An introduction to the Right to Repair movement

 

The Right to Repair movement is an issue that has gotten a lot of attention in recent years. Despite this, there is a lot of misinformation on this topic and many consumers do not fully understand the movement or the implications behind it. Despite the lengthy and seemingly boring legal background of this issue, it affects everyone who owns any modern electronic device, like the one you're reading this article on.
 

 

This is the first blog in a series on the right to repair movement, brought to you by CELL 123 PHONE REPAIR, one of the most experienced wireless repair shops in Toronto. This post will introduce the concept and what it is.
 

 

The essence of right to repair is exactly what it sounds like, the ability to repair and maintain your own devices. This is in response to the increasingly harsh steps taken in recent years to prevent consumers and third parties from repairing and maintaining their own devices, notably Apple in the smartphone and computing market.
 

 

The motivation behind these actions is twofold. First is the increasingly prevalent philosophy of planned obsolescence among device manufacturers, where a phone, tablet, or computer is designed to fail in some way within a certain period of time to encourage consumers to purchase the newest generation of products. The second is that when devices must be repaired, the company may have a monopoly on the repair market. For example, if you cracked the screen on your new iPhone X or XS, we are one of the few third party stores in the city that can repair due to the unique serial number coded into every screen. The technical hurdles we had to cross to offer this repair are intentionally placed there to discourage consumers from going to third parties or repairing their own iPhones at home.
 

 

This series will be continued with a dive into the war on repair.