An Apple lobbyist just sneakily pushed California to postpone its right-to-repair bill

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Apple physically makes its products hard to repair in a wide array of ways, and this week may have brought proof that Apple is also fighting to keep pesky laws from challenging the status quo. It seems an Apple lobbyist has quietly managed to get California to postpone its right-to-repair bill until 2020 at the earliest, partly by stoking fears of exploding batteries should consumers attempt to repair their iPhones.

As Motherboard first reported yesterday and The Verge’s sources can corroborate, a lobbyist who works directly for Apple recently met with members of the California state Assembly’s Privacy and Consumer Protection Committee, which was considering the bill. The lobbyist argued that consumers might hurt themselves if they accidentally puncture the flammable lithium-ion batteries in their phones, which could happen in the course of the easier repairs this bill was designed to enable.

In response to the pressure, the bill’s co-sponsor pulled it from the committee on Tuesday, saying it might be considered again in January 2020. “While this was not an easy decision, it became clear that the bill would not have the support it needed today, and manufacturers had sown enough doubt with vague and unbacked claims of privacy and security concerns,” said California Assembly member Susan Talamantes Eggman, who first introduced the bill in March 2018 and again in March 2019.

Apple sold $31 billion worth of iPhones last quarter alone, and that’s a quarter when iPhone sales slowed, so the company has a strong interest in making sure you keep buying new handsets instead of repairing them or replacing the batteries. Last year, when as many as 11 million customers may had not needed to buy a new iPhone because of discounted battery replacements, Apple admitted that those $29 batteries were one of the reasons for declining sales.

Traditionally, we haven’t seen much proof that manufacturers like Apple have directly attempted to influence lawmakers, as opposed to voicing their desires through larger, generic industry advocacy groups like CompTIA — until today.

According to sources in the California state Assembly who spoke to The Verge, committee members met with Apple lobbyist Rod Diridon, who’s listed as Apple’s senior manager of “State and Local Government Affairs — West.” He’s also listed as an Apple lobbyist at CompTIA’s website, and he appears to be the same Rod Diridon Jr. who abruptly left his role as the city clerk for Santa Clara, California last year, a town whose border runs along the edge of Apple’s new “spaceship” Apple Park headquarters.

One staffer in the California state Assembly tells The Verge that Diridon didn’t necessarily focus on the fire risk, and that he outright admitted a lot would have to go wrong with a repair before a battery would necessarily catch fire. Other topics included the difficulty of opening the phone and the risk of breaking the screen.

But one might point out that if Apple wanted to make the phones safer to repair, it could arrange to make that process less difficult. Apple declined to comment for this story, but the sales pitch in the company’s 2019 Environmental Responsibility Report makes it pretty clear the company would much rather you pay Apple to repair your phone for a variety of reasons:

To make sure that repairs are performed safely, securely, and to the highest quality, we continuously train and certify service channel personnel, with over 265,000 active trained personnel. Our providers perform diagnostics and calibrations to target repairs precisely, avoiding unnecessary service and replacements of parts. When new parts are needed, only genuine Apple parts are used, so repaired devices work exactly the way they should. And all Apple-certified repairs are backed by Apple.

I wasn’t able to reach Apple’s Diridon to confirm that’s the thinking, but I did reach two of his opponents — iFixit co-founder Kyle Wiens and US PIRG right-to-repair campaign director Nathan Proctor, who were also at the state capital yesterday lobbying the committee to push the bill through.

When I ask iFixit co-founder Kyle Wiens about the likelihood of puncturing an iPhone battery during a repair, he laughs — even while admitting it’s possible. (Here’s one recent examplefrom WSJ tech reviewer David Pierce.) The problem, Wiens explains, is that it rarely happens in the real world.

“Millions of people have done iPhone repairs using iFixit guides, and people overwhelmingly repair these phones successfully,” says Wiens. “The only people I’ve seen hurt themselves with an iPhone are those with a cracked screen, cutting their finger.”

Plus, it’s just as easy — perhaps easier — to badly hurt yourself fixing things where it’s widely accepted that people will repair them on their own. Whether it uses gasoline or a lithium-ion battery, most every car has a flammable liquid inside. You can also get badly hurt if you’re changing a tire and your car rolls off the jack, Wiens points out.

“We live in a world where that risk is being managed constantly; we don’t need to invent an arbitrary barrier to the repair of the stuff we own,” says Proctor.

Repairing products should be preferable to wasting them, Proctor adds. He points out an EPA statistic from 2009 about how 141 million cellphones are discarded a year, of which only 8 percent were recycled. (Apple recently stepped up its iPhone recycling program, but has only collected nearly 1 million devices to date.)

Proctor says that it looked like right-to-repair was set to have the support it needed this year in California, until just the last couple of weeks when Apple and others stepped up. “As you get close to the hearing date, there’s a big push, a big surge of opposition lobbying, saying things that are pretty scary to legislators like ‘fire risk.’ They don’t want us to have time to follow up,” he says.

And it was that last-minute push, The Verge understands, that convinced the bill’s sponsor she needed to address these new fears before risking a possible “no” vote on right-to-repair.

Here’s the rest of the statement from Assembly member Eggman, the bill’s sponsor:

I feel that we are on the right side of this issue, and that ultimately the bill will prevail. Unfortunately, presenting it today would not advance the issue because it would jeopardize our opportunity to continue working on the bill next year. I will be working with members of the committee in the coming months to secure the support needed to make the Right to Repair a reality in California.

Now, California will have to wait another year — until January 2020 — to see if the political will can be mustered.

https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/1/18525542/apple-right-to-repair-bill-california-lobbyist-comptia
 
I guess a lot of the hate on this goes to Apple due to them still being some kind of de facto leaders or some such... However there is no shortage of giants in this field that they are doing the exact same shit. Its just more profitable.
If anything MS products are less repairable last I checked.. They are not a small company, and they have plenty of design chops all their own... They could be doing things differently, so can Google, Samsung, Huawei... So on
 
' the market' has no incentive for repairable devices... The incentive has to be mandated... This can be done different ways i suppose.
 
I guess a lot of the hate on this goes to Apple due to them still being some kind of de facto leaders or some such... However there is no shortage of giants in this field that they are doing the exact same shit. Its just more profitable.
If anything MS products are less repairable last I checked.. They are not a small company, and they have plenty of design chops all their own... They could be doing things differently, so can Google, Samsung, Huawei... So on

Well the article is about "a lobbyist who works directly for Apple" getting the bill postponed, so that would be why.
 
With people updating devises thats just a year or maybe a year and a half, plus fully functional ASO, then repairing devises can only be a job for the poor SOB's out there.

My 3 year or so phone are weird, but still okay for my modest need, hope it will hang in there cuz i am not updating before i can get oled screen and 5G modem,,,,,, at a modest price.
 
Well,

For (make up some random number) percent of the population, given the choice between a lower cost non-repairable item, or a higher cost item that can be repaired, they will choose the lower cost item.

So manufacturers are just catering to their audience. I don’t really blame them. If people wanted repairable phones, they would buy the few that have come out as of late, and manufacturers would see that and make more of them.

Really same thing goes with tractors - big ag wants uptime guarantees and service contracts (to fix lifecycle costs for finacability) and is happy to trade repair rights for it. The small farmer is the one it punches, but the small farmer isn’t the one placing $1M+ purchase orders regularly. Again, the industry is just following the money.

Honestly in tech I don’t mind so much — by the time something breaks or the warranty has dropped the tech has advanced far enough that I’m probably willing to look at an upgrade. Durable goods, like tractors and refrigerators and such, I’m much less forgiving of. I don’t think of those items as having a rapid upgrade cycle or as disposable commodity items.
 
Puncturing batteries? Ah, yes, that is why there was an epidemic of deaths back during the era of replaceable batteries in phones.

Would like to reiterate the point from the article that if Apple didn't deliberately go out of their way to engineer the devices to be difficult to be repaired in the first place then most of their concerns would be moot.
 
Puncturing batteries? Ah, yes, that is why there was an epidemic of deaths back during the era of replaceable batteries in phones.

Would like to reiterate the point from the article that if Apple didn't deliberately go out of their way to engineer the devices to be difficult to be repaired in the first place then most of their concerns would be moot.

We might not be able to easily repair devices but I've also found that they are more durable. We didn't have phones that would survive a fall into a swimming pool before we had non replaceable batteries. (that I know of.). I don't even care that much about size.

Now if there was a device that was water resistant to a few meters, had a replaceable battery AND expandable storage. I would be ALL over it!
 
My friend dropped a Nokia 3110 i think it was into 3-4 feet deep saltwater, it just lay there on the bottom with the screen on, same phone he also often threw thru several layers of dry wall, resulting you have to put the battery back on and start the phone.

Try throwing just about any new smartphone thru a couple of layers of drywall.

yes my friend had / have a temperament problem. :D and he is on a Nokia 7.1 now
 
This is just another toll that another large member of the global technology cartel is attempting to setup.

IMO: companies (in conjunction with government), generally, are moving toward XaaS (X as a Service) in which X can and will be everything... transportation, housing, physical hardware, software (incl games), clothing, food, air, sunlight, your imagination is the limit... the idea being that the rentier-class is going to generate a parasitic drag on the existence of every man, woman, child and animal on the planet in order to satisfy the lust for greed and control. If there is a dime that can be extracted via technology then you can bet it will be.

Ownership will be a thing of the past and with XaaS private property rights are rendered obsolete because your access to anything can and will be removed at any time for any reason or no reason because, hey, you can't actually own anything.

Including your Apple device.
 
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try to get spare parts for a tesla that is salvage and let us know how that goes...
technical information is even more of an issue. You ought to see the size of the paywalls that get put up. Then you have the increased security within the software as well.
 
We might not be able to easily repair devices but I've also found that they are more durable. We didn't have phones that would survive a fall into a swimming pool before we had non replaceable batteries. (that I know of.). I don't even care that much about size.

Now if there was a device that was water resistant to a few meters, had a replaceable battery AND expandable storage. I would be ALL over it!

Galaxy S5 says "Hi!"
 
yeah AG equipment makers heavy into not letting joe fix it farmer repair their own stuff. Soon you might start seeing this with auto makers (Tesla already does this)

Same with Toyota and BMW that I know off the top of my head. There are probably others as well.
 
Should've known that RTR was going to be too good to be true and that the deep pockets wouldn't find some quick end runs.
 
Well,

For (make up some random number) percent of the population, given the choice between a lower cost non-repairable item, or a higher cost item that can be repaired, they will choose the lower cost item.

So manufacturers are just catering to their audience. I don’t really blame them. If people wanted repairable phones, they would buy the few that have come out as of late, and manufacturers would see that and make more of them.

Really same thing goes with tractors - big ag wants uptime guarantees and service contracts (to fix lifecycle costs for finacability) and is happy to trade repair rights for it. The small farmer is the one it punches, but the small farmer isn’t the one placing $1M+ purchase orders regularly. Again, the industry is just following the money.

Honestly in tech I don’t mind so much — by the time something breaks or the warranty has dropped the tech has advanced far enough that I’m probably willing to look at an upgrade. Durable goods, like tractors and refrigerators and such, I’m much less forgiving of. I don’t think of those items as having a rapid upgrade cycle or as disposable commodity items.

I don't think the problem is so much that parts aren't repairable due to cost controls (glued rather than bolted cases etc.) but the fact that they are now introducing active electronic lock-outs for repair parts. For instance some of the new Mac devices have a security chip that locks down the machine when certain parts are replaced, and must be unlocked with a special Apple software tool.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jasone...-macs-have-a-serious-limitation/#d96908d9e90e
 
This is just another toll that another large member of the global technology cartel is attempting to setup.

IMO: companies (in conjunction with government), generally, are moving toward XaaS (X as a Service) in which X can and will be everything... transportation, housing, physical hardware, software (incl games), clothing, food, air, sunlight, your imagination is the limit... the idea being that the rentier-class is going to generate a parasitic drag on the existence of every man, woman, child and animal on the planet in order to satisfy the lust for greed and control. If there is a dime that can be extracted via technology then you can bet it will be.

Ownership will be a thing of the past and with XaaS private property rights are rendered obsolete because your access to anything can and will be removed at any time for any reason or no reason because, hey, you can't actually own anything.

Including your Apple device.
Its true and messed up.
 
Ever tried to replace a Lithium battery in a Apple iPhone? It IS pretty terrifying trying to pry that thing off the case. The adhesive they use is strong. A flathead screwdriver is the most practical way to peel it off, but the battery bends like clay. Some dumbass who doesn't respect the full potential lurking inside that black rectangle of electrons could get into trouble quick.

I took my previous iPhone in for the $29 battery replacement. The battery had swollen causing the case to bulge out a bit. Apple wouldn't even touch it. They gave me a whole new phone (same model though) instead of messing with the battery. $29 and I got a totally refreshed phone.
 
We might not be able to easily repair devices but I've also found that they are more durable. We didn't have phones that would survive a fall into a swimming pool before we had non replaceable batteries. (that I know of.). I don't even care that much about size.

Now if there was a device that was water resistant to a few meters, had a replaceable battery AND expandable storage. I would be ALL over it!
Yet some of us have no problem with treating or phones like a electronic item instead of a rubber ball and not dropping it in a swimming pool or what not.
 
Yet some of us have no problem with treating or phones like a electronic item instead of a rubber ball and not dropping it in a swimming pool or what not.

How many decades have you carried a mobile phone? I've carried one in some form or another for near 3 decades and over the dozens of devices I've had over the years I've dropped 3 to a watery grave. And one off of a cement floor that broke the screen. Considering the number of times I've handled the devices around water that's easily a failure rate near zero. So don't be an douche and presume you have been in the same circumstances. Also I appreciate the ability to use my device while dashing from the car to a building even in the rain.
 
I think all auto mobile manufacturers are to blame at some point on the modern cars...steering motors, wheel speed sensors, limp modes, key fobs, emissions systems..alot of them require specialized software to "reset" or program them when replaced. Those programs cost $100's to the end users for a 10-minute programming, because it is easy money for the dealer/repair shop.
 
How many decades have you carried a mobile phone? I've carried one in some form or another for near 3 decades and over the dozens of devices I've had over the years I've dropped 3 to a watery grave.
So going by your experience, sounds like on average you've had a new phone about once a year, and have dropped you're phone in water on average about once every decade. So for about every 10 phones you've had (loosely extrapolating how many "dozens" are) 1 would have been saved with water tight features.



And one off of a cement floor that broke the screen. Considering the number of times I've handled the devices around water that's easily a failure rate near zero. So don't be an douche and presume you have been in the same circumstances.
And here you're assuming I'm taking the holier than thou attitude, when instead this is a matter of you getting a desired feature and others losing a desired feature, namely the ability to replace a battery or add memory for storage. And in the grand scheme of things maybe group 2 maybe more in demand than group one, maybe... I don't presume to know what people's desires are, who knows maybe I'm in the minority as it seems people treat cell phones as disposable hardware... of course this is most likely fueled by carriers who allow upgrades every 2 years.

And I too have dropped my phone on concrete a few times, but a simple 20 dollar case prevented damage. Sure I give up a few millimeters of compactness but I'm not that tied up on how tiny my phone is, form follows function and all that rot
 
The lobbyist argued that consumers might hurt themselves if they accidentally puncture the flammable lithium-ion batteries in their phones

Why is Apple allowed to sell these death-traps then!? Better pull them all off the shelves and homes, and issue a full refund!
 
So going by your experience, sounds like on average you've had a new phone about once a year, and have dropped you're phone in water on average about once every decade. So for about every 10 phones you've had (loosely extrapolating how many "dozens" are) 1 would have been saved with water tight features.




And here you're assuming I'm taking the holier than thou attitude, when instead this is a matter of you getting a desired feature and others losing a desired feature, namely the ability to replace a battery or add memory for storage. And in the grand scheme of things maybe group 2 maybe more in demand than group one, maybe... I don't presume to know what people's desires are, who knows maybe I'm in the minority as it seems people treat cell phones as disposable hardware... of course this is most likely fueled by carriers who allow upgrades every 2 years.

And I too have dropped my phone on concrete a few times, but a simple 20 dollar case prevented damage. Sure I give up a few millimeters of compactness but I'm not that tied up on how tiny my phone is, form follows function and all that rot

Oh I've dropped my current phone into water, and actually used a foscet to clean the phone as well. Something I couldn't do with a non sealed device. And I have expandable storage. Soo... other than the replaceable battery I don't see the issue.

Plus many of the cheaper non water resistant phones on the market today still have replaceable batteries. But they are over all lower end phones. And in my experience that fits the market. Most people that buy more cutting edge phones do so with the knowledge that they will replace the phone before the battery wears out.
 
We might not be able to easily repair devices but I've also found that they are more durable. We didn't have phones that would survive a fall into a swimming pool before we had non replaceable batteries. (that I know of.). I don't even care that much about size.

Now if there was a device that was water resistant to a few meters, had a replaceable battery AND expandable storage. I would be ALL over it!

Ya we did Samsung made one
 
Ya we did Samsung made one
Its a little depressing how many, even in this board think non replaceable batteries is some kind of requirement for water protection. Shits sake you could make it water resistant with replaceable batteries and easily replaceable usb connector.. and replaceable anything really.
Planned obsolescence, its a real thing and has been a canon of design for decades now... Certainly longer than I've been alive. Truly shocking how many think you are just full of shit when you mention this.
 
I remember the Samsung capacitor scandal.
If there are such a thing as planned obsolescence, which i think there are without a doubt, it is such a shame and really we should all be ashamed for allowing such a thing to exist.
I am soooooo happy i have not fathered any kids, damn hard just to look my little sisters kids in the eye.

/ me now go hug a tree :giggle:
 
I remember the Samsung capacitor scandal.
If there are such a thing as planned obsolescence, which i think there are without a doubt, it is such a shame and really we should all be ashamed for allowing such a thing to exist.
I am soooooo happy i have not fathered any kids, damn hard just to look my little sisters kids in the eye.

/ me now go hug a tree :giggle:
yet as someone who sees the problems and could possibly teach their kids to think and do the right things you would be the perfect person to have kids, however your choice mans that more disposable lifestyle kids grow up and now that shitslide is even steeper
 
Its a little depressing how many, even in this board think non replaceable batteries is some kind of requirement for water protection. Shits sake you could make it water resistant with replaceable batteries and easily replaceable usb connector.. and replaceable anything really.
Planned obsolescence, its a real thing and has been a canon of design for decades now... Certainly longer than I've been alive. Truly shocking how many think you are just full of shit when you mention this.

I fully understand that there is a phone 5 generations old that offers some IP rating vs water. And yes it's planned obsolesence.

Please raise your hand in here if you are using that phone 5 generations old. I for one am not. Mine is only... 2 generations old but lacks a replaceable battery, yet has expandable storage.

I can't wait to see all of the responses from the both of you using a phone 5 generations old because it's water resistant and has a replaceable battery.
 

I know, i try to be there for my sisters kids, not least since i have been the one in charge of kicking some of their fathers out as my sister like so many girls have had pretty bad taste, so i have been sort of a substitute father some times.
kid #1 father = junkie / gangsta type ( baseball bat breakup )
kid #2 father = biker in a gang i had some dealings with for a short time as i have been a similar parasite too and back then if you couldn't get what you wanted you came to me, but this was a non violent break.
kid #3 father = working guy but with a like for alcohol.

But it is hard, not least since 2 of the 3 kids are in the clutches of this brand, and the youngest of those 2 have embarked at a pretty destructive lifestyle at the age of 16 and she turn 18 this year and i doubt she will live to see 20 with the company she keep.
And in regard to her i can do nothing but literally kill the parasites that have their hands on her, but that would not help her and it would not help me at all, so for now that kid are dead to me after she drained her +70 year and half dead grandmothers bank account by stealing her visa card.
Thank god the 2 oldest ones are in a much better working order.
But they are not totally embracing the ramblings of their uncle, but they are also not just dismissing me.
At least uncle are the #1 they call upon when they need help.

I am also not that good of a performer myself, but at least i use each of my plastic bags around 5 times, and i don't drive silly large vehicles to pose as something i am not.
BUT ! i think we could all do better.
 
I fully understand that there is a phone 5 generations old that offers some IP rating vs water. And yes it's planned obsolesence.

Please raise your hand in here if you are using that phone 5 generations old. I for one am not. Mine is only... 2 generations old but lacks a replaceable battery, yet has expandable storage.

I can't wait to see all of the responses from the both of you using a phone 5 generations old because it's water resistant and has a replaceable battery.
Very happy S5 owner here, replaced the battery on it recently , and added a 128 gig micro sd. It still does everything I need from a phone.
I upgraded to the S5 from a Samsung Omnia 2 (windows 6.1 pro, lol ) that´s how long I hold onto things , I do treat my gear with kid gloves.

Basically the first things I look for when buying a phone, is expandable memory and easy battery replacement, oh and AMOLED.
 
I fully understand that there is a phone 5 generations old that offers some IP rating vs water. And yes it's planned obsolesence.

Please raise your hand in here if you are using that phone 5 generations old. I for one am not. Mine is only... 2 generations old but lacks a replaceable battery, yet has expandable storage.

I can't wait to see all of the responses from the both of you using a phone 5 generations old because it's water resistant and has a replaceable battery.
Yep , that just proof of planned obsolescence working very well.
Now yes a lot the replacement people have done are due to significant improvements the product offered... But what do you know? Devices start reaching heights performance that would assure a satisfactory experience for a longer time, aaaaand magic! Glued shit, unreplaceable batteries... Unexpandable memory.....neat tricks and very smart... I mean it is exceptional how well they plan this stuff...
 
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