Cars, bikes, electronics, even homes—for many people, it's unthinkable that you wouldn't be allowed to fix what's wrong with something you own. But that's exactly what a lot of companies want; stopping people from fixing their own stuff and charging for repairs is another way to make money. And it's not only tech companies: we're looking at your green and yellow parts, John Deere.
One argument by many firms is that anyone opening up their digitally locked devices—such as phones, but also vehicles—could violate their proprietary rights. Companies also claim home repair hurts their business, even as Apple claims to lose money by offering repair services. Ridiculous end-user license agreements (EULAs) no one reads on new products put the end-user on the defense immediately if they try to fix something, voiding warrantees for the future.
All of which is why the Right to Repair movement has a lot of momentum. Perhaps more than ever in the age of COVID-19—ask anyone with a broken ventilator.
The CEO of WaveForm is a board member of The Repair Association and decided to find out exactly where the public stands when it comes to this eroded right. What he found was both heartening and disheartening, as seen in the chart at top.
First the disheartening: More than half the 1,066 people surveyed had never even heard of the Right to Repair concept. Another 16 percent had heard of it but didn't know much, leaving only 28.7 percent to be somewhat-to-very-familiar with the concept.
Now for the heartening! WaveForm then informed the respondents exactly what Right to Repair is, and about 74.5 percent of those surveyed said they'd support legislation for it. Most of the rest were neutral; 1.9 percent said they wouldn't support it.
Now to clarify things politically: They asked respondents what party they belong too and found the vast majority of each party either agree or strongly agree that Right to Repair should be supported. Democrats think it the most; independents and Republicans were about 8 percent behind them overall, but still want to changing their own cell phone batteries.
How about household income? Would people with more money not care about the right to repair compared to homes with less money to run to a Genius Bar? Again, the support for RtR is way up there, with 72 or more agreeing or strongly agreeing it's needed, whether their household makes less than $50,000 a year or up to $100,000. (That middle class of homes making between $50k and $100k annually support it the most at 75.1 percent.)
It's also interesting to note the breakdown by mobile operating system. Apple users are used to not getting to do repairs, and that's reflected in a lower agreement level than you see with Android users. But it's only 4.4 percent less, and both sides are pretty on board with having the option to fix their own dropped, cracked phone screen.
And naturally, the extent to which people support Right to Repair based on their familiarity with the concept is strongest with those who are "very familiar." No shock there. Because you do get very familiar with it when you can't fix your own devices, and it's infuriating.
For more, read the full report over at WaveForm. Read more about Right to Repair over at iFixit, the premier site that takes apart all the new gadgets so we know what's inside, and offers repair guides on everything possible. Then go tell your state representative you want the right to repair—there are bills regarding it launched in the majority of the states, but they'll only pass if you put the pressure on. Because those companies that hate RtR have all the money.