WTF

The Right to Repair — And the Slow Death of Owning Things

June 14, 2026

I grew up with my dad saying that "finding a good mechanic was as important as finding a good docter". Words I have never forgotten and words that I have followed. I also learned how to fix my own cars, do my own brakes, change spark plugs, etc. But over the years, cars have gotten more complicated with way more "computer" components and integrations. I have fiends that still tune cars and build their own - an engine is still an engine at it's base concept.

When I look at technology, I have always built my own computers, but never ventured into the pcb realm and instead settled for doing a little coding here and there. Not enough to make me a dev and as you can see from this site, why bother - I can go through code and review, understand it, maybe even fix bugs or know how to fix them - my time has become important to me as you call tell, I have many interests (I blame the ADHD). So, I was always able to "fend for myself". Not to be completely contradictory to that statement, I have bought into the Apple ecosystem. I like their build quality, their macbooks perform beyond expectations, I can share documents between ipads, iphones, macbooks, and am even considering a macstudio for local LLMS. So to say I am invested is an understatement - but good quality and great performance is paramount. Now with my typical contradictions, I HATE HATE the fact that I can't truly repair them myself. That the components aren't plug and play, you can no longer swap memory, ssd's etc. So built-in obsolescence. IMHO circumventing any "right to repair" legislation.

Just some facts

  • Emails obtained through public records requests show Apple privately lobbied lawmakers against right to repair legislation and pushed for changes that would have weakened the bill. Source — Jason Garcia, Substack

  • Since the 2008 MacBook Air, Apple began soldering RAM into their laptops. In 2015 they began soldering the SSD as well, and by 2017 a failed SSD could brick the entire machine. Source — Gizmodo · Source — iFixit via AppleInsider

Although this is "Just Some Facts", I can tell you this was personal as it was happening to me - "Batterygate". In 2017, Reddit users discovered Apple was using software updates to throttle the performance of older iPhones, supposedly to protect battery health. This "practice" wasn't disclosed to consumers and ended in a $500 million lawsuit settlement. That's not a safety feature — that's a push toward your next upgrade - a real planned obscelesence.

Just some facts

Did this actually put a dent in Apples revenue or profitability? Maybe, but my gut tells me no - all tech companies have "war chests."

I am going to bring this home further...I live in a rural community, initially I moved here as way to avoid the zombie apocalypse :) In all seriousness my family had a farm growing up and I liked the necessity to respect nature, understand that it can provide, but can also be unpredictable. So with that background, some context. I have many neighbours that are farmers, both large, medium size, and ones that just grow their own food. They have explained to me the 3 tiered economy when it comes to tractors and farm machinery - and I will break it down as it was told to me:

Large farmers buy big espensive machinery, the kind that has GPS and can run themselves, the kind that you would normally see in the midwest. It's part of their business expense, and their company (don't think of large non-corporate farming as being small-time, they are multi-million dollar businesses) does the normal corporate accruals and deductions. Once they have used the equipment and it has many hours on it....they then sell to....

Just some facts

  • PIRG research found that lack of repair options costs US farmers $4.2 billion per year in downtime and higher repair costs. One farmer's story illustrates it perfectly — it took a month for a dealer to fix a fuel sensor, costing nearly $5,000. A local independent mechanic would have charged a small fraction of that. Source — PIRG

  • John Deere signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Farm Bureau, which included an agreement that the Farm Bureau would refrain from introducing, promoting, or supporting right to repair legislation beyond what the MOU committed to. In other words, they neutralized the very lobby that was fighting for farmers. Source — Troutman Pepper

The secondary market are the mid-size farmers that produce enough for themselves and to make a living. They then use this machinery for as long as they can, repairing it themselves and keeping it running, until the machinery doesn't satisfy the hours that they need to use it. They then look to sell their machinery when it has past the point of being a "daily driver" if you will....they sell to...

The third tier market, which is like you and I. I just need the machinery to ensure that my few animals are fed, I can grow the food I need and meet my animals needs.

The industry knows this. The industry doesn't like this. They want to be the service arm. Just to be clear, I honeslty believe that the car industry (take Tesla out of this discussion) sells cars to get the service. Years ago, and don't ask, dealership shops would have specialists. A mechanic that could install or change out an airconditioning unit within an hour or two, but the service book charge was based on 8 hours work. A good specialist could complete their week in billing hours in 2.5 days. I think you get the picture when you map this to the farming industry.

The video that I am providing is the Ford CEO, stating that they don't think that we should repair our own vehicles as it's not safe for us. I sit firmly in the camp of "I do not need others telling me what I can or cannot do" - as long as I don't cross any moral or ethical lines.

What's most interesting to me is that this has become more common in many many industries throughout the last 2. I no longer own my movies - I rent them, I no longer own my music - I rent them, I no longer own my books - I rent them - see the pattern? My perspective - apple led the charge and built the concept - iTunes.

At what point did I agree to own nothing - I don't remember anyone asking.

Just some more facts

  • Apple led the charge on this, though the full picture is nuanced. Since the beginning of digital time, companies like Apple have had a "licensed, not sold" clause buried deep within license terms that denies consumers the right of possession, use, and transfer. Source — The Hustle

If you want to see how this plays out at the product level — how I ended up with an EGO snow shovel and found myself thinking about the right to repair for the first time in a hardware context — that post is over in Workshop.