The Restart Project Podcast

Finally Ugo and Janet, co-founders of The Restart Project, sat down to chat this week. We discussed two repairs many people can relate to: a laptop taken for dead, and then a classic Apple laptop charger, where the cable had frayed. Then we discussed the allegations that Samsung has been cheating on energy efficiency testing. We talked about transparency, trust for manufacturers, and exactly when energy efficiency concerns are still worth obsessing over. We also discussed “brand Germany”, discussing a BBC profile of Miele, a manufacturer of long-lasting appliances, and other quality German brands that sold their image to other less quality manufacturers. Mentioned during the show: Samsung is accused of Volkswagening its TVs to oversell their energy efficiency (Quartz) Coolproducts Background from our podcast on The “shadow impacts” of our gadgets Can you charge double and still keep your customers coming back? (BBC profile of Miele) – comments on our Facebook post Please subscribe, send us your comments, tips, and share! The post Restart Radio: “Volkswagening” by electronics manufacturers? appeared first on The Restart Project.

Today were back at Resonance 104.4 FM for our weekly live radio show. We actually did talk about some shiny shiny gadgets – two very game-changing projects in the area of modular, repairable design. But first, Restarter Dave Lukes told us about a printer repair, well a deep clean, and what it is like to repair at a “Give and Take” event. Then we discussed the new Fairphone 2 (which will go into production soon, yay) and Runcible, example of “heirloom electronics” still in development. We noted that both of these projects have largely been backed by investment from outside of Silicon Valley, and questioned why even giants like Google were so slow to innovate in similar ways. For background reading: Engadget post on Fairphone Cool Hunting post on Runcible In the context of both of these projects, we discussed a post from The Next Web called “The phone wars are over and smartphones are finally just boring slabs”. Please subscribe, send us your comments, tips, and share! [Feature image courtesy of Fairphone] The post Restart Radio: new mobiles we can open, repair appeared first on The Restart Project.

On Tuesday we were back at Resonance 104.4 FM for our weekly live radio show. Our show is about gadgets but it’s definitely different. We’re not going talk about the shiny shiny new things we want you to buy. We focus on the value of the things we already have and how to value them longer. This week, we talked with Restarter Dave Lukes about a wind-up radio he recently repaired and about the importance of running Restart Parties in shopping malls, and to podcaster Dave Pickering about people’s motivation to keep repairing. Then we discussed two stories: Amazon is selling a six-pack of tablets and it’s not sure why  (Slashgear) Long-term software support for Fairphone 1 (Fairphone’s website) Please subscribe, send us your comments, tips, and share! [Featured image by Romazur is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0] The post Restart Radio: shopping malls and six-pack of tablets appeared first on The Restart Project.

Yesterday we recorded our first-ever live radio show at Resonance FM. Our show is about gadgets but it’s definitely different. We’re not going talk about the shiny shiny new things we want you to buy. We’ll focus on the value of the things we already have and how to value them longer. We will be broadcast live every Tuesday at 1:30pm here in London on Resonance 104.4 FM and always online. Every fourth broadcast will be our themed podcast, with special interviews, produced by Dave Pickering. We’ll follow this format: a discussion of the challenges we overcome in maintaining the gadgets we use everyday and helping people to do the same, and then a discussion of the latest technology news, through a uniquely “Restart” lens. This week, we talked with Restarter Ben Skidmore about some tough mobile and tablet repairs, and to podcaster Dave Pickering about maintenance of his laptop, which he depends on for his livelihood. Then we discussed three stories: Apple Wants to Sell You an iPhone for $32 a month (WSJ) Bigger, Better, Fore, More? Breaking the taboo of production (Discard Studies blog) Only one third of EU’s e-waste recycled properly (and The Restart Project’s reaction) Please subscribe, send us your comments, tips, and share! The post Restart Radio: the upgrade cycle and recycling appeared first on The Restart Project.

We rarely consider all of the energy, emissions, minerals and water that are wrapped up in the physical objects in our hands and in our houses. Before a smartphone reaches us, most of the greenhouse gas emissions it will ever make have already been made. Podcaster Dave Pickering finds at Restart Party that people struggle to express the impacts of our gadgets in terms that relate to climate change. Then Dave speaks with Craig Jones, an expert in the area of carbon footprinting – modelling environmental impacts of everything from buildings to smartphones. We are releasing this episode in advance of the launch of our “Fixometer” project – an ongoing, quantitative exploration of the positive impact we make by simply using the gadgets we have for longer. The post Restart Podcast Ep 4: Climate change and the “shadow impacts” of our gadgets appeared first on The Restart Project.

In this episode, we go in search of some of the historical roots of grassroots innovation in design, tech and resource management at a local level in the UK (and beyond). Podcaster Dave Pickering interviews Adrian Smith, University of Sussex Professor of Technology and Society, who can help us put our fixing into broader perspective. We learn that community repair is embedded in a larger context of bottom-up responses to economic, ecological and technological change. Smith describes the Lucas Plan of the late 1970s (check out this documentary for more) and early tech networks formed in London (early 1980s), as well as how recycling started not as a top-down government or corporate sector, but as a community-driven attempt to prevent waste and promote resource efficiency. We hear from participants at a Restart Party at the Abbey Community Centre in Kilburn (hosted by Transition Kensal to Kilburn) how Restart Parties link with other current community initiatives and reconnect us to objects of personal historical significance. The post Restart Podcast Ep 3: Searching for the roots of grassroots innovation appeared first on The Restart Project.

Our second episode, again produced by podcaster Dave Pickering, features a number of frustrating gadgets including an inkjet printer given as a wedding present. Product designer Barry Waddilove helps explain to Dave why these gadgets frustrate: what goes into their production, how many different pressures and forces determine design decisions, and how new thinking in design could truly transform our relationship with electronics. Barry is adamant that a waste-nothing “circular economy” can be one where careful resource use (and re-use) will lead to future economic growth. Barry is a Schmidt-MacArthur Fellow for the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and a researcher at Cranfield University. He has designed and developed many consumer electronic products you might find around the home. This is an inside take on gadget design. Follow Barry on Twitter, listen in and comment! The post Restart Podcast Ep 2: Interview with a product designer appeared first on The Restart Project.

This is the first in a series produced by brilliant podcaster Dave Pickering, based on real fixes, heartbreaks and wisdom shared at our community repair events – called Restart Parties – here in London. This podcast is for you if you would like to fix your relationship with electronics. Let’s rethink, restart. We plan to go into real depth about good and bad design, obstacles to repair of electronics, emotional aspects of ownership, environmentally irresponsible business models, and the “end of life” of our gadgets. You may ask “why audio”? The podcasting ethic and restarting seem a good fit. Podcasts are a quite considered medium. While audio is anything but new, yet it has found a new relevance, a new indie incarnation online. In an age of over-stimulation, there is something to savour in sound. Thanks to Dave for this – and to our Restarters – and we look forward to more. And please send us your feedback! The post Introducing the Restart Podcast appeared first on The Restart Project.