https://www.theverge.com/2024/3/4/24090828/oregon-right-to-repair-sb-1596-parts-pairing

I'm not sure what impact right-to-repair legislation in a couple of US states is going to have on giant, multi-national corporations. It's a start, I suppose.

Even if you want to repair something and have the tools, the expertise and the inclination, companies can thwart you. For example, I have a collection of power tools. I overheated one of them -- a cordless multi-tool -- opened it up and found that a small printed circuit board in it was fried. I found the part online. It was around $20. Shipping was a ridiculous $35. It was a take it or leave it situation, as it was the only source for the replacement part. A brand new tool is $68. The broken tool sits in a box marked "projects". It seems ridiculous to send it to landfill.

You can run up against the same impasse with much more expensive items. I have a couple of old tablets that I have tried to repair. One of them had a bad battery that would no longer take and hold a charge. I got it apart and found that the battery is soldered in and not available as a replacement part.

Many items like this get tossed for a shiny new one and end up in landfill or in a heap in a third-world country.

Frugal Life