Re:Europeans get ‘right to repair’ for some electrical goods
by zo1 on Thursday March 04, 2021 @05:52AM
(#26340916)
So one simple but not-so-obvious fix: Require manufacturers to sell all individual components that go into their products at the same price + markup that they applied to their final product. Give them exemptions from normal "product" regulations, and boom, you've taken a large step in the direction of having a healthier industry and "planned obsolescence" isn't as economically viable anymore.
Re:Europeans get ‘right to repair’ for some electrical goods
by Y-bar on Thursday March 04, 2021 @05:49AM
(#26340896)
A secondary (probably small, but still...) effect of this is the possibility of creating more jobs since repairing items such as washing machines and TV:s is an inherently local activity. Not really something to send into a central hub for repair. Effectively helping money circulate in the local economy.
A repair economy is only more expensive when the whole of industry is a scam. Spare parts are usually really inexpensive to come buy (couple euros to repair a TV or a hard drive) but really hard to come by due to bad economic incentives.
The whole "new products" industry is based on wage slavery in the mines and the factories, and strong pollution/destruction of the environment for cheap energy/materials, which is a hidden cost not covered by the 100$ you paid your phone (or whatever).
If the economic incentives were more balanced (with working/environmental regulations), a repair economy would in fact be more sustainable/profitable than new products. Also worth noting, repairing existing goods could be considered a public service and be financed by governments, if they cared at all about ecology (which they certainly do not).