To most, the simple conclusion is that it ends at the physical object. The thing that you can hold in your hands or touch. I would agree with this as it is straightforward. There are other ideas that extend beyond the idea of something physical out in the world, but they too are bits in a calculation existing in physical matter somewhere; living on a plot of land sipping power in some fashion. Nevertheless, the object is something that you can hold and say is yours once purchased, gifted, or otherwise obtained. If for some reason that item is to fall into disrepair, you would want to make sure you can still use it. My point here is to say that we would all want to have some method by which we can attempt to breathe new life into objects. As much as we would like to reupholster that old chair, some of us very much like to work on that old Chevy pickup truck, or possibly work on that old bike in the garage. I don't believe that it is much of a stretch for us to include our electronic devices in this as well.

I recently had an issue with a microcontroller I was looking to use in a project. I very easily could just buy another one as they are pretty inexpensive these days but, then again, it would be nice to save myself some money. Thankfully, the understanding of electronics and solder work allowed me to take a diagram of the device and make some measurements to see where the problem was. I narrowed it down by using a simple volt-meter with a continuity-sensing-mode to find short circuits and check for broken paths. This was only possible because of the diagram I had of the device to ensure the operation was as expected, or if it deviated from it. I believe all people have the ability to do what I did and will need these skills in the future as more and more of our things are electrified.

I would say that the idea of ownership goes away if I am not allowed to take matters into my own hands for repairing my things. My grandfather is a mechanic by trade, and he would always tell me to beware of people telling me that only they could do something. When you are making repairs on your vehicle, as long as the repair is done safely and to the specification of the manufacturer/assemblers, anyone can get these things done with a little know-how and some elbow grease. I believe that this is the way we should approach electronics repair. unfortunately, in many cases, electronics manufacturers have been adding bits and pieces that make it near impossible for us to repair our devices. I don't think that the objective is to make all new electronics easy to repair, that is not my point; rather, I would at least like to be afforded the respect and given the information necessary to complete the job. I do not want these companies to give me everything necessary to do the work, that is on me the same way it works when I do any repairs on my car. I just want the information on how to do the repair to be available and to be given the ability to buy parts/tools necessary to get the job done.

I will spend the time necessary to learn how the pieces fit together, gain any necessary skills needed to fix the device, and proceed with confidence knowing that the repair information is laid out in front of me. Without that information, the best I have is to jump in blind and very well make some mistakes. I feel as if the manufacturers are doing this in a bit to set us up for failure. Then they can point to it and say "See, only authorized repair should be allowed because these people do not know what they're doing." In a more overt case, I may know exactly how to do something and be able to do it well, but the company has asked the manufacturer of a part to prohibit sales to the public. Last I checked, that does not sound like a free and fair system.

If this is something that you feel you would like to know some more about, check out Louis Rossmann and his work in bringing a Right-to-Repair to the forefront of people's minds. He has been an advocate for this for some time and I appreciate his efforts. You can donate to the go-fund-me Here.

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