[IntelMiner]

I don't think that saying technology is an evolving problem is an "authoritarian" stance

Software is written by human beings, human beings make mistakes. The fact these devices can't be updated by the vendor is an implicitly economic problem

Right-to-repair likely wouldn't "solve" these problems for 99% of people, unfortunately. Netflix would never have its customer service people advocating to download custom firmware for smart TV's from "some Russian website" for instance

The real change it would cause is allowing "tech savvy" people to carve out a niche repairing and reselling used, but functional devices. Which even if it's only a 1% decline in sales is an unacceptable proposition for companies.

Selling millions of something every year somehow isn't worth it if even a single PENNY is left on the table, or "spent" in the wrong place instead of lining their pockets

[saagarjha]

The authoritarianism is that companies should be aware that technology progresses and still lock users out from their hardware so they can’t fix it when the world inevitably changes.

[selfhoster11]

> Netflix would never have its customer service people advocating to download custom firmware for smart TV's from "some Russian website" for instance

They wouldn't tell that to people directly, but they could tell you to go to a repair man. Who then, would proceed to download that same firmware from the Russian website and apply it, and the TV now works. Netflix gets to keep their reputation, and the customer is happy with the TV.