The Restart Project Podcast

While commercial repairers of small electricals are increasingly hard to find on the high street, there’s one category of repair businesses on the rise: smartphone repair shops. Even though a lot of people are still giving up on their partly broken devices, often waiting for an upgrade, an increasing number of options exists for people interested in repairing mobile phones and tablets, at least from key brands. Alex Perjescu is co-founder of Lovefone, a London-based repair company which has been innovating by offering quality service at a speed that is unmatched by manufacturers’ official repair centres. A large portion of their work focuses on iOS devices. During the show, Alex tells us about their new development: a repair shop housed inside an iconic London red phone box in Greenwich. Lovefone is testing the concept, hoping to open additional phone boxes in London and beyond in the future. Alex also shared Lovefone’s main concerns and challenges going forward, especially the miniaturisation of devices making them less easily repairable. He also comments on the recently documented flaw in the iPhone 6 touchscreen chip. Links: Lovefone turns UK’s disused telephone boxes into tiby repair shops (Dezeen magazine) Touchscreen chip flaw renders some iPhone 6 and 6 Plus devices useless (The Guardian) [Feature image “Telephone Box in Snow” by Flickr user CGP Grey is licensed under CC BY 2.0] The post Restart Radio: A phone box turns repair shop appeared first on The Restart Project.

There is a quite widespread perception that things do not last as long as they used to. How does this impact what we say and, more importantly, what we do? Researcher Alex Gnanapragasam focuses on sustainable consumption and product lifetimes in his work with the Centre for Industrial Energy, Materials and Products (based at Nottingham Trent University). We talked about how people have different expectations for different categories of consumer goods. And that while we say we want long-lasting products, our buying patterns for some types of products, like electronic gadgets, show the opposite. But then other products are a genuine source of frustration – household appliances are great example. We asked if consumers consider embodied carbon and virtual water – the invisible impacts of manufacture – which increase the urgency of extending product lifetimes. And to close we discussed “lifespan labelling” and cost-per-year estimations – whether they could help consumers make greener, more satisfying decisions. Links we mentioned Brook Lyndhurst Public understanding of product lifetimes and durability Daily Mail Here’s proof today’s gadgets really are DESIGNED to go wrong Professor Tim Cooper’s Longer lasting products – and free sample Lifespan labelling, European Economic and Social Committee [Gnanapragasam’s research into consumer expectations of product lifetimes is undertaken with financial support from the EPSRC, grant reference EP/N022645/1] [Feature image “DIETER RAMS—Design Museum” by Flickr user toby___ is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0] The post Restart Radio: How long our stuff should last appeared first on The Restart Project.

We started this episode with a discussion of recent gaming sensation Pokémon GO, which is an “augmented reality” game where users track and interact with virtual Pokémon creatures through their mobiles. (Apologies to those who tired of the topic!) If you’d like to understand why everybody is glued to their mobile screens more than normal, Restarter Ben Skidmore explains it for us. The game raises fascinating questions about the future of mobile and about the staying-power of games. We then talked about the popularity of retro-gaming with the news that Nintendo will re-release its classic games from the 80s bundled on a closed, mini console. It appears the company would like to step in and make money from older games, given the success of unsanctioned emulators. In principle we welcome this, but it remains to be seen whether this, like Pokémon GO, will be a flash in the pan. Links we mentioned: Tips on saving battery to play Pokémon GO Debate on NYT Opinion pages about Pokémon GO Ars Technica on the Nintendo game console Nintendo NES vs. Retropie in PC World Bonus link, our favourite new-retro game (banned from app stores!) Phone Story [Feature image “Pokémon Go” by Flickr user Edowoo is licensed under CC BY 2.0] The post Restart Radio: Mobile and retro-gaming (Pokémon GO content warning!) appeared first on The Restart Project.

Recently we got an invitation to meet from an Instagram account that had caught our attention – the Club de Reparadores in Buenos Aires. We immediately bonded with Marina, one of the founders visiting London, and invited her to chat on the radio about waste, reuse, and repair in Argentina. We face similar constraints and problems, but the speed at which the Club de Reparadores grew says something special about Buenos Aires, and Marina and friends! We talked about the Argentinian context – informal waste pickers and recycling cooperatives, Fab Labs – and more general themes like 3D printing, and the role of good design and communication in reviving repair and more green choices. (N.b. while Marina is positive about the attempts to promote local, grassroots recycling cooperatives, she did tell us that larger companies are playing an increasingly dominant role in managing the city’s waste and resources.) Links we mentioned: Club de Reparadores on Facebook Club de Reparadores on Instagram Articulo 41 The post Restart Radio: A community repair revival in Argentina appeared first on The Restart Project.

We’ve all heard that our gadgets contain valuable minerals, and that they have toxic components. But what do we really know about what is inside our gadgets, how they are made, and their afterlives? We talked to Goldsmiths researcher Jennifer Gabrys, whose book Digital Rubbish: A Natural History of Electronics, changed our perceptions. Exploring the environmental legacy of chip making in Silicon Valley, and the toxicity in plastics and other materials, Gabrys challenges us to understand our gadgets as not separate from “nature” but instead as “future fossils”. Links Digital Rubbish: A Natural History of Electronics by Jennifer Gabrys (free PDF download) Map of Superfund sites in Silicon Valley Greenpeace’s Green Gadgets: Designing the Future – The path to greener electronics The post Restart Podcast Ep 12: A natural history of our gadgets appeared first on The Restart Project.

We talked this week about how online information has truly revolutionised electronics repair. Ever since the early days of the internet, people have been helping each other repair products online, by sharing tips, diagrams, images and how-to guides. Dave Lukes, veteran Restarter, joined us to talk about the power of the online repair ecosystem. We mostly focused on the material available on Youtube. We start with an amateur DIY video of the “longtail” of devices, where an owner’s only hope is to find another person with the same problem. Then we look at how amateur repairers can learn skills and build confidence with helpful educational videos, both from companies and talented individuals. To follow we investigate the number of professional repairers sharing their skills – and ethics – with others. And we close with a video in Hindi, showing that repair information is truly global. Links we mentioned: iFixit Guides A Youtube playlist for this episode Restart Wiki The post Restart Radio: A tour of the Youtube repair “ecosystem” appeared first on The Restart Project.

We talked this week with Monique Szpak and Halima Koundi, software developers and tinkerers who led our “Build Your Own PC” women’s skillshare last week. They recounted how a group of women who were scared to reach inside a PC tower became emboldened PC builders by the end of the second skillshare session. Building a PC is a great way of demystifying computing and empowering users of computers to fully own and upgrade their machines. Neither Monique nor Halima imagined they would have careers in tech – and they both have really interesting trajectories. We talked about how they got into technology through a hobby (Monique teaching herself early computing with books and magazines) and a job (Halima becoming enchanted with data and databases). We also talked about whether they were encouraged to tinker as girls, and the importance of getting girls hands-on from an early age. Links we mentioned: Information on our skillshares Monique’s Build Your Own PC slideshow The post Restart Radio: Women who build PCs appeared first on The Restart Project.

Restarters Ben and Faraz had a busy week, starting with a session inspiring UCL engineering students taking a cours on “How to change the world”, and ending with their participation in the mini Maker Faire run by the Institute of Imagination. Parents and children attending the Maker Faire were happy to find out about Restart’s work during the event. While only mechanical faults were repaired during the Faire, we suspect we’ll see a lot more electrical toys brought to future events, as almost no repair shops for toys still exist. Engineering students supported by Ben and Faraz were working on a brief by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation on the future design of electronics. Some of the most interesting ideas they saw revolved around dissolvable PCBs and better integration in the provision of spare parts by manufacturers. Future debates will continue to be on who controls and truly owns a device: the customer or the manufacturer? Correction: during the show we “thanked” Apple for finally allowing iOS users to uninstall default apps they don’t use. Unfortunately we’ve since learned this is not accurate: with iOS 10 you’ll be able to delete the icon of the app, not all data related to the app, which is a shame particularly for devices sold with limited amount of storage. Links: BBC: The most sought-after second-hand tractor Ars Technica: macOS Sierra drops support for many Macs from 2007, 2008 and 2009 The Verge: iOS can hide Apple’s built-in apps, but won’t delete them BBC: Google rethinks Project Ara modular smartphones Utopia Fair at Somerset House next week The post Restart Radio: Young people and future product design appeared first on The Restart Project.

How hard could one screen repair be? When Ugo dropped his (unprotected!) Sony Xperia mobile in April, little did he know, he was about to find out… After being turned away by one of our favourite professional repair outfits here in London, and upon hearing from Restart trustee about her epic wait for a Sony repair, Ugo decided to source a spare screen and attempt the repair with the help of Restarter Faraz. A story of frustration and headaches unfolds. What can we learn from all of this? Prevent screen breakage, and think about the costs and inconvenience of repair when you choose what mobile to buy! (And when buying a spare part, be very careful to get the right one…) Links Sony UK mobile repair page iFixit Sony Xperia Compact Z3 LCD replacement guide Sony service manual from an “unofficial” source [Feature image adapted from Flickr user Vernieman is licensed under CC BY 2.0] The post Restart Podcast Ep 11: A Screen Repair Odyssey appeared first on The Restart Project.

Our special guest, chef Ian Riley, shared his tips this week on how to select, buy and maintain appliances for the kitchen. Ian has worked in many different environments over the years, from top restaurants, to catering for rock stars and working on yachts, to co-founding his own small restaurant in Brixton called Cornercopia. He is a practical, hands-on person, who does not fall for the hype. Perhaps unsurprisingly, his top tip: learn how to use a knife! He urged us to carefully consider what we need, and if we love to cook, invest and show reverence for the appliances we own. He talked to us about quality food processors and how to use and repair them, and how to buy professional grade appliances second-hand. Links we mentioned Partsmaster Small Kitchen Appliances page British Heart Foundation shops Ars Technica “I defeated a long-broken fridge and became a household hero through 3D printing” [Photo courtesy of Ian Riley] The post Restart Radio: Keeping a green and quality kitchen appeared first on The Restart Project.