One reason that some things are 'too cheap to repair' is that they are made in faraway places by badly paid people who cannot themselves afford to buy them.
In the long run that will have to level up, which does actually mean buying new will get more expensive, if only because of recycling taxation.
And actually the financial position currently makes a total mockery of the trade secrecy that surrounds the circuit diagrams and so forth. What is going to happen - some one else nick the circuit and make it cheaper ? Software can be copied for minimal outlay, hardware cannot.
When I used to augment my income by repairing TV and radio equipment in the 1980s and early 90s, circuits, assembly diagrams and all the rest were readily available - its not some new and strange idea. It may be that in the developed world, the economic mean most of the repair work this enables will be by enthusiastic hobbyists, rather than businesses, but that is still achieving the stated aim of reducing the volumes going to landfill.
One reason that some things are 'too cheap to repair' is that they are made in faraway places by badly paid people who cannot themselves afford to buy them.
In the long run that will have to level up, which does actually mean buying new will get more expensive, if only because of recycling taxation.
And actually the financial position currently makes a total mockery of the trade secrecy that surrounds the circuit diagrams and so forth. What is going to happen - some one else nick the circuit and make it cheaper ? Software can be copied for minimal outlay, hardware cannot.
When I used to augment my income by repairing TV and radio equipment in the 1980s and early 90s, circuits, assembly diagrams and all the rest were readily available - its not some new and strange idea. It may be that in the developed world, the economic mean most of the repair work this enables will be by enthusiastic hobbyists, rather than businesses, but that is still achieving the stated aim of reducing the volumes going to landfill.
