Category: Commentary

Right to Repair Continued

Posted on by
What is “repairability”?

I believe repairability applies not only to the ease with which something can be repaired, but also to the accessibility and cost of repairs. If something can only be repaired by the company or specific authorized service providers, and you do not have easy access to either, then that thing is not repairable. If the repair is unreasonably costly, that thing is also not repairable. If the repair takes a long time as a result of any factor, that is not repairable. 

Something that is ideally repairable can be repaired locally, with as little “downtime” (the amount of time something is not in use because it is being repaired) as possible, and at the lowest cost possible. 

 

Why is the Right to Repair important?

In short, the Right to Repair is important because the computers, cars, tools, and many other things that may need repair are important to us. Our devices foster connections between people, facilitate work, and enable recreation. Our cars allow us to travel independently and to new places. The tools we use can help us do jobs, both for employment and personal projects. Their useful longevity is dependent on their repairability, and despite the “throwaway” mindset we are accustomed to, it is often better to fix things rather than replace them.

The Right to Repair may seem like it benefits only “tinkering-minded” people who are interested in fixing something for themselves. That is not the case; the right to repair benefits anyone who needs a repair (which is just about everyone, at some point in time!), as well as those who want to complete the repair themselves, and third-party businesses who complete repairs. 

Having the Right to Repair can mean the difference between a quick, cost effective repair done locally by a third-party and a repair only doable by the company that made the device, which can be more expensive, take longer, and be less convenient. It can also open the door to repair at ALL; sometimes repairs are not possible from the company that made it. For example, Apple does not repair iPads. Full stop. They only offer trade-in options to replace them, then recycle the broken device you traded in. However, with parts currently available through third-party vendors I was able to repair the broken charging port on my iPad Pro, saving myself more than $600. There is great end-user benefit to not needing to fully replace an item when it breaks–it’s cheaper, and there is often no need to transition (copy files, etc.) between devices. There is also benefit to the world in using devices for longer when possible; more devices in use for longer means fewer devices thrown away.

In a softer sense, in the same way that tinkering with something makes a device more your own, the ability to repair a device and make it last longer is an agency that gives you greater ownership of your device. Your phone, computer, car, or any other device you own do not belong to the company that made it. They belong to you, and it is your right to repair them.

Right to Repair Intro

Posted on by

As a tinkerer with the skills and tools to repair a lot of my devices, one of my biggest frustrations has been having those repairs stymied by the unavailability of custom parts and companies’ unwillingness to release the information needed to make repairs.  I am not alone in this frustration, and over the next few posts I want to share some information on the Right to Repair movement. 

Before I launch into my main discussion, here are a few important definitions:

  • End user – that’s me or you! The end user is someone who uses a phone, laptop, or other piece of technology or tool
  • First party – the company that made a product ex. Apple or John Deere
  • Third party – someone (in this context, normally an independent repair company) who is not the company that made the product or sold the product and is also not the end user. 

 

What is the “Right to Repair”?

The right to repair refers to a movement to make the devices and tools we use last longer by enabling repairs by end users and third parties.. To achieve this, the Digital Right to Repair Coalition calls for five main rights to be established: 

“Information: The documentation, software, and legal ability we need to repair our own products — or choose someone we trust to do it for us.

Parts + Tools: Fair access to service parts and tools, including diagnostics.

Unlocking for Repair and Reuse: We should be able to unlock and modify the software and firmware that is required to operate our products.

Unencumbered Resale: We should be able resell our products (including the software needed to operate them).

Repairable Products: Designers should integrate design for repair and recycling principles into product development.”

What is the repair situation now?

Just to be clear, the current capacity to repair is not zero. In high school, I led a company that repaired everything from the school-issued Chromebooks to student and faculty owned phones and laptops. We could replace batteries on iPhones and screens on laptops. Ignoring the actual difficulty in completing the repair–phones are small, complicated, fragile and glued shut, making simply opening them up very difficult– we experienced increasing limitations on our abilities to repair, mostly in the form of part availability (or rather, part unavailability). In many cases, the group would have happily repaired a device, but because we could not source a part, repair through us was a non-starter. 

Why is repair so difficult?

Devices are also becoming more complicated as technology moves forward, and as they shrink, devices are also becoming less modular. The most “modular” form of a consumer computer is a full-size desktop, where every part is swappable and interchangeable with other compatible parts. Unfortunately, phones and laptops, largely by necessity of their size, need custom-designed parts that are much less easily interchangeable.

There are benefits that come from a more tightly integrated and customized system as well. By custom-designing a part, you can suit it to fit the exact need of the device that part will be a part of. You sacrifice repairability for better performance and more elegant designs. Without a willingness to move away from a fully modular system, it is unlikely that we would have devices in the form factors we have them today–comparatively miniscule handheld phones, tablets, and even laptops. 

Cynically, companies do also benefit from the control that complicated repairs offer them. If only the company that made the product has the necessary information, diagnostic software, parts, or tools to complete a repair, then customers who need repairs have no choice but to return to that company. And if repair is impossible altogether, the only option is to fully replace that device. 

To be continued next week. Same bat time, same bat blog.

Fountain Pen Companies That Get Tinkering Right

Posted on by

I discussed last week how fountain pens are great writing implements to tinker with. Much of that is by their nature– from ink to nibs to body styles, fountain pens simply have more options out of the gate than ballpoint pens do. Some of the possibilities, however, come from fountain pen makers’ willingness to offer repairability, customizability, and tinkerability. In this post, I will highlight three companies that get tinkering right. 

 

TWSBI

TWSBI makes fountain pens with somewhat complicated filling systems. Their least expensive model, the TWSBI Eco is a “piston filler,” which is a pen with a piston mounted into the body. Piston fillers fill their entire barrels with ink as the piston moves down and up with a knob at the back of the pen. TWSBI produces several other models of piston-filling pens, and a vacuum filling pen, which fills with ink as a plunger purges the barrel of the pen of air when depressed, and the vacuum sucks ink into the barrel.

Complicated filling systems such as those TWSBI includes on its pens were typically reserved for high end, luxury pens before TWSBI introduced them in relatively cheap pens. The unfortunate truth is with a complicated filling system can come less reliability and increased need for maintenance. In particular, the piston on a piston filler or plunger of a vacuum filler can get stuck, needing a lubricant to run smoothly again. 

With every piston and vacuum filling penTWSBI includes the tool you need to disassemble it completely and the silicone grease used as a lubricant. Even better, if you break any part of the pen (with the exception of the nib), TWSBI will replace it, and the user only has to pay the cost of shipping. Repair and replacement are not only possible (which itself is rare for fountain pen companies), but also affordable. 

 

SchonDSGN

Ian Schon is a machinist who designed a fountain pen called the Pocket 6, which fits a large #6 sized nib into a small pen body. Aside from being a novel pen for its small size, it takes a standard nib unit, which means nibs are easily swapped between different grip sections. 

Where SchonDSGN excels from a tinkering front is the continuous development and improvement of the design, which is made available to modify or upgrade existing pens. I originally bought the pen with a Bock nib, a brand which is generally considered to be less reliable and a worse writing experience than the other major nib manufacturer, Jowo. Unfortunately, Jowo and Bock nib units are not interchangeable. Later, SchonDSGN released a new pen grip with threads for better Jowo nib, and made this part available to modify existing pens. After the initial release of the Jowo-compatible grip, a grip section with a completely different shape and material was released. It was also compatible with every model of Pocket 6, and it is the grip section that I used on my own pen.


Unlike most pens, where most possibilities for change and customizations stop after the pen is purchased, Schon DSGN pens keep evolving, and even an old pen can be modified to be something new. 

 

Nibmeisters

In my first blog post, I hinted at nib grinding, which is the act of taking a round nib and, well, grinding parts of the metal away to give the nib a specific shape, which affects the look (and feel) of the writing. Though I personally grind my own nibs, many fountain pen users who are less inclined to do their own tinkering can still use and experience custom nib grinds. Nibmeisters customize, tune, and repair (tinker with!) the nibs of pens people send to them, unlocking a new frontier of writing style and experience formerly inaccessible to people not comfortable with tinkering for themselves. 

 

What is “tinkering,” anyway?

Posted on by

I define tinkering as the process of creating positive change in things you already own. Rather than constructing something entirely new, tinkering is altering the condition of an item that already exists. This might range from repairing a broken phone screen to finding an application that makes computer workflow smoother, or setting up a physical workspace to meet one’s needs, or using a Dremel tool to reshape a nib on a fountain pen.  

Without an end goal, “tinkering” is nothing more than “fiddling.” The end goal of a tinkering project can take many forms, and tinkering often begins at a stumbling block or frustration in one’s daily life and aims to remove or remedy that frustration. 

Through this blog, I hope to share my experiences with tinkering projects, describe the troubleshooting process, offer advice and resources for tinkering, explore more eccentric applications of tinkering, and make a case for the right to repair. 

For my opening blog post, I would like to share my Three Tenets of Tinkering to establish the goals and showcase the broad applications of tinkering.

 

Tinkering Tenet 1: Disrepair is not the end.

The most obvious frustration solvable with tinkering is a broken object. In our throw-away society, most people don’t even consider fixing broken items, opting instead for immediate disposal and replacement. This mentality is harmful for our environment and deprives people of the delight of resurrecting a once-broken device. Tinkering is about seeing potential and striving to restore functionality. 

Inevitably, some attempts at tinkering will not end successfully. Sometimes you will be better off than you were before, but not fully improved. Sometimes you will be worse off. What remains constant is the opportunity to try again. Even a state of greater disrepair is a starting point for more tinkering.

 

Tinkering Tenet 2: “If you can’t fix it, you don’t own it.” (iFixit)

Many people are content to never see the inside of their devices. However, when you understand how your device works and how to fix it when it breaks, you gain full control and flexibility (you own your device.) Unfortunately, understanding how your device works and how to fix it has become steadily more difficult as manufacturers have deliberately made devices less repairable. 

As computers shifted from large individually constructed desktop towers to laptops, phones, and tablets, the ability to customize and repair those devices dropped dramatically. Unlike desktops with easily replaceable parts accessible with a screwdriver, phones or tablets (and even some laptops) are glued, with discrete components soldered together, and parts are almost completely unstandardized between brands and even models within a brand.

Movement toward less repairable devices does not necessarily make repair impossible, but increasingly often a repair will be impossible by independent tinkerers. I believe tinkering necessarily involves advocating for the Right to Repair to maintain the opportunity to have an understanding and ownership of one’s device that can only come from repairing it.

 

Tinkering Tenet 3: Tinkering is a push toward ideal.

Nothing is so perfect, nor so small, as to not benefit from tinkering. Now, the ideal is not necessarily achievable, but movement toward ideal most certainly is. “Ideal” has deeply personal connotations; thus, tinkering is also personal. For example, my mother, perfectly satisfied to write with a cheap ballpoint, cannot understand my obsession with restoring and customizing fountain pens. 

Frustration is the easiest starting point when considering a project to undertake, but tinkering can take something from satisfactory to wonderful. In other words, tinkering does not stop at mitigating frustrations. Tinkering can add whimsy and spark joy.