Early July 2021, US president Joe Biden signed an executive order strengthening the right to repair in America. It is all the rage in the YouTuber space. Over here in Europe, the European Parliament is also working on encouraging reuse and repair to save on resources (Ecodesign Requirements, Grant EU Consumers Right to Repair, Europe Reduce Waste by Guaranteeing Right to Repair). However, I do not think the movement is as strong as in the US, based on my perception of the media coverage. I had to actively search for information rather than having it thrown at me by media outlets, old-school and modern alike.
Disclaimer: This might just be my way of looking for and consuming information. I strongly prefer non-German modern tech media (read YouTube creators) because I am yet to find one that produces at the same level of production quality as someone like Linus Media Group, as one example. I watch German news, though, so I am not entirely ignoring my own country 😉
Now, the topic of this post is not where I get my information or how far the current state of legislation has come everywhere in the world.
I know that "Right to Repair" goes way beyond smartphones and computers. My focus is on consumer technology because that is where my interests are.
I want to talk about the software that runs on the hardware since it is just as important to a product’s lifetime. Washing machines and similar household appliances are becoming "smarter and smarter" with every new generation, so it is no longer just phones and tablets. Together with mobile computers, the latter two categories are likely what everybody interested in tech immediately thinks about when hearing "Right to Repair".