You've got to fight for your right to - repair your own things? What?

Photo credit: wwarby via Foter.com / CC BY

We all know, thanks to Twisted Sister, that we have to fight for our right to party (or rather, paaaaaarrrrrtaaaaay!), but these days we're having to fight for a lot more, like the right to fix things that we already own.

Farmers can't fix their own tractors anymore, and we can't fix our devices.

Apple and other phone and tech manufacturers claim that it would damage their copyright to release repair manuals to their products, or that their products are just so darned complicated, nobody could figure it out. So instead, they're doing us a favour by forcing us to go back to them for super-expensive repairs.

If this doesn't seem like a huge deal to you, because you just get a new phone every year anyways, think about the fact that pretty much everything is becoming a "smart" technology, from kitchen appliances to televisions. If you (or a mechanic) can't fix any of it, life is about to get wayyyyyy more expensive.

So what are we gonna do about it? Sing it with me: We're gonna FIGHT for our RIGHT to REPAIRRRRRR OUR STUFFFFFFFFF! (Or to go to a reasonably-priced repair shop instead of the authorized dealer who charges insane sums of money!)

If you are in America, The Repair Association is there for you. Everywhere else, it's a good old phone call to your political representative. Let them know that you care about your ability to repair your own devices!

More info via New Scientist.

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