The importance of Right to Repair

This year has seen a big movement towards the Right to Repair. In both the EU and the UK, new legislature has been introduced that compels manufacturers operating on these regions to make and provide spare parts that enable appliances to be repaired, as opposed to requiring replacement when things break. We’ve seen how certain Business IT Support London Solutions have had to integrate this kind of repair support into their offerings because of how pricey it can get.

Furthermore, the European Commission has also announced plans for right-to-repair laws that specifically apply to smartphones, tablets and laptops. This could have some pretty extensive implications on the industry. We’ve noted how there has been an increase in the need for specific support, like that from an Office 365 Consultant or tech expert to help cut costs where possible. For a long time, it has been known to the public that certain large tech companies have withheld the resources to have their products repaired by anyone other than themselves. For example, there are many anecdotal accounts of both overpricing and restricting the repair of their products.

There are a number of reasons why the right-to-repair movement is so important, and why opposition of it is so controversial. To start with, it discourages economic health by enabling large companies and manufacturers to dominate a market.

It can also pose difficulties to consumers that may not be able to afford the often-expensive repair costs for technology when it is only available through the original manufacturer. There has been an increase in providers of IT Support South London Solutions which now include repair free of charge in their offerings.  Sometimes it is possible to have technology repaired by a third-party; however, as is the case with Apple, a lot of products contain patented or proprietary components that are only available from the original manufacturer. This means, consumers will have to resort to having their technology repaired with third-party components that are lower in quality.

In the very worst-case scenarios, inaccessibility to device repair can result in technology being discarded, as repairs to a device can often be as costly as simply replacing a device. This model is extremely wasteful, as perfectly good devices that still have many years of use in them can end up in landfills.

Microsoft, as well as being a leader in sustainable IT, was the first of the tech giants to show signs of embracing the right-to-repair movement. It is still early days, but with the adoption sustainable practices becoming evermore important, this could be the start of a mass turning of the tides within the tech sector.

The change in attitude that Microsoft has demonstrated is down to shareholders expressing their desire to adopt more sustainable practices. Additionally, there is a clear market for sustainable tech products – as consumers have increasingly been exercising their buying power to show support for products that have high repairability.