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Self-Repair Manifesto: Campaigning for the Right to Fix Things Yourself

October 1, 2013

Product cycles are becoming ever shorter in the high-tech sector. Companies are bringing new smartphones, laptops and tablets onto the market several times a year. To make sure people buy them, manufacturers are making it harder and harder for people to repair their own devices. Now a Web-based protest movement hopes to combat the increasing amounts of electronic waste.

https://p.dw.com/p/19rs6
"Planned obsolescence" -- that's the term for creating products that aren't made to last. And when they inevitably break down, manufacturers also make it virtually impossible for users to repair the devices themselves. Now the website "ifixit.com" has posted repair manuals for many types of electronic devices. The operators of the site have also published a "Self-Repair Manifesto", demanding that right for consumers to fix their own.