image courtesy of Getty Images Despite Apple’s objections, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has voiced a strong backing of the right-to-repair movement. Users should have access to information and components to fix their own gadgets, according to the movement. Mr Wozniak, who co-founded Apple with Steve Jobs in the 1970s, added, “We wouldn’t have had an Apple if I hadn’t grown up in a highly open technology world.” “It’s past time to acknowledge the right to repair fully.” In Europe and the United States, existing right-to-repair laws apply only to appliances and autos, respectively. Apple, according to right-to-repair activists, is one of the most vehement opponents of broadening the law to include consumer goods. It only allows repairs by its own authorized personnel and does not supply spare parts or repair information in most cases. It is also said to have hired lobbyists to persuade legislators that mending devices is exceedingly harmful. “Companies restrict [the right to repair] because it gives the companies power, control, over everything,” Mr Wozniak, 70, added. It’s time to get your act together and start doing the right things.” The right-to-repair movement is gaining traction. Appliance repair regulations go into effect. Mr Wozniak delivered his remarks in a passionate nine-and-a-half-minute response to a request from Louis Rossmann, a right-to-repair campaigner, on Cameo, a website that allows regular people to pay celebrities for a short message. He said, “This one has really gotten to me.” “I could never afford a teletype for input or output when I started Apple.” They’re the same price as two automobiles.” But because he knew how televisions worked and had access to schematics, he devised his own method of converting his TV into an early computer monitor for the Apple I. “I didn’t have to buy something I’d never be able to afford,” he explained. “There was nothing stopping me from developing that computer and demonstrating to the world that the future of personal computers will be a keyboard and a television.” All of this stemmed from my ability to fix, adapt, and tap into things on my own.” He also linked the Apple II’s success to an open platform, claiming that it came with schematics and designs. For the first decade of Apple’s existence, he claimed, it was the only source of profit. “So why are they being stopped?” “Why is the self-repair community being shut down?” he wondered. “How did Apple suffer as a result of the Apple II’s openness?” Mr Wozniak departed Apple in the mid-80s, but said in a recent interview that he was still nominally an employee, receiving a weekly paycheque of roughly $50 (£36) out of “loyalty” despite having no role in the company’s operations. He also spoke extensively about the importance of open technologies in education. “You could repair a lot of things for a reasonable cost, but knowing you did it yourself is even more valuable,” he remarked. He also mentioned the “inspiration and excitement” of young people learning to write software and develop hardware “to prove to themselves that they have a little particular skill in the world,” adding that it was “extremely inspiring for creative brains, believe me – that’s how I grew up.” Mr. Rossman began raising $6 million earlier this year in order to get the right to repair approved into law through a direct-ballot campaign. He has raised $750,000 thus far. And he’s now made a video pleading for Mr Wozniak’s direct engagement and a donation, claiming that other potential donors were waiting for a figurehead to “go first” before donating huge sums. A representative from Apple has been contacted for comment. President Joe Biden of the United States is largely expected to issue an executive order on the subject in the coming days, despite mounting pressure from European leaders./n
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