Wyatt Orme and Anabel Bacon and Carole Sabouraud and Isaac Jones , Sonia Herrero , Pat McCusker and
Gadgets break. But for years, Big Tech’s business model has created barriers to consumers who want to repair those broken devices, incentivizing them to just buy new ones instead. Since 2003, Kyle Wiens has been fighting against that eternal treadmill as the founder and C.E.O. of iFixit, a site that allows people to write and share user manuals for gadgets, toys, appliances and more. Kyle’s work has made him a leader of the Right to Repair movement — a political cause that’s recently seen its first victory in New York State with the passage of a new bill, the Digital Fair Repair Act. It will require companies to make repairing electronics easier for consumers and independent repair shops, without needing to rely on manufacturers. And it’s bound to have major impacts — from strengthening local economies, reducing the scourge of e-waste and empowering consumers.
(A full transcript of the episode will be available midday on the Times website.)
Big Tech Hooked Us on Buying New Stuff. There’s a Way to Fix That.
