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The Apple co-founder is all for users repairing their own stuff.
When your phone breaks, either from dropping it in the toilet or just because you’ve owned it for long enough, your only real options are to either replace the entire device or to bring it to an authorized repair center. This is big problem with Apple devices; more tech-savvy users that would otherwise be able to run a repair themselves can’t do so without voiding their device’s warranty, and that’s assuming they could even get their hands on the right parts. It’s from this gripe that the right-to-repair movement has sprung, spearheaded by folks who demand access to parts and repair documentation so they can fix stuff themselves. Surprisingly, this movement has now received a big name in its corner: the “wizard of Woz,” Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak.
In a Cameo video to YouTuber Louis Rossmann, Wozniak said that he’s “totally supportive” of the movement.
“I do a lot of Cameos, but this one has really gotten to me,” he said. “We wouldn’t have had an Apple had I not grown up in a very open technology world.”
“Back then, when you bought electronic things like TVs and radios, every bit of the circuits and designs were included on paper. Total open source,” he said. “If you know what you’re doing … you could repair a lot of things at low cost. But it’s even more precious to know that you did it yourself.”
Steve Wozniak Voices Strong Support for the Growing Right to Repair Movement https://t.co/XmqPt9CDr0 pic.twitter.com/QXGVK1hPg1
— Gizmodo (@Gizmodo) July 8, 2021
Wozniak said that part of the appeal of the classic Apple II computer was that it was “modifiable and extendable to the maximum,” and it was that open-source nature that not only made it attractive to users, but propelled Apple to its initial heights.
“It’s time to start doing the right things,” Wozniak said. “It’s time to recognize the right to repair more fully.”
