131 00:08:11,160 --> 00:08:15,840 Speaker 1: thousands of dollars. It requires a powerful central processor or CPU, 132 00:08:15,960 --> 00:08:22,239 Speaker 1: and quite likely multiple powerful graphics processing units or GPUs. Plus, 133 00:08:22,480 --> 00:08:25,040 Speaker 1: you need a power supply that's capable of providing the 134 00:08:25,160 --> 00:08:28,160 Speaker 1: juice that these components need, and you need a killer 135 00:08:28,240 --> 00:08:31,200 Speaker 1: cooling system to make sure the whole thing doesn't overheat. 136 00:08:31,560 --> 00:08:34,280 Speaker 1: And just as you get all of this stuff set 137 00:08:34,360 --> 00:08:38,080 Speaker 1: up and running, the latest games, developers start making games 138 00:08:38,080 --> 00:08:41,720 Speaker 1: that are so resource hungry that even with your killer rig, 139 00:08:41,800 --> 00:08:44,360 Speaker 1: you might have to knock a few of the game's 140 00:08:44,520 --> 00:08:47,360 Speaker 1: settings down a couple of notches just to make it 141 00:08:47,440 --> 00:08:52,160 Speaker 1: run smoothly. Meanwhile, you're already anticipating the next big development 142 00:08:52,240 --> 00:08:55,079 Speaker 1: in hardware that will let you move all those sliders 143 00:08:55,120 --> 00:08:57,319 Speaker 1: all the way to the top. That's going to set 144 00:08:57,360 --> 00:08:59,839 Speaker 1: you back a few more thousand dollars, which is brew 145 00:09:00,120 --> 00:09:02,959 Speaker 1: roll with smartphones. We see this happen a lot as 146 00:09:03,000 --> 00:09:08,600 Speaker 1: newer models use better processors, and typically new processors are 147 00:09:08,720 --> 00:09:13,080 Speaker 1: usually more powerful and hopefully more efficient, So in other words, 148 00:09:13,080 --> 00:09:16,400 Speaker 1: you're not seeing battery life just plummet from one generation 149 00:09:16,440 --> 00:09:20,560 Speaker 1: to the next, or phones get way bigger because you 150 00:09:20,600 --> 00:09:22,679 Speaker 1: need a bigger battery in order to make them last 151 00:09:22,720 --> 00:09:27,080 Speaker 1: long enough. Processor technologies follow pretty close to Moore's law, 152 00:09:27,600 --> 00:09:30,640 Speaker 1: and we typically interpret that as meaning that a processor's 153 00:09:30,720 --> 00:09:35,000 Speaker 1: capabilities effectively double every two years or so. Not the 154 00:09:35,040 --> 00:09:38,439 Speaker 1: same processor, but rather new processors on the market end 155 00:09:38,480 --> 00:09:41,600 Speaker 1: up being twice as powerful as the processors that came 156 00:09:41,600 --> 00:09:45,240 Speaker 1: out two years earlier. That's generally what we mean. More's 157 00:09:45,280 --> 00:09:49,040 Speaker 1: laws more subtle than that, but we won't go into it. 158 00:09:50,000 --> 00:09:55,280 Speaker 1: Battery life does not follow this same trajectory. It's again 159 00:09:55,520 --> 00:09:58,480 Speaker 1: a law of physics. We're talking about electro chemical reactions, 160 00:09:58,640 --> 00:10:01,199 Speaker 1: and so there's not a magic way to make batteries 161 00:10:01,240 --> 00:10:05,440 Speaker 1: just last longer. It requires more incremental improvement. So if 162 00:10:05,480 --> 00:10:09,520 Speaker 1: we only concentrated on making processors more powerful, they would 163 00:10:09,520 --> 00:10:12,840 Speaker 1: just pull more juice per hour than older processors, and 164 00:10:12,920 --> 00:10:15,160 Speaker 1: soon we would have smartphones. They would only have a 165 00:10:15,160 --> 00:10:18,520 Speaker 1: couple of hours of useful battery life. So there is 166 00:10:18,559 --> 00:10:22,840 Speaker 1: a balance to be made here. Meanwhile, smartphone apps still 167 00:10:22,880 --> 00:10:26,960 Speaker 1: follow Worth's law. The apps drawn more processor power or 168 00:10:27,000 --> 00:10:30,959 Speaker 1: the interact with more components, and smartphones like GPS receivers 169 00:10:31,080 --> 00:10:35,160 Speaker 1: or accelerometers or the camera or microphone or some combination 170 00:10:35,200 --> 00:10:38,000 Speaker 1: of all of these and more, and the smartphone operating 171 00:10:38,000 --> 00:10:44,199 Speaker 1: systems themselves evolved to support these apps and provide more functionality. Well, 172 00:10:44,280 --> 00:10:48,240 Speaker 1: older smartphones just can't keep up with this all the time, 173 00:10:48,559 --> 00:10:51,360 Speaker 1: and so you will often see companies make a cutoff 174 00:10:51,600 --> 00:10:55,840 Speaker 1: for operating system updates. Older phones might stall out at 175 00:10:55,840 --> 00:10:58,920 Speaker 1: a certain OS version and be unable to install more 176 00:10:58,960 --> 00:11:02,640 Speaker 1: recent update of the operating system. So you could have 177 00:11:02,679 --> 00:11:05,880 Speaker 1: an Android smartphone that's maybe a few years old, and 178 00:11:05,920 --> 00:11:09,440 Speaker 1: it's running a version of Android that's several generations old 179 00:11:09,480 --> 00:11:12,480 Speaker 1: at this point because Google has determined that the hardware 180 00:11:12,520 --> 00:11:18,880 Speaker 1: you're using simply cannot meet the needs of later operating systems. Meanwhile, 181 00:11:19,320 --> 00:11:21,719 Speaker 1: the app developers are focusing on what they can do 182 00:11:21,800 --> 00:11:25,560 Speaker 1: with the most recent OS version, which means you might 183 00:11:25,559 --> 00:11:28,679 Speaker 1: not be able to run a new app with all 184 00:11:28,679 --> 00:11:30,319 Speaker 1: of its features, or you might not even be able 185 00:11:30,360 --> 00:11:32,600 Speaker 1: to run the app at all if you're using an 186 00:11:32,600 --> 00:11:37,200 Speaker 1: older phone. And since apps are what makes smartphones smart. 187 00:11:37,800 --> 00:11:40,320 Speaker 1: That ends up being a big problem, and so now 188 00:11:40,400 --> 00:11:42,880 Speaker 1: the incentive is there for you to upgrade your phone 189 00:11:43,160 --> 00:11:46,240 Speaker 1: even if your old phone still works, so that you can, 190 00:11:46,480 --> 00:11:49,199 Speaker 1: you know, just use your smartphone the way you want 191 00:11:49,240 --> 00:11:51,880 Speaker 1: to and you're not stuck on older versions of apps. 192 00:11:51,880 --> 00:11:55,800 Speaker 1: And that's particularly important because sometimes these older versions of 193 00:11:55,840 --> 00:11:59,600 Speaker 1: apps end up being tied to servers that could go offline, 194 00:12:00,120 --> 00:12:02,840 Speaker 1: or they might swap over to a new process, and 195 00:12:02,880 --> 00:12:05,240 Speaker 1: then you have an outdated smartphone that has a bunch 196 00:12:05,280 --> 00:12:10,079 Speaker 1: of inactive apps stored on it and it becomes practically useless. 197 00:12:10,640 --> 00:12:14,800 Speaker 1: On a related note, battery life decreases over time and use, 198 00:12:14,960 --> 00:12:17,480 Speaker 1: so older batteries just don't hold as much of a 199 00:12:17,600 --> 00:12:22,280 Speaker 1: charge as newer batteries, and they drain faster, which means 200 00:12:22,320 --> 00:12:26,479 Speaker 1: that your older battery operated devices will need recharging more frequently. 201 00:12:27,000 --> 00:12:31,359 Speaker 1: Apple famously tried to address this problem by purposefully throttling 202 00:12:31,440 --> 00:12:35,600 Speaker 1: the processing speed of older iPhones. The processors would work 203 00:12:35,640 --> 00:12:39,319 Speaker 1: more slowly so that they would consume less battery power, 204 00:12:39,360 --> 00:12:42,240 Speaker 1: thus extending the usefulness of a battery at the cost 205 00:12:42,400 --> 00:12:47,800 Speaker 1: of smartphone performance. But Apple didn't, you know, tell anyone 206 00:12:47,840 --> 00:12:50,079 Speaker 1: about it, and a lot of users figured out that 207 00:12:50,120 --> 00:12:53,480 Speaker 1: their devices were slowing down due to age. That's what 208 00:12:53,559 --> 00:12:56,080 Speaker 1: they assumed. It's just, oh, this is older, that's why 209 00:12:56,080 --> 00:12:59,120 Speaker 1: it's getting slower. And in a way that was kind 210 00:12:59,120 --> 00:13:01,240 Speaker 1: of true, but not in the same way that these 211 00:13:01,320 --> 00:13:03,720 Speaker 1: users thought. They just thought, this thing is getting old. 212 00:13:04,120 --> 00:13:06,120 Speaker 1: I need a new one, So they opted to buy 213 00:13:06,240 --> 00:13:11,640 Speaker 1: a new, later generation iPhone. But in iPhone, users figured 214 00:13:11,640 --> 00:13:14,240 Speaker 1: out that their phones were being throttled and they had 215 00:13:14,280 --> 00:13:16,400 Speaker 1: no choice in the matter, and that led to a 216 00:13:16,440 --> 00:13:20,120 Speaker 1: big class action lawsuit. As users said, had they known 217 00:13:20,200 --> 00:13:23,280 Speaker 1: what was going on, they would have opted to replace 218 00:13:23,360 --> 00:13:27,160 Speaker 1: the battery in their old iPhone rather than buy a 219 00:13:27,200 --> 00:13:29,880 Speaker 1: brand new iPhone. And I should add that Apple does 220 00:13:29,920 --> 00:13:32,320 Speaker 1: not make it easy for you to do this. You 221 00:13:32,760 --> 00:13:36,680 Speaker 1: really can't replace a battery in your iPhone, at least 222 00:13:36,720 --> 00:13:41,679 Speaker 1: not without violating your warranty. But under certain circumstances, like 223 00:13:42,000 --> 00:13:46,040 Speaker 1: if you enroll in Apple Care Plus, then Apple actually 224 00:13:46,040 --> 00:13:50,920 Speaker 1: will replace an iPhone battery free of charge. I say 225 00:13:50,960 --> 00:13:53,560 Speaker 1: free of charge, really, I should say that price is 226 00:13:53,600 --> 00:13:57,680 Speaker 1: included in your enrollment into Apple Care Plus. So for 227 00:13:57,760 --> 00:14:00,800 Speaker 1: those users, the people who had enrolled an app Care Plus, 228 00:14:01,040 --> 00:14:03,280 Speaker 1: they could have chosen to have a new battery put 229 00:14:03,320 --> 00:14:06,120 Speaker 1: into their older iPhone and it would have extended the 230 00:14:06,200 --> 00:14:09,719 Speaker 1: life of that device, but they weren't told about what 231 00:14:09,800 --> 00:14:12,240 Speaker 1: was going on, so instead they opted to buy a 232 00:14:12,280 --> 00:14:16,560 Speaker 1: brand new phone, which was way more expensive. In Apple 233 00:14:16,600 --> 00:14:20,120 Speaker 1: reached a settlement agreement, actually to settlement agreements for two 234 00:14:20,200 --> 00:14:23,880 Speaker 1: different class action lawsuits brought against the company about this 235 00:14:24,000 --> 00:14:28,400 Speaker 1: very issue. The first settlement was for five hundred million dollars, 236 00:14:28,440 --> 00:14:31,720 Speaker 1: a princely some and the second was for another one 237 00:14:32,040 --> 00:14:36,560 Speaker 1: d thirteen million dollars. In both cases, prosecution argued that 238 00:14:36,600 --> 00:14:40,200 Speaker 1: Apple was deliberately hiding the fact that it was throttling 239 00:14:40,280 --> 00:14:44,480 Speaker 1: processing output and that the battery was degrading over time, 240 00:14:44,640 --> 00:14:47,920 Speaker 1: and they knew that most users would opt to upgrade 241 00:14:47,960 --> 00:14:50,800 Speaker 1: to a newer iPhone as long as they didn't realize 242 00:14:50,840 --> 00:14:54,240 Speaker 1: that there was an alternative path they could have taken. Now, 243 00:14:54,280 --> 00:14:57,760 Speaker 1: that pretty much hits the planned obsolescence definition right on 244 00:14:57,800 --> 00:15:00,920 Speaker 1: the nose. So it turns out there are a lot 245 00:15:00,960 --> 00:15:05,120 Speaker 1: of different approaches to planned obsolescence. While the phrase might 246 00:15:05,200 --> 00:15:08,040 Speaker 1: make you think that the company is purposefully making stuff 247 00:15:08,040 --> 00:15:10,680 Speaker 1: that just won't stand the test of time, as in 248 00:15:10,880 --> 00:15:15,120 Speaker 1: the company is choosing to create substandard products, knowing that 249 00:15:15,160 --> 00:15:18,080 Speaker 1: these products will break down and the customer is likely 250 00:15:18,120 --> 00:15:20,800 Speaker 1: to come back and buy another one. Really, that's just 251 00:15:20,920 --> 00:15:23,480 Speaker 1: the tip of the iceberg, and it's usually not even 252 00:15:23,520 --> 00:15:26,240 Speaker 1: the case. If a company's reputation gets tied to the 253 00:15:26,320 --> 00:15:30,920 Speaker 1: idea that the stuff they make breaks easily, that's not 254 00:15:31,000 --> 00:15:33,720 Speaker 1: good for business. And the rest of this episode, we're 255 00:15:33,720 --> 00:15:37,000 Speaker 1: going to take a closer look at some historical examples 256 00:15:37,040 --> 00:15:41,360 Speaker 1: of planned obsolescence and what was going on from different perspectives, 257 00:15:41,560 --> 00:15:44,280 Speaker 1: and we'll also get into the right to Repair movement 258 00:15:44,440 --> 00:15:47,560 Speaker 1: and what it might mean to the tech industry moving forward, 259 00:15:48,000 --> 00:15:52,320 Speaker 1: assuming the movement actually achieves its goals. But first let's 260 00:15:52,360 --> 00:16:04,440 Speaker 1: take a quick break. We're back and on December twenty three, 261 00:16:04,840 --> 00:16:09,080 Speaker 1: nineteen twenty four, a group of elite entrepreneurs met to 262 00:16:09,240 --> 00:16:14,200 Speaker 1: establish some shady guidelines, which was pretty ironic because they 263 00:16:14,240 --> 00:16:17,840 Speaker 1: were all in the lightbulb business. That's sort of a 264 00:16:17,920 --> 00:16:23,160 Speaker 1: pun I guess. Anyway. The leaders represented some of the 265 00:16:23,240 --> 00:16:27,760 Speaker 1: largest light bulb manufacturers in the world. There was General Electric, 266 00:16:27,960 --> 00:16:31,000 Speaker 1: the grand daddy of big tech companies in the United States. 267 00:16:31,720 --> 00:16:35,200 Speaker 1: There was the company Phillips from the Netherlands. As Rum, 268 00:16:35,360 --> 00:16:38,480 Speaker 1: a company from Germany, had a representative present, and the 269 00:16:38,520 --> 00:16:41,640 Speaker 1: French had their place too, with executives from the company 270 00:16:41,800 --> 00:16:46,680 Speaker 1: de Lump, and together they created a powerful idea which 271 00:16:46,760 --> 00:16:50,280 Speaker 1: we can represent as a very large lightbulb turning on 272 00:16:50,440 --> 00:16:52,840 Speaker 1: behind their heads, or at least we could if this 273 00:16:52,880 --> 00:16:56,320 Speaker 1: were a video and not an audio podcast. Their idea 274 00:16:56,720 --> 00:16:59,720 Speaker 1: was to form a new company, an organization that would 275 00:16:59,760 --> 00:17:03,360 Speaker 1: core innate how light bulbs should work, as in how 276 00:17:03,400 --> 00:17:05,840 Speaker 1: bright they should be and how long they should last, 277 00:17:06,320 --> 00:17:09,040 Speaker 1: as well as which company would be allowed to sell 278 00:17:09,040 --> 00:17:13,399 Speaker 1: its products in certain specific regions. It was collusion of 279 00:17:13,440 --> 00:17:17,200 Speaker 1: the highest order, and it violated pretty much every antitrust 280 00:17:17,280 --> 00:17:19,960 Speaker 1: law you can think of. And it became known as 281 00:17:20,000 --> 00:17:24,480 Speaker 1: the Phoebus Cartel. Cute huh, because Phoebus is another name 282 00:17:24,520 --> 00:17:28,360 Speaker 1: for Apollo, the god of the sun. Before the cartel, 283 00:17:28,680 --> 00:17:32,160 Speaker 1: manufacturers were making light bulbs that could last between fifteen 284 00:17:32,280 --> 00:17:36,360 Speaker 1: hundred and two thousand hours of operation. But the cartel 285 00:17:36,520 --> 00:17:39,920 Speaker 1: collectively decided that their light bulbs should have a life 286 00:17:39,920 --> 00:17:44,600 Speaker 1: expectancy of one thousand hours of use. A ha. These 287 00:17:44,600 --> 00:17:48,440 Speaker 1: companies were producing a technology that already had a limited 288 00:17:48,480 --> 00:17:51,199 Speaker 1: lifespan just because of how it works. You know, the 289 00:17:51,240 --> 00:17:54,520 Speaker 1: filaments and light bulbs, the part that actually gives off light. 290 00:17:54,880 --> 00:17:57,480 Speaker 1: They eventually burned through and break, and that's what makes 291 00:17:57,520 --> 00:18:02,240 Speaker 1: incandescent lightbulbs die. Clearly, this group of people were all 292 00:18:02,280 --> 00:18:05,199 Speaker 1: agreeing to a worldwide limit on the useful number of 293 00:18:05,240 --> 00:18:08,359 Speaker 1: hours a light bulb would operate in in order to 294 00:18:08,480 --> 00:18:12,120 Speaker 1: sell more light bulbs. Right, they were making a predetermined 295 00:18:12,480 --> 00:18:15,840 Speaker 1: end of life cycle for light bulbs, and by making 296 00:18:15,880 --> 00:18:19,640 Speaker 1: everyone agree to this limitation, no manufacturer would be able 297 00:18:19,680 --> 00:18:22,640 Speaker 1: to defy the others and start selling bulbs that had 298 00:18:22,760 --> 00:18:27,000 Speaker 1: longer lifespans, which would ruin it for everybody else. Now 299 00:18:27,040 --> 00:18:30,440 Speaker 1: you can see the appeal of that narrative, right, rich 300 00:18:30,640 --> 00:18:35,080 Speaker 1: fat cats are cynically limiting a technology just to sell 301 00:18:35,359 --> 00:18:40,120 Speaker 1: more light bulbs, while simultaneously creating pressure to prevent any 302 00:18:40,160 --> 00:18:44,200 Speaker 1: other company from offering up a superior product. You could 303 00:18:44,320 --> 00:18:48,800 Speaker 1: just hear the thumbs twiddling, you know, the mustaches waxing, 304 00:18:49,200 --> 00:18:54,280 Speaker 1: and the chorals chortling. Heck, the cartel would even test 305 00:18:54,480 --> 00:18:58,359 Speaker 1: lightbulbs from each manufacturer, and if any of those lightbulbs 306 00:18:58,440 --> 00:19:01,080 Speaker 1: proved to have a lifespan that as well beyond those 307 00:19:01,119 --> 00:19:05,560 Speaker 1: one thousand hours of operation, the cartel would find the 308 00:19:05,640 --> 00:19:11,359 Speaker 1: responsible manufacturer keep those light bulbs lives shorter or else. 309 00:19:12,200 --> 00:19:14,560 Speaker 1: But if we want to be a little more fair, 310 00:19:14,760 --> 00:19:18,960 Speaker 1: we should take into consideration another factor. As light bulbs age, 311 00:19:19,240 --> 00:19:23,120 Speaker 1: they would give off less light. Incandescent bulbs, they are 312 00:19:23,760 --> 00:19:27,720 Speaker 1: less luminously efficient in other words, And so the counter 313 00:19:27,920 --> 00:19:31,240 Speaker 1: argument was made that by limiting the lifespan to one 314 00:19:31,280 --> 00:19:36,960 Speaker 1: thousand hours, it was more about maximizing luminous efficiency. It 315 00:19:37,040 --> 00:19:39,360 Speaker 1: was to make certain that the light bulbs were providing 316 00:19:39,640 --> 00:19:43,359 Speaker 1: enough light throughout their lifespans and not just turning into 317 00:19:43,400 --> 00:19:47,320 Speaker 1: increasingly dim light sources. So there was an argument being 318 00:19:47,359 --> 00:19:51,000 Speaker 1: made that the restriction of the lifespan was more about 319 00:19:51,040 --> 00:19:55,280 Speaker 1: improving the quality of the performance of light bulbs rather 320 00:19:55,359 --> 00:19:58,560 Speaker 1: than speeding up the need to replace those light bulbs. 321 00:19:59,119 --> 00:20:01,359 Speaker 1: It was a compelling enough argument to lead the u 322 00:20:01,440 --> 00:20:05,720 Speaker 1: K's Monopolies and Restrictive Practices Commission to give the companies 323 00:20:05,880 --> 00:20:09,480 Speaker 1: some slack with that regard, though there were many other 324 00:20:09,520 --> 00:20:12,479 Speaker 1: things the Phoebus Cartel did that did not get a 325 00:20:12,520 --> 00:20:16,720 Speaker 1: free pass, but those are more market focused than tech focused, 326 00:20:16,800 --> 00:20:19,359 Speaker 1: so I'm not going to go into them. The cartel itself, 327 00:20:19,400 --> 00:20:22,639 Speaker 1: by the way, dissolved in the late nineteen thirties, not 328 00:20:22,720 --> 00:20:25,679 Speaker 1: because of government pressure, or at least not the kind 329 00:20:26,000 --> 00:20:29,240 Speaker 1: of regulation pressure, but because of a little thing called 330 00:20:29,359 --> 00:20:33,760 Speaker 1: World War two. Now, I suspect that the decision to 331 00:20:33,960 --> 00:20:37,880 Speaker 1: arrive at one thousand hours of useful life was guided 332 00:20:37,920 --> 00:20:42,520 Speaker 1: both by practical considerations and good old fashioned greed. So 333 00:20:42,840 --> 00:20:45,399 Speaker 1: I suspect there is some truth to both of the 334 00:20:45,480 --> 00:20:51,440 Speaker 1: scenarios I mentioned, or if you listen to ridiculous history scenarios, 335 00:20:52,119 --> 00:20:55,439 Speaker 1: and considering that some of the other moves that the 336 00:20:55,480 --> 00:21:00,520 Speaker 1: cartel made, like namely price fixing, you definitely cannot count 337 00:21:00,600 --> 00:21:04,520 Speaker 1: greed out because that was the primary motivator for those decisions. 338 00:21:04,960 --> 00:21:06,720 Speaker 1: But there are at least some people who are a 339 00:21:06,720 --> 00:21:10,520 Speaker 1: little more charitable toward the idea of limiting bulb lifespan 340 00:21:11,160 --> 00:21:15,320 Speaker 1: in an effort to favor better luminous efficiency. So we'll 341 00:21:15,359 --> 00:21:18,560 Speaker 1: move on. The next big example is the one that 342 00:21:18,600 --> 00:21:20,840 Speaker 1: I mentioned earlier and talked about a little bit in 343 00:21:20,920 --> 00:21:24,600 Speaker 1: my episodes about General Motors. This was the GM under 344 00:21:24,640 --> 00:21:27,800 Speaker 1: Alfred B. Sloan, the man who took a big mess 345 00:21:27,880 --> 00:21:31,840 Speaker 1: of companies that were acquired by GM founder William C. Durant, 346 00:21:32,200 --> 00:21:36,480 Speaker 1: and then he organized all of this mishmash into individual 347 00:21:36,560 --> 00:21:40,960 Speaker 1: business units looking over specific makes of car, and each 348 00:21:41,000 --> 00:21:44,000 Speaker 1: of those units had a great deal of autonomy between them. 349 00:21:44,040 --> 00:21:48,000 Speaker 1: He was also a consummate capitalist, and I don't necessarily 350 00:21:48,040 --> 00:21:51,199 Speaker 1: mean that in a flattering way. He had a habit 351 00:21:51,280 --> 00:21:55,800 Speaker 1: of focusing on profits and ignoring people. But you can 352 00:21:55,920 --> 00:21:59,119 Speaker 1: learn more about that in the GM episodes. One of 353 00:21:59,160 --> 00:22:03,520 Speaker 1: Sloan's many contributions to the automotive industry was the introduction 354 00:22:03,600 --> 00:22:08,480 Speaker 1: of stylistic changes to various car models year over year. 355 00:22:09,080 --> 00:22:12,800 Speaker 1: In the early days of automobiles, the dominating manufacturer was 356 00:22:12,880 --> 00:22:17,320 Speaker 1: the Ford Motor Company. Henry Ford's company produced the famous 357 00:22:17,359 --> 00:22:20,960 Speaker 1: Model T. Ford and first introduced that Model T in 358 00:22:21,080 --> 00:22:25,160 Speaker 1: nineteen o eight, and it remained in production until nineteen 359 00:22:25,240 --> 00:22:30,359 Speaker 1: twenty seven. By n this was a mass produced cars, 360 00:22:30,480 --> 00:22:34,879 Speaker 1: so on a huge scale. Ford dominated car sales in 361 00:22:34,920 --> 00:22:40,000 Speaker 1: the United States for like decades now. Allegedly, Ford himself 362 00:22:40,080 --> 00:22:42,919 Speaker 1: once said that there was no use in overtaking and 363 00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:46,520 Speaker 1: passing a Model T on the road, because you would 364 00:22:46,520 --> 00:22:50,359 Speaker 1: just find yourself behind a different Model T. That's how 365 00:22:51,000 --> 00:22:55,080 Speaker 1: commonplace they were. He also reportedly said that a customer 366 00:22:55,080 --> 00:22:57,560 Speaker 1: could get a Model T and whatever color they wanted 367 00:22:57,840 --> 00:23:00,600 Speaker 1: as long as it was black. While the company would 368 00:23:00,600 --> 00:23:04,080 Speaker 1: offer Model T s and other colors up to nineteen fourteen, 369 00:23:04,520 --> 00:23:09,960 Speaker 1: between nineteen fourteen and nineteen Ford only churned out black 370 00:23:10,080 --> 00:23:14,600 Speaker 1: Model T cars. This meant that Ford's factories could build 371 00:23:14,840 --> 00:23:17,880 Speaker 1: nearly identical cars, one right after the other, using mass 372 00:23:17,880 --> 00:23:23,119 Speaker 1: production techniques, thus increasing efficiency and keeping costs down. And 373 00:23:23,160 --> 00:23:25,919 Speaker 1: it also meant that Ford could sell these cars at 374 00:23:25,960 --> 00:23:31,000 Speaker 1: affordable prices. They were meant to be practical, durable, and reliable. 375 00:23:31,359 --> 00:23:34,240 Speaker 1: That's how he made so many early sales. Now there 376 00:23:34,280 --> 00:23:38,040 Speaker 1: was a big emphasis on uniformity and consistency, in other words, 377 00:23:38,080 --> 00:23:40,960 Speaker 1: because those are things that make it easier to mass 378 00:23:41,040 --> 00:23:45,520 Speaker 1: produce something. And Alfred Sloan saw an opportunity to appeal 379 00:23:45,600 --> 00:23:48,920 Speaker 1: to people on a different level over at General Motors. 380 00:23:49,200 --> 00:23:51,679 Speaker 1: He thought it would be a good idea to change 381 00:23:51,800 --> 00:23:54,280 Speaker 1: up the style of a model of car on a 382 00:23:54,320 --> 00:23:57,960 Speaker 1: regular basis. At a glance, you would be able to 383 00:23:58,040 --> 00:24:01,600 Speaker 1: give a ballpark estimate of the year when a certain 384 00:24:01,640 --> 00:24:05,399 Speaker 1: model came out due to distinguishing features that were on 385 00:24:05,520 --> 00:24:08,000 Speaker 1: that car. You know, maybe the headlights are in a 386 00:24:08,040 --> 00:24:11,159 Speaker 1: slightly different spot, or maybe the car has a different 387 00:24:11,200 --> 00:24:13,280 Speaker 1: kind of grill on the front of it, or maybe 388 00:24:13,280 --> 00:24:16,159 Speaker 1: you put a pair of big old tail fins on 389 00:24:16,200 --> 00:24:18,760 Speaker 1: the back of the thing. That's the sort of thing 390 00:24:18,840 --> 00:24:22,399 Speaker 1: that Sloan was thinking about. Harley Earl, a man whom 391 00:24:22,520 --> 00:24:26,280 Speaker 1: many historians credit as the first professional designer to work 392 00:24:26,320 --> 00:24:29,600 Speaker 1: in the automotive industry, worked was Sloan to make this 393 00:24:29,720 --> 00:24:32,920 Speaker 1: vision a reality, and Earl would sculpt models out of 394 00:24:33,280 --> 00:24:36,720 Speaker 1: clay and then mold them in different ways to create 395 00:24:36,800 --> 00:24:40,480 Speaker 1: new features, and as tastes changed, he could reflect that 396 00:24:40,760 --> 00:24:44,520 Speaker 1: in different car body designs, and now cars could appeal 397 00:24:44,560 --> 00:24:49,280 Speaker 1: to people by embodying certain design trends. This approach meant 398 00:24:49,520 --> 00:24:53,360 Speaker 1: that cars now had a sort of planned obsolescence. As 399 00:24:53,400 --> 00:24:58,440 Speaker 1: time passes, fashions change and older cars will pass out 400 00:24:58,440 --> 00:25:02,520 Speaker 1: of fashion. Out of style, they'll become unfashionable, and that 401 00:25:02,560 --> 00:25:06,520 Speaker 1: creates a psychological lever that GM could lean on to 402 00:25:06,680 --> 00:25:10,160 Speaker 1: convince people to come in trade in their older cars 403 00:25:10,240 --> 00:25:13,280 Speaker 1: and buy newer ones. The older cars might still work 404 00:25:13,320 --> 00:25:16,600 Speaker 1: perfectly well from an operational point of view, but they 405 00:25:16,600 --> 00:25:19,000 Speaker 1: could be seen as being old fashioned, and that was 406 00:25:19,160 --> 00:25:22,199 Speaker 1: enough to push some people to upgrade to a new vehicle. 407 00:25:23,000 --> 00:25:25,280 Speaker 1: It was still important for GM to make cars that 408 00:25:25,320 --> 00:25:28,840 Speaker 1: were perceived to be reliable and powerful. If the cars 409 00:25:28,840 --> 00:25:31,800 Speaker 1: were known to break down quickly, that kind of reputation 410 00:25:31,800 --> 00:25:34,879 Speaker 1: would hurt sales. So while you could keep driving the 411 00:25:34,920 --> 00:25:38,200 Speaker 1: same car for many years, assuming you took good care 412 00:25:38,200 --> 00:25:41,439 Speaker 1: of the car, Sloan's goal was to make you feel 413 00:25:41,480 --> 00:25:44,760 Speaker 1: like a kind of a social pariah if you did 414 00:25:44,800 --> 00:25:47,400 Speaker 1: that for a really long time, Like, Oh, that poor 415 00:25:47,520 --> 00:25:49,880 Speaker 1: so and so they can't afford a new car. Look 416 00:25:49,880 --> 00:25:52,960 Speaker 1: at them driving that old, you know, Chevy or whatever 417 00:25:53,000 --> 00:25:58,160 Speaker 1: it might be. Sloan's approach accelerated car pun the role 418 00:25:58,240 --> 00:26:02,359 Speaker 1: of a car as a stat symbol. GM offered several 419 00:26:02,400 --> 00:26:05,800 Speaker 1: different makes of cars, and each make targeted a different 420 00:26:05,840 --> 00:26:09,919 Speaker 1: economic demographic. So on the cheaper end was the Chevrolet 421 00:26:09,960 --> 00:26:12,639 Speaker 1: line and on the opposite side of the spectrum was 422 00:26:12,720 --> 00:26:15,720 Speaker 1: the Cadillac. But no matter which make of car you 423 00:26:15,840 --> 00:26:20,399 Speaker 1: talked about, that strategy of planned obsolescence was at play. 424 00:26:20,640 --> 00:26:24,280 Speaker 1: You can see Sloan's impact in consumer products across the board, 425 00:26:24,720 --> 00:26:27,840 Speaker 1: and not just in tech, though it tends to be 426 00:26:27,880 --> 00:26:31,960 Speaker 1: particularly evident in the tech world. It's why Apple releases 427 00:26:32,000 --> 00:26:35,480 Speaker 1: a new iPhone every year, or more to the point, 428 00:26:35,920 --> 00:26:40,320 Speaker 1: it's why companies like Apple hold really big exclusive press 429 00:26:40,359 --> 00:26:43,000 Speaker 1: events to hype the release of a new model of 430 00:26:43,040 --> 00:26:46,040 Speaker 1: iPhone every year. And to be clear, Apple does this 431 00:26:46,119 --> 00:26:48,880 Speaker 1: with lots of its products, not just the iPhone. It's 432 00:26:48,920 --> 00:26:51,600 Speaker 1: just the iPhone event tends to get the most attention. 433 00:26:52,160 --> 00:26:54,919 Speaker 1: So let's think about that yearly schedule for a moment, 434 00:26:55,160 --> 00:26:58,040 Speaker 1: and also think back to how phones were marketed in 435 00:26:58,080 --> 00:27:02,000 Speaker 1: the US when the iPhone first launched in two thousand seven. 436 00:27:02,440 --> 00:27:06,920 Speaker 1: So at that time, Apple had signed an exclusive agreement 437 00:27:07,000 --> 00:27:09,560 Speaker 1: with the carrier A T and T here in the 438 00:27:09,640 --> 00:27:13,640 Speaker 1: United States. Now, the reasons behind that agreement are fascinating, 439 00:27:13,920 --> 00:27:15,960 Speaker 1: but they also go beyond what I'm going to talk about, 440 00:27:16,000 --> 00:27:19,120 Speaker 1: so I'll save that for some future episode. You're welcome. 441 00:27:19,640 --> 00:27:22,800 Speaker 1: But back in those days, it was pretty common practice 442 00:27:22,960 --> 00:27:25,879 Speaker 1: in the United States for carriers like A T and 443 00:27:25,920 --> 00:27:31,160 Speaker 1: T to offer subsidized phones in return for signing two 444 00:27:31,240 --> 00:27:35,600 Speaker 1: year contracts where you agreed that this was your carrier 445 00:27:35,640 --> 00:27:38,480 Speaker 1: for two years. You were locked into a carrier. That 446 00:27:38,600 --> 00:27:41,879 Speaker 1: made the initial purchase price of phones a little bit 447 00:27:41,960 --> 00:27:46,200 Speaker 1: more affordable, at least initially, so rather than shelling out 448 00:27:46,240 --> 00:27:49,600 Speaker 1: a thousand dollars for a phone, you might spend a 449 00:27:49,640 --> 00:27:53,240 Speaker 1: couple of hundred by signing onto a two year agreement 450 00:27:53,320 --> 00:27:57,680 Speaker 1: with the carrier. Typically, those agreements would limit your options 451 00:27:57,720 --> 00:28:00,199 Speaker 1: when it came to upgrades. Normally you would have to 452 00:28:00,240 --> 00:28:02,640 Speaker 1: wait out the two years to get to the point 453 00:28:02,640 --> 00:28:06,480 Speaker 1: where you would renew your agreement or sign whatever newer 454 00:28:06,600 --> 00:28:09,680 Speaker 1: version of the agreement the carrier was offering, and then 455 00:28:09,760 --> 00:28:12,720 Speaker 1: you could upgrade to a new phone at a reduced cost, 456 00:28:12,840 --> 00:28:16,000 Speaker 1: or sometimes the phone would be included as part of 457 00:28:16,000 --> 00:28:20,200 Speaker 1: the agreement. But Apple was releasing a brand new iPhone 458 00:28:20,359 --> 00:28:24,280 Speaker 1: every year, and each new iPhone would have new features 459 00:28:24,320 --> 00:28:27,920 Speaker 1: and new styling, so the phones were following Sloan's approach 460 00:28:28,000 --> 00:28:33,000 Speaker 1: to product design. A new iPhone wasn't just flashy technology, 461 00:28:33,080 --> 00:28:35,439 Speaker 1: it was also a status symbol, and a lot of 462 00:28:35,440 --> 00:28:38,080 Speaker 1: folks would choose to upgrade to the new version, even 463 00:28:38,120 --> 00:28:40,160 Speaker 1: if it meant they had to pay more to do 464 00:28:40,240 --> 00:28:43,680 Speaker 1: it because they were only a year into a service 465 00:28:43,680 --> 00:28:47,600 Speaker 1: agreement with their carrier and they could not yet qualify 466 00:28:47,840 --> 00:28:51,720 Speaker 1: for a subsidized phone. Now, this happened for a few years, 467 00:28:51,720 --> 00:28:54,600 Speaker 1: but gradually US carriers kind of phased out those two 468 00:28:54,680 --> 00:28:58,520 Speaker 1: year contract plans, which also meant that the subsidized phone 469 00:28:58,560 --> 00:29:02,520 Speaker 1: model began to disappear. Customers had more freedom to choose 470 00:29:02,560 --> 00:29:05,960 Speaker 1: whichever carrier they wanted to without getting locked into things. 471 00:29:06,280 --> 00:29:09,240 Speaker 1: But it also meant that they often had to pay 472 00:29:09,360 --> 00:29:12,760 Speaker 1: full price for phones for those who had been upgrading 473 00:29:12,800 --> 00:29:15,760 Speaker 1: to a new iPhone every year despite the limitations of 474 00:29:15,800 --> 00:29:19,520 Speaker 1: two year contracts. This was actually probably a welcome change 475 00:29:19,720 --> 00:29:22,120 Speaker 1: to the rest of us. It was a bit of 476 00:29:22,560 --> 00:29:25,200 Speaker 1: an adjustment, not a bad thing, but it did take 477 00:29:25,240 --> 00:29:28,040 Speaker 1: some time to adjust to it. The brilliant thing about 478 00:29:28,080 --> 00:29:32,040 Speaker 1: Sloan's approach, the thing that Apple often relies upon, is 479 00:29:32,080 --> 00:29:38,479 Speaker 1: that you're encouraging customers to crave the new. There's this 480 00:29:38,600 --> 00:29:41,520 Speaker 1: built in desire in the market to get the coolest 481 00:29:41,600 --> 00:29:44,880 Speaker 1: new toy with the latest features and the latest options. 482 00:29:45,600 --> 00:29:48,920 Speaker 1: Companies don't have to trash the older technology. They just 483 00:29:49,000 --> 00:29:52,000 Speaker 1: help the new things that the latest version can do. 484 00:29:52,480 --> 00:29:55,040 Speaker 1: And it might mean that companies take steps to roll 485 00:29:55,080 --> 00:29:58,680 Speaker 1: out new features very carefully. So in some cases a 486 00:29:58,760 --> 00:30:02,000 Speaker 1: company might be read to implement a brand new feature, 487 00:30:02,040 --> 00:30:05,360 Speaker 1: at least from a technological level. However, the hold back 488 00:30:05,800 --> 00:30:09,480 Speaker 1: they'll make a market based decision to wait and sit 489 00:30:09,560 --> 00:30:12,000 Speaker 1: on that technology for a little bit in order to 490 00:30:12,080 --> 00:30:15,960 Speaker 1: maximize sales. You might say, well, we could install these 491 00:30:16,040 --> 00:30:18,800 Speaker 1: three new features in our next phone. But if we 492 00:30:18,880 --> 00:30:21,600 Speaker 1: only install one of them, and then the phone after 493 00:30:21,680 --> 00:30:23,920 Speaker 1: that we add a second one, and the phone after 494 00:30:24,000 --> 00:30:27,120 Speaker 1: that we add the third one, we are able to 495 00:30:27,200 --> 00:30:30,640 Speaker 1: keep boosting sales year over year. If we do all 496 00:30:30,680 --> 00:30:33,840 Speaker 1: three right now, we might not have enough of an 497 00:30:33,880 --> 00:30:37,280 Speaker 1: improvement to get that same boost next year. So it 498 00:30:37,320 --> 00:30:40,360 Speaker 1: becomes this kind of game of chess. So why would 499 00:30:40,400 --> 00:30:42,080 Speaker 1: you put in all the bells and whistles if you 500 00:30:42,120 --> 00:30:44,600 Speaker 1: can hold back a few of them and then make 501 00:30:44,800 --> 00:30:48,600 Speaker 1: many more sales in the next update. Now is this insidious? 502 00:30:49,560 --> 00:30:52,600 Speaker 1: I don't really think so. I mean, from a business perspective, 503 00:30:53,000 --> 00:30:56,240 Speaker 1: it does make a lot of sense. From a consumer perspective, 504 00:30:56,560 --> 00:30:58,800 Speaker 1: I say, what this should do is teach us that 505 00:30:59,080 --> 00:31:01,760 Speaker 1: jumping on a brand, a new technology, or even just 506 00:31:01,880 --> 00:31:05,520 Speaker 1: a new model of an existing technology, might not be 507 00:31:05,600 --> 00:31:08,200 Speaker 1: the best option right out of the gate. We might 508 00:31:08,240 --> 00:31:11,600 Speaker 1: need to use some self control before we buy the 509 00:31:11,640 --> 00:31:16,640 Speaker 1: next shiny thing. Of course, this approach requires moderation as well, 510 00:31:16,840 --> 00:31:19,600 Speaker 1: or else you would never buy anything at all. If 511 00:31:19,640 --> 00:31:21,560 Speaker 1: I need a new phone and I know that I'm 512 00:31:21,640 --> 00:31:23,840 Speaker 1: three months out from the release of something that I 513 00:31:23,880 --> 00:31:26,800 Speaker 1: think is really worthwhile, then I can wait that out. 514 00:31:27,200 --> 00:31:30,400 Speaker 1: But if I'm perpetually waiting for a phone that blows 515 00:31:30,440 --> 00:31:33,920 Speaker 1: me away with all the features, I'll probably be worried 516 00:31:34,320 --> 00:31:37,080 Speaker 1: that I'm going to experience buyer's remorse if I jump 517 00:31:37,120 --> 00:31:40,000 Speaker 1: in right. So, in other words, if I buy something 518 00:31:40,320 --> 00:31:42,800 Speaker 1: and I don't feel like it's really what I was 519 00:31:42,800 --> 00:31:45,600 Speaker 1: waiting for, then maybe the next thing that comes out 520 00:31:45,600 --> 00:31:48,600 Speaker 1: the next month makes me feel badly about it, and 521 00:31:48,680 --> 00:31:52,640 Speaker 1: so that can actually become a bit of a crisis. 522 00:31:52,680 --> 00:31:55,280 Speaker 1: It can It can prevent you from taking action because 523 00:31:55,320 --> 00:31:57,760 Speaker 1: you're always worried that once you take action, you're committed, 524 00:31:58,280 --> 00:32:01,200 Speaker 1: and then the next day you find out there was 525 00:32:01,200 --> 00:32:04,680 Speaker 1: a better option. But yeah, that desire for the new 526 00:32:05,200 --> 00:32:08,400 Speaker 1: is something that's really ingrained in the tech world. Companies 527 00:32:08,440 --> 00:32:11,520 Speaker 1: don't have to make products that will break after a 528 00:32:11,560 --> 00:32:13,280 Speaker 1: certain amount of time. They don't have to have that 529 00:32:13,360 --> 00:32:16,400 Speaker 1: kind of planned obsolescence because with lots of tech, just 530 00:32:16,480 --> 00:32:19,280 Speaker 1: the desire to have the latest thing is enough all 531 00:32:19,280 --> 00:32:22,040 Speaker 1: on its own. That means the companies just have to 532 00:32:22,040 --> 00:32:25,440 Speaker 1: focus on offering up products that are different enough from 533 00:32:25,440 --> 00:32:29,680 Speaker 1: the previous generation to spark our desire. When we come back, 534 00:32:30,000 --> 00:32:32,040 Speaker 1: I'll talk a little bit more about this and then 535 00:32:32,080 --> 00:32:35,360 Speaker 1: we'll learn about the right to repair. But first let's 536 00:32:35,400 --> 00:32:46,560 Speaker 1: take a quick break. So if manufacturers are actually giving 537 00:32:46,640 --> 00:32:50,600 Speaker 1: the people what they want, that is updates to technology 538 00:32:50,640 --> 00:32:53,160 Speaker 1: that flesh out what it can do, at least in 539 00:32:53,280 --> 00:32:56,680 Speaker 1: the ways that consumers desire, then we can't really put 540 00:32:56,720 --> 00:33:00,920 Speaker 1: all the blame on manufacturers for planned obsolescence. We are 541 00:33:01,000 --> 00:33:04,680 Speaker 1: somewhat responsible for it too. It's good to keep in mind, 542 00:33:05,040 --> 00:33:07,840 Speaker 1: and if we recognize that part of us, we can 543 00:33:07,880 --> 00:33:10,560 Speaker 1: try to make a better balance of when we actually 544 00:33:10,680 --> 00:33:15,400 Speaker 1: need something new and when we just want something new. 545 00:33:16,200 --> 00:33:20,280 Speaker 1: I struggle with this all the time, whether it's a 546 00:33:20,440 --> 00:33:23,320 Speaker 1: new flagship phone. I mean, when Android comes up with 547 00:33:23,320 --> 00:33:26,840 Speaker 1: a brand new flagship phone, I feel the temptation to 548 00:33:27,000 --> 00:33:30,720 Speaker 1: jump on it. Not literally jump on it, but you 549 00:33:30,760 --> 00:33:33,800 Speaker 1: know what I mean. However, in most cases, the phone 550 00:33:33,840 --> 00:33:36,440 Speaker 1: I have at the time tends to be perfectly fine 551 00:33:36,520 --> 00:33:39,640 Speaker 1: for my needs. The last time I did upgrade a phone, 552 00:33:39,720 --> 00:33:42,959 Speaker 1: it was because the microphone on my phone had broken. 553 00:33:43,120 --> 00:33:46,080 Speaker 1: I could use Bluetooth devices and talk on the phone, 554 00:33:46,680 --> 00:33:48,520 Speaker 1: but I couldn't use my phone as a phone just 555 00:33:48,600 --> 00:33:51,200 Speaker 1: on its own, so I did have to upgrade then. 556 00:33:51,600 --> 00:33:54,560 Speaker 1: But I tend to stick to getting a new phone 557 00:33:54,600 --> 00:33:57,160 Speaker 1: just every few years as the older one starts to 558 00:33:57,280 --> 00:34:00,360 Speaker 1: lag behind, especially when it comes to what apps you 559 00:34:00,400 --> 00:34:03,560 Speaker 1: can run. And the same is true for game systems. 560 00:34:03,600 --> 00:34:06,480 Speaker 1: I've gotten a lot better about that too. It used 561 00:34:06,520 --> 00:34:08,960 Speaker 1: to be that as soon as a game system came out, 562 00:34:09,600 --> 00:34:11,640 Speaker 1: I felt the urge to rush out and buy it. 563 00:34:12,040 --> 00:34:14,600 Speaker 1: I usually didn't because I usually didn't have the money, 564 00:34:14,719 --> 00:34:17,560 Speaker 1: but I always wanted to. However, now I actually prefer 565 00:34:17,680 --> 00:34:21,200 Speaker 1: to hang back, both so that any bugs in those 566 00:34:21,239 --> 00:34:23,239 Speaker 1: early versions can be worked out. I mean, I do 567 00:34:23,320 --> 00:34:26,880 Speaker 1: not want another Red Ring of Death situation ever again, 568 00:34:27,400 --> 00:34:31,040 Speaker 1: and also so that game developers can release more titles 569 00:34:31,160 --> 00:34:34,120 Speaker 1: for the system. It's not much fun pouring a bunch 570 00:34:34,160 --> 00:34:36,479 Speaker 1: of money into a technology and then having to wait 571 00:34:36,520 --> 00:34:39,680 Speaker 1: around for it to become useful. But now we also 572 00:34:39,719 --> 00:34:42,040 Speaker 1: have to talk about the issue of right to repair. 573 00:34:42,760 --> 00:34:46,560 Speaker 1: So earlier I talked about the ways companies make it 574 00:34:46,680 --> 00:34:50,440 Speaker 1: challenging or impossible for the average person to repair stuff, 575 00:34:50,680 --> 00:34:53,120 Speaker 1: and initially my reaction to that kind of thing is 576 00:34:53,640 --> 00:34:56,120 Speaker 1: this is how they get you. They want you to 577 00:34:56,280 --> 00:34:58,400 Speaker 1: get back to them and bring all the stuff to 578 00:34:58,440 --> 00:35:01,600 Speaker 1: get it fixed by them the cells. But there can 579 00:35:01,640 --> 00:35:04,239 Speaker 1: be other reasons for this that, while you may or 580 00:35:04,239 --> 00:35:07,600 Speaker 1: may not agree with them, can be a little more subtle. So, 581 00:35:07,680 --> 00:35:11,200 Speaker 1: for example, let's take Apple again. For most of the 582 00:35:11,200 --> 00:35:15,239 Speaker 1: company's history, Apple products have been largely inaccessible to those 583 00:35:15,280 --> 00:35:18,080 Speaker 1: who wish to do their own repairs, at least to 584 00:35:18,160 --> 00:35:21,480 Speaker 1: do so without violating a warranty. But one of the 585 00:35:21,480 --> 00:35:24,480 Speaker 1: big reasons for that is that Apple has a specific 586 00:35:24,600 --> 00:35:29,640 Speaker 1: vision as to how consumers are supposed to experience Apple products. 587 00:35:30,280 --> 00:35:33,800 Speaker 1: This was a philosophy that Steve Jobs had pushed pretty hard. 588 00:35:34,280 --> 00:35:37,400 Speaker 1: The goal was to create a controlled experience from beginning 589 00:35:37,440 --> 00:35:40,440 Speaker 1: to end. The company would have an enormous amount of 590 00:35:40,440 --> 00:35:44,640 Speaker 1: authority in deciding this, from hardware configurations to the kinds 591 00:35:44,640 --> 00:35:47,560 Speaker 1: of software that would be allowed to run on the device. 592 00:35:48,080 --> 00:35:50,960 Speaker 1: We see this reflected in the iPhone app store, where 593 00:35:51,000 --> 00:35:54,240 Speaker 1: developers have to get approval from Apple before their apps 594 00:35:54,239 --> 00:35:57,920 Speaker 1: will actually appear on the market. This level of control 595 00:35:58,120 --> 00:36:02,080 Speaker 1: helps a company deliver con extant quality to users. The 596 00:36:02,160 --> 00:36:05,840 Speaker 1: challenge is then selling users on the idea that the 597 00:36:05,880 --> 00:36:11,239 Speaker 1: company's approach is what the customer actually wants. Jobs was 598 00:36:11,320 --> 00:36:14,000 Speaker 1: amazing at this. He could bring a device to a 599 00:36:14,080 --> 00:36:17,040 Speaker 1: crowd and by the end of a presentation have that 600 00:36:17,120 --> 00:36:21,200 Speaker 1: crowd convinced that Apple's product is exactly what the crowd 601 00:36:21,320 --> 00:36:25,720 Speaker 1: wanted and needed. But Apple relinquishing control in any way 602 00:36:25,840 --> 00:36:28,759 Speaker 1: wouldn't make that more difficult to do, because a third 603 00:36:28,800 --> 00:36:32,600 Speaker 1: party might not perform up to Apple's standards and it 604 00:36:32,640 --> 00:36:36,120 Speaker 1: would reflect poorly on Apple. But that also meant that 605 00:36:36,160 --> 00:36:41,320 Speaker 1: Apple products were difficult to modify. Early consumer computers came 606 00:36:41,440 --> 00:36:44,400 Speaker 1: out as kits, and the people who bought those kits 607 00:36:44,719 --> 00:36:47,839 Speaker 1: would typically put them together themselves. You could also pay 608 00:36:47,960 --> 00:36:51,040 Speaker 1: to have some of those kits come fully assembled. You 609 00:36:51,040 --> 00:36:53,239 Speaker 1: would have to pay extra for that, but a lot 610 00:36:53,280 --> 00:36:56,600 Speaker 1: of early computer owners actually enjoyed the experience of building 611 00:36:56,640 --> 00:37:00,000 Speaker 1: the computers from the kits, and this meant that really 612 00:37:00,239 --> 00:37:03,760 Speaker 1: enterprising hobbyists could even make little tweaks to the design 613 00:37:04,320 --> 00:37:07,640 Speaker 1: to change the performance of the end machine a little bit. 614 00:37:08,160 --> 00:37:11,440 Speaker 1: This was the early era of the hacker, as people 615 00:37:11,520 --> 00:37:14,680 Speaker 1: figured out how these systems worked, and then they modified 616 00:37:14,719 --> 00:37:17,520 Speaker 1: those systems in different ways. And it was pretty common 617 00:37:17,560 --> 00:37:22,239 Speaker 1: practice along many different computer manufacturers to have components that 618 00:37:22,280 --> 00:37:25,759 Speaker 1: you could swap out, like RAM chips. So if you 619 00:37:25,800 --> 00:37:29,080 Speaker 1: wanted your computer to have more memory, you could open 620 00:37:29,200 --> 00:37:32,640 Speaker 1: up your computer case and install more RAM, assuming your 621 00:37:32,680 --> 00:37:37,120 Speaker 1: computer's motherboard and processor could support the additional RAM, but 622 00:37:37,200 --> 00:37:40,960 Speaker 1: Apple typically made this really hard to do. If you 623 00:37:41,040 --> 00:37:44,239 Speaker 1: wanted an Apple computer with more RAM, you were going 624 00:37:44,280 --> 00:37:47,080 Speaker 1: to have to pay extra to buy a computer model 625 00:37:47,200 --> 00:37:49,640 Speaker 1: that was a step up from whichever one you were 626 00:37:49,680 --> 00:37:53,080 Speaker 1: looking at. And that also extends to making it really 627 00:37:53,120 --> 00:37:56,840 Speaker 1: hard to repair Apple computers if something were to go wrong. 628 00:37:57,200 --> 00:37:59,839 Speaker 1: And thus we get to the birth of the genius bar. 629 00:38:00,360 --> 00:38:04,520 Speaker 1: So we get companies creating complicated electronic devices, many of 630 00:38:04,520 --> 00:38:08,200 Speaker 1: which have proprietary fasteners and such holding them together, and 631 00:38:08,239 --> 00:38:10,759 Speaker 1: the message that the customer is to bring any of 632 00:38:10,760 --> 00:38:13,279 Speaker 1: those devices that aren't working, you know they might need 633 00:38:13,320 --> 00:38:16,359 Speaker 1: some repair. You're supposed to bring those back to the 634 00:38:16,400 --> 00:38:21,319 Speaker 1: company or maybe an authorized service vendor. Critics of this 635 00:38:21,360 --> 00:38:25,880 Speaker 1: approach say it's anti competitive and it hurts the consumer. Ideally, 636 00:38:26,400 --> 00:38:29,400 Speaker 1: the consumer would have an open choice as to whom 637 00:38:29,480 --> 00:38:32,440 Speaker 1: they could bring a broken device for a repair. So 638 00:38:32,480 --> 00:38:35,920 Speaker 1: if I were particularly talented at repairs, I would be 639 00:38:35,960 --> 00:38:38,000 Speaker 1: able to open up a shop and work on all 640 00:38:38,040 --> 00:38:41,440 Speaker 1: sorts of devices. I might offer more competitive rates than 641 00:38:41,480 --> 00:38:45,080 Speaker 1: what people might find going through the original manufacturer or 642 00:38:45,200 --> 00:38:49,319 Speaker 1: enrolling in an extended care or warranty program, and these 643 00:38:49,360 --> 00:38:53,120 Speaker 1: ideas are the underlying principles of the right to Repair movement. 644 00:38:53,760 --> 00:38:56,600 Speaker 1: There are a lot of organizations that advocate for the 645 00:38:56,680 --> 00:38:59,800 Speaker 1: right to repair, and they work to lobby governments to 646 00:39:00,000 --> 00:39:04,000 Speaker 1: ask legislation that would mandate it. Primarily we see the 647 00:39:04,040 --> 00:39:07,120 Speaker 1: movement in the United States and even more prominently in 648 00:39:07,160 --> 00:39:10,600 Speaker 1: the European Union. This is also tied to the problem 649 00:39:10,680 --> 00:39:13,960 Speaker 1: of electronic waste. As I mentioned earlier. According to the 650 00:39:14,000 --> 00:39:17,200 Speaker 1: Public Internet Research Group, which I should add is not 651 00:39:17,360 --> 00:39:21,600 Speaker 1: an unbiased source of information, but according to them, Americans 652 00:39:21,640 --> 00:39:25,799 Speaker 1: throughout four hundred sixteen thousand cell phones a day. I 653 00:39:25,960 --> 00:39:29,720 Speaker 1: find that number a little hard to believe. Maybe it's true. 654 00:39:29,920 --> 00:39:33,759 Speaker 1: I didn't find, you know, other sources that back this up, 655 00:39:34,080 --> 00:39:36,680 Speaker 1: but I did find other sources that had similar eye 656 00:39:36,680 --> 00:39:41,319 Speaker 1: popping statistics. Only a fraction of the electronic devices we 657 00:39:41,400 --> 00:39:44,480 Speaker 1: throw away, ever, end up in recycling centers. I mean, 658 00:39:44,520 --> 00:39:46,600 Speaker 1: that's mostly on us. If we just toss it in 659 00:39:46,640 --> 00:39:49,520 Speaker 1: the garbage, then that's where it's gonna go. It takes 660 00:39:49,600 --> 00:39:53,480 Speaker 1: effort to find good recycling centers. Not all of them 661 00:39:53,480 --> 00:39:56,759 Speaker 1: are ethical, by the way. It takes some research. So 662 00:39:57,080 --> 00:40:01,360 Speaker 1: considering all the stuff that's in electronics and valuable metals. 663 00:40:01,520 --> 00:40:03,800 Speaker 1: I mean there's like gold and copper in this stuff. 664 00:40:04,280 --> 00:40:06,359 Speaker 1: It's a real shame to just throw them out. And 665 00:40:06,400 --> 00:40:09,560 Speaker 1: then you consider the environmental impact and it gets worse. 666 00:40:10,200 --> 00:40:13,200 Speaker 1: Right to Repair groups want to see companies include access 667 00:40:13,280 --> 00:40:16,640 Speaker 1: to stuff like repair guides, so make it possible to 668 00:40:16,719 --> 00:40:19,239 Speaker 1: understand how these things work and how to fix them. 669 00:40:19,920 --> 00:40:24,200 Speaker 1: Make it repair tools accessible if any proprietary tools are needed, 670 00:40:24,480 --> 00:40:28,560 Speaker 1: and also make us accessible parts needed for repairs. Sell 671 00:40:28,600 --> 00:40:31,920 Speaker 1: the parts individually as well, so none of this would 672 00:40:31,920 --> 00:40:34,640 Speaker 1: be free. You know, the companies could still make money. 673 00:40:34,719 --> 00:40:37,560 Speaker 1: They could actually offer repair kits that you could purchase. 674 00:40:37,960 --> 00:40:40,440 Speaker 1: But imagine that instead of having to bring back your 675 00:40:40,480 --> 00:40:43,319 Speaker 1: smartphone to some store or send it off to a 676 00:40:43,400 --> 00:40:47,359 Speaker 1: manufacturer through the mail, you instead could order a repair kit, 677 00:40:47,520 --> 00:40:50,400 Speaker 1: and if you have steady hands, maybe you replace that 678 00:40:50,480 --> 00:40:54,640 Speaker 1: crack screen or that dead battery by yourself. That's the 679 00:40:54,760 --> 00:40:59,080 Speaker 1: appeal of the right to repair movement. But as electronics 680 00:40:59,200 --> 00:41:03,160 Speaker 1: get more complicated, it's more challenging to meet that kind 681 00:41:03,160 --> 00:41:07,400 Speaker 1: of standard. Some devices are complex enough that it requires 682 00:41:07,400 --> 00:41:11,360 Speaker 1: a person with specialized knowledge and skill in order to 683 00:41:11,400 --> 00:41:14,719 Speaker 1: tackle the problem, and a lot of us, myself included, 684 00:41:15,040 --> 00:41:19,280 Speaker 1: would probably find ourselves popping into an independent repair shop 685 00:41:19,480 --> 00:41:22,200 Speaker 1: to have our stuff fixed rather than take it on 686 00:41:22,239 --> 00:41:25,920 Speaker 1: ourselves and risk breaking it more. Look, all I'm saying 687 00:41:26,360 --> 00:41:28,680 Speaker 1: is I know what my track record is for taking 688 00:41:28,719 --> 00:41:32,600 Speaker 1: stuff apart versus putting it together again, and that ratio 689 00:41:33,440 --> 00:41:36,960 Speaker 1: is way out of balance. We're seeing this movement embrace 690 00:41:37,040 --> 00:41:40,880 Speaker 1: not just consumer goods like smartphones, but really big stuff 691 00:41:40,960 --> 00:41:45,800 Speaker 1: like farming equipment and tractors. Farmers have criticized manufacturer John 692 00:41:45,880 --> 00:41:49,680 Speaker 1: Deer for including essentially the equivalent of a digital lock 693 00:41:50,440 --> 00:41:53,880 Speaker 1: and those limit who can actually make repairs to a machine. 694 00:41:54,440 --> 00:41:57,719 Speaker 1: For farmers who depend upon these big vehicles for their livelihood, 695 00:41:58,360 --> 00:42:02,160 Speaker 1: that represents a lack of freedom and lack of options, 696 00:42:02,320 --> 00:42:05,960 Speaker 1: and it really does feel anti competitive. It's saying you 697 00:42:06,080 --> 00:42:09,520 Speaker 1: have to go to people of our choosing if you 698 00:42:09,600 --> 00:42:13,839 Speaker 1: want to have the thing you bought repaired. And this 699 00:42:13,920 --> 00:42:17,359 Speaker 1: also gets into that weird area we find ourselves in 700 00:42:17,360 --> 00:42:20,600 Speaker 1: in the digital age. In the old days, you would 701 00:42:20,600 --> 00:42:23,839 Speaker 1: buy something and you would just think this is mine, right, 702 00:42:24,000 --> 00:42:27,279 Speaker 1: Like you bought a watch, that's your watch. You could 703 00:42:27,760 --> 00:42:31,640 Speaker 1: repair that watch however you liked. But these days things 704 00:42:31,680 --> 00:42:33,839 Speaker 1: are being sold not just as a product, but as 705 00:42:33,880 --> 00:42:37,520 Speaker 1: an ongoing service. And it's not so much that you 706 00:42:37,640 --> 00:42:42,759 Speaker 1: own the thing, it's that you own access to that thing, 707 00:42:43,160 --> 00:42:47,680 Speaker 1: and some ownership is retained by the original manufacturer. This 708 00:42:47,719 --> 00:42:52,000 Speaker 1: is an idea that I'm not super keen on because 709 00:42:52,000 --> 00:42:54,600 Speaker 1: it does put a lot more power back in the 710 00:42:54,640 --> 00:42:57,000 Speaker 1: hands of the manufacturers and and takes a lot of 711 00:42:57,000 --> 00:43:01,000 Speaker 1: power away from consumers. Well, in the United States, twenty 712 00:43:01,080 --> 00:43:04,440 Speaker 1: states have filed legislation in an effort to address these 713 00:43:04,560 --> 00:43:08,040 Speaker 1: kinds of issues, and in the EU some progress on 714 00:43:08,080 --> 00:43:11,240 Speaker 1: this front has already been made. This month a series 715 00:43:11,280 --> 00:43:14,920 Speaker 1: of regulations that apply to manufacturers that make appliances like 716 00:43:15,040 --> 00:43:21,000 Speaker 1: washing machines, refrigerators, dishwashers, I think computer monitors too. It 717 00:43:21,120 --> 00:43:25,640 Speaker 1: goes into effect and those regulations state that companies need 718 00:43:25,680 --> 00:43:30,520 Speaker 1: to offer products that have replaceable components, and moreover, that 719 00:43:30,880 --> 00:43:34,320 Speaker 1: anyone would be able to make these replacements using common tools. 720 00:43:34,400 --> 00:43:37,200 Speaker 1: You shouldn't need anything special in order to do this 721 00:43:37,320 --> 00:43:40,280 Speaker 1: repair work. So, in other words, companies are not supposed 722 00:43:40,320 --> 00:43:44,000 Speaker 1: to solder stuff together or otherwise make it impossible or 723 00:43:44,040 --> 00:43:48,040 Speaker 1: difficult to access components without causing further damage. And you 724 00:43:48,040 --> 00:43:52,360 Speaker 1: shouldn't need a number seventy three spanner up to iconological 725 00:43:52,520 --> 00:43:55,640 Speaker 1: wrench or something in order to work on it. The 726 00:43:55,719 --> 00:43:58,720 Speaker 1: EU has yet to pass regulations that would cover stuff 727 00:43:58,760 --> 00:44:02,759 Speaker 1: like cell phones, computers, and tablets, though, and that is 728 00:44:02,800 --> 00:44:05,239 Speaker 1: a big problem because these are some of the most 729 00:44:05,280 --> 00:44:09,359 Speaker 1: common and harmful forms of consumer waste. People go through 730 00:44:09,400 --> 00:44:12,960 Speaker 1: these types of devices on a pretty regular basis, and 731 00:44:13,040 --> 00:44:15,279 Speaker 1: some of the member nations of the EU have gone 732 00:44:15,360 --> 00:44:18,840 Speaker 1: on to move ahead and pass their own regulations since 733 00:44:18,880 --> 00:44:21,440 Speaker 1: the EU as a whole has been a little slow 734 00:44:21,480 --> 00:44:25,280 Speaker 1: on this. So, for example, in France, a new piece 735 00:44:25,360 --> 00:44:29,440 Speaker 1: of information will be included with consumer electronics. It's essentially 736 00:44:29,520 --> 00:44:33,359 Speaker 1: a repair index, is a score that ranges between one 737 00:44:33,480 --> 00:44:36,799 Speaker 1: and ten. The index gives consumers the idea of how 738 00:44:36,840 --> 00:44:40,799 Speaker 1: easy or difficult it is to disassemble a device, whether 739 00:44:40,920 --> 00:44:43,800 Speaker 1: or not you can find information on how to repair 740 00:44:43,840 --> 00:44:46,040 Speaker 1: the device, you know, if it's readily available or not, 741 00:44:46,800 --> 00:44:49,520 Speaker 1: whether or not you can find spare parts for that 742 00:44:49,640 --> 00:44:53,000 Speaker 1: kind of device, how expensive those spare parts are. So 743 00:44:53,239 --> 00:44:56,640 Speaker 1: you know, the the more difficult it is to repair something, 744 00:44:56,680 --> 00:44:59,120 Speaker 1: the lower that score is going to be for that 745 00:44:59,200 --> 00:45:03,080 Speaker 1: particular item. Now, where we go from here will depend 746 00:45:03,160 --> 00:45:07,359 Speaker 1: upon how governments either past legislation or they opt not 747 00:45:07,520 --> 00:45:13,239 Speaker 1: to plus how they intend to enforce legislation. Companies have 748 00:45:13,520 --> 00:45:17,600 Speaker 1: very little incentive to offer up, you know, repair options 749 00:45:17,640 --> 00:45:20,120 Speaker 1: to the end user because those can end up hitting 750 00:45:20,200 --> 00:45:23,360 Speaker 1: revenue down the line. Now, personally, I would love to 751 00:45:23,400 --> 00:45:26,320 Speaker 1: see a lot more options for repair. I'd like to 752 00:45:26,320 --> 00:45:28,640 Speaker 1: see an approach similar to what it was like to 753 00:45:28,719 --> 00:45:32,240 Speaker 1: buy a car twenty years ago, because yeah, you could 754 00:45:32,280 --> 00:45:35,520 Speaker 1: bring your car back to the dealership for maintenance, but 755 00:45:35,640 --> 00:45:39,200 Speaker 1: chances are you might find a great mechanic who is 756 00:45:39,239 --> 00:45:42,279 Speaker 1: more convenient to where you live, or maybe they have 757 00:45:42,360 --> 00:45:45,560 Speaker 1: more competitive rates and that might end up being your 758 00:45:45,600 --> 00:45:48,000 Speaker 1: first choice instead of bringing it back to the dealership, 759 00:45:48,440 --> 00:45:51,719 Speaker 1: or maybe you invest the time and energy to learn 760 00:45:51,840 --> 00:45:55,680 Speaker 1: how to do the repairs yourself. I think the options 761 00:45:55,800 --> 00:45:58,719 Speaker 1: should all be there, and I definitely think that's an 762 00:45:58,719 --> 00:46:02,080 Speaker 1: improvement over the status quote we have. Now. Well, that 763 00:46:02,120 --> 00:46:05,640 Speaker 1: wraps up this episode. I hope you enjoyed learning about 764 00:46:05,719 --> 00:46:09,000 Speaker 1: planned obsolescence and the right to repair. If you have 765 00:46:09,080 --> 00:46:11,799 Speaker 1: suggestions for topics I should tackle in future episodes of 766 00:46:11,800 --> 00:46:14,439 Speaker 1: tech Stuff, let me know. The best way to reach 767 00:46:14,480 --> 00:46:17,880 Speaker 1: out is over on Twitter. The handle is tech stuff 768 00:46:18,239 --> 00:46:22,239 Speaker 1: h S. W and I'll talk to you again really soon. 769 00:46:26,880 --> 00:46:29,919 Speaker 1: Text Stuff is an I heart Radio production. For more 770 00:46:30,000 --> 00:46:33,400 Speaker 1: podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, 771 00:46:33,520 --> 00:46:36,680 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.