Europe Wants a ‘Right to Repair’ Smartphones and Gadgets

Re:Europe Wants a ‘Right to Repair’ Smartphones and Gadgets by fragmede on Friday March 13, 2020 @04:28PM (#22570647)

How much are you willing to pay for such batteries? For larger electronics that take double A batteries, this exists, but at a premium! These things are lithium-whatever and USB rechargable, but at $5 per, easy to dismiss. While dismissing them, consider where the "those don't count" retort is coming from. It's fair to point out that electronics have gotten small enough to the point that they don't fit AA batteries any more, but these batteries haven't taken over in situations where they are available, so even if they came in AAAA (quadruple-A size - like what's inside of a 9-volt) size that were usable in smaller electronics, I doubt the market would decide they are better.

Worse is better, and in this case, the iPhone, and everyone copying its permanently installed battery, is worse.

https://amazon.com/AA-Batteries-Rechargeable-ECO-Friendly-Re...?

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Re:Europe Wants a ‘Right to Repair’ Smartphones and Gadgets by kabdib on Friday March 13, 2020 @05:56PM (#22571223)

I'm happy to pay a reasonable amount to replace a failing rechargeable battery. If it's 20 or 30 bucks to get another three years out of a pair of wireless headphones, okay. I suspect that with standardized cells (perhaps a few dozen sizes? certainly more than the gamut of A/AA/AAA/C/D etc cells we currently have in the consumerverse, because device form factors vary widely) they would be cheaper.

But having to essentially defeat an end-user-hostile industrial design should be strongly discouraged.

I can dream.

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Re:Europe Wants a ‘Right to Repair’ Smartphones and Gadgets by m463 on Friday March 13, 2020 @08:33PM (#22572053)

I remember I had a GPS device that took AA batteries, but the cells would disconnect with strong vibration.

I would imagine a battery with power wires + a legitimate connector.

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