My Dad was a Ford man. More specifically the Ford Falcon. It was a simple compact car with a 170 cubic inch displacement straight six coupled to a three speed manual transmission. It scored on the high end of the Mobil fuel economy test - about 19 miles per gallon when the average sedan was in the 12 to 14 range. But what he really liked about it was how repairable it was. Not only was it simple to work on, but most of his friends had cars with the same engine and transmission. If something needed fixing we could usually do it ourselves using tools borrowed from one of his friends. For more serious repairs there were specialized tools from Strobel's A to Z Rental, garages or (shudder) the Ford dealer.
The simplicity of cars of the day was balanced by crude manufacturing tolerances. Pistons fit so poorly in the cylinders that the first 500 or 1000 miles were done with great care using an abrasive oil to polish the parts into shape. It made a big difference in gas mileage and extending the life of the engine past 50,000 miles.
The dual gas shocks of the 70s opened the market for better cars that used higher precision design and manufacturing processes. That and the beginnings of cars that crumpled to absorb energy in crashes made simple repair much more difficult. The amateur mechanic had largely vanished by the 80s.
Clothing and shoes were expensive back then. Quality construction and repairability were important considerations while shopping. Tailors and dress makers were common. The same was true for appliances. Vacuum cleaners, toasters and anything electronic could be repaired at home or the local repair shop.
There are exceptions today .. Jheri makes her own clothing or buys high quality pieces with the intention of buying very little as she hopes each piece will last at least a decade. She's abandoned fashion and has created a style very much her own. I suspect some of you - Om for example - have a similar philosophy. But while it can be done in clothing, it's next to impossible when electronics are involved.
By the time I was fourteen I had three or four black and white TVs. None of them worked - watching TV wasn't interesting. The tubes, capacitors, transformers, switches and so on.. now those were useful! I designed and built a few radios and a stereo amplifier. It was straightforward and the experience taught me a lot about electronics. Now I look in a computer, TV or radio and see only massive integration. It's still possible to build things, but design is much more difficult. Learning about circuit elements is probably better done with computer simulations.
The right to repair movement has grown in recent years. I welcome it for some products, but given the tight integration of hardware and software I worry it may not be as generally attractive as proponents claim.
Smartphones are a case in point. Apple is infamous for discouraging third party repair. You can order a kit from Ifixit to replace a screen, battery and some other parts. It can work well if you have a bit of experience and Ifitit is upfront with the degree of difficultly. You lack the tools and technique to take apart, replace and reassemble the device to design specifications.
My personal results are mixed. I easily replaced the battery (twice!) on my first day, first generation iPod. The battery and screen on my out of warranty iPhone 5 was a different matter. After five hours of frustration I was left with an operating phone, but the case was fitting tightly and whatever waterproofness was gone. The misaligned case also interfered with the physical buttons on the side. I did get another year and a half from the phone though. It could be worse. I know someone who replaced the battery on an Android phone with an inexpensive battery from Amazon. The phone got very hot during charging and caught on fire when he took it apart to pull the battery out. It filled his place with acrid smoke, but fortunately only destroyed the phone and wastebasket
Apple is afraid of regulation so they offer repair kits for some of their devices. The Verge documented a battery replacement. You get a huge repair kit with a large hold on your credit card until Apple gets the kit back. The process probably works well if you're skilled at working with small electronic devices, but this isn't for everyone. Given the cost of shipping I suspect Apple's losing money, but they're also trying to make a point of what it takes to do a high quality repair. Of course a third party repair shop could buy the tools and perform quality repairs and I suspect that will happen. Lower quality shops abound, but your phone or laptop may be a bit wonky afterwards.
We need to understand what's repairable, what's sort of repairable, and what's not. Easy to repair smartphones have been offered but they're generally expensive and lacking in features. I suspect smartphones, laptops and smartwatches are probably moving to a subscription model anyway. Clothing and some appliances could made for longer lifetimes and repairability. Then again convincing consumers and companies to move away from a consumption model is a huge, but very important, challenge.
I've mentioned clothing, but should follow-up with other product areas where design for long life, repairability and upgrading is important. It's generally expensive, but in the long run can have advantages. You may live in an example.
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