iFixit is a State of Mind: Kyle’s Tekzilla Interview
In a Tekzilla interview, Kyle chatted with Patrick Norton about why repairability of the iPad is important for the world.
He outlines some of the complexities of the e-waste issue: on the one hand, shipping used electronic goods to Africa means that the components, if not repairable, may be recycled in dangerous, toxic ways such as open burning. But those used goods also create jobs—repair jobs, used electronic retail jobs, remanufacturing jobs—and can help pull people out of poverty by giving them access to the awesome informational power of the Internet.
Video below.
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“Share It All”: Kyle Talks Repair with Leo Laporte
Kyle sat down with TWiT’s Leo Laporte this week to talk about how he came to start iFixit, why repairability is important, and the software that powers iFixit guides. He also shows off some of our coolest products: the Pro Tech Tool Kit and iPhone 4S Transparent Rear Panel.
iFixit’s success, Kyle explains, has been almost entirely thanks to our incredible, knowledgeable users.
Video below.
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The Bad Kind of Crunch
Italian air traffic controller Luca Vetturi closed his laptop and heard a sickening crunch—upon opening it again, he discovered that he had accidentally left an earphone inside. Spider-webbed cracks spread across the LCD, and when he turned it on, the screen would only display strange thin bands of color.
TechCrunch is Full of It: Repair Is Exactly What Consumers Need
An article on TechCrunch by Matt Burns responded rather forcefully to our criticism of the new iPad. Burns says that Apple shouldn’t make the iPad user-serviceable. He explains, “If Apple made the iPad user-serviceable, tablets could fail.” Heavens to Betsy! We didn’t realize we were going to kill Apple!
It’s better, he says, for consumers to have throw-away hardware that lasts two or three years. That way, Apple can innovate faster because they don’t have to support old products. This rapid innovation cycle will allow (insert sarcasm here) consumers to support the burgeoning tablet market. And soon, we’ll all be able to move from the antiquated modular PC market to the brave new world of “appliance” electronics—that is, if I understand Burns correctly, electronics with software so intuitive and self-sustaining that we won’t even need to think about the supporting hardware anymore.
I know that Apple’s consumer electronics vision has changed the world. I’m writing this on my MacBook on an airplane with Wi-Fi, somewhere above Utah. The woman on my left is reading on a Nook. Across the aisle, two young boys are playing a game on an iPad while their dad works on a ThinkPad. Portability, intuitive user interface design, and affordability are important issues for consumers, including me. I’m a techno-utopian, too. Advances in technology make lives all around the world better.
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Apple TV Teardown Reveals Upgraded Wireless, Single-Core A5
We’ve just torn down the 3rd Generation Apple TV, Apple’s streaming home theater device. During the teardown, we discovered that where there was one antenna, now there are two! We expect that Apple added the new antenna to address complaints about range and signal strength in the previous generation, and to help improve wireless speed—we also found a Broadcom 4330 chip inside that supports dual-band 2.4 GHz and 5GHz 802.11 a/b/g/n connectivity.
Three Ways We Hoped the iPad Would Be Better (But Wasn’t)
We’re spending our Friday afternoon huddled in the office, trying to figure out the best way to get into the new iPad. So this seemed like an opportune time to discuss what we hoped we’d see in the iPad from a responsible, repairable product design perspective. We’ve given the new iPad one of the lowest repairability scores we’ve ever given a major product: 2 out of 10. (The 4th Generation iPod Shuffle also received a 2/10 score because you basically have to break it to open it). We’ve also retroactively downgraded our original iPad 2 score from 4 out of 10 to 2. These devices are very difficult to get into, and they’re selling like hotcakes—slick hotcakes encased in breakable glass.
Here are three ways we hoped the new iPad would be more repairable (but wasn’t):