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Planned obsolescence leaves consumers grappling with archaic appliances, extinct electronics, and broken banks.
I believe manufacturers maliciously design products so that we as consumers have to needlessly replace rather than repair our devices.
In a recent scandal, Apple was accused of purposefully degrading the functionality of their batteries, in part to force the hands of some consumers to purchase new iPhones. Apple’s software update was originally hidden from the public until a large wave of people reported slower processing times, worse battery lives, and a myriad of worsened functionality as a result of an OS update. Apple obfuscated this from the public, prompting many Apple users to upgrade their phones. Given Apple’s monopoly on repair, battery replacements were initially marked up.
The Right to Repair offers the everyday consumer an opportunity to repair their own stuff. Until very recently, humans have been at liberty to fix and have real ownership of their stuff. The Right to Repair puts the hammer and screwdriver back into the hands of laymen while saving families hundreds of dollars every year.
The do-it-yourself attitude of Mainers has recently pushed through the Right to Repair for automobiles. State Sen. Mike Tipping of Orono has championed a bill that extends this pro-labor mindset to consumer electronics and appliances. Let’s get such a bill passed to make Maine a state for the everyday person.
Millie Dworkin
Harpswell