The Restart Project Podcast

The design of technology and technological systems has deep consequences for our use of products and services. Alison Powell, Assistant Professor at LSE, researches our understanding and building of technology, from a social perspective, and how technological systems in turn change the way we work and live together. Powell spoke at our inaugural Fixfest in 2017 alongside Kyle Wiens of iFixit, and we’d been meaning to invite her onto our podcast since. In this episode, we discuss links between design, innovation and our right to repair. A question of rights, plural As Powell suggests, we can think of the right to repair as a right to have autonomy. The right to know how our devices work and the autonomy to make decisions like modifying them or fixing them if they break. Her earlier work on open hardware informs her perspectives on autonomy and its possibilities. We talk about repairability as a great example of information asymmetry – as manufacturers have control over repair manuals and spare parts, they restrict the capacity of people to understand and fix their products. A right to audit, and to revert One way of gaining more control over our products could be to track changes in the way our stuff works. This is what Powell calls “auditability”. What happens if a product or service changes so much that you no longer want it? Shouldn’t you have the right to say ‘I don’t want this anymore’? As an example, we talk about software in Android smartphones, where there is no way, unless you are very technically confident and skilled, to go back to the old version after accepting an update. Powell suggests that a ‘right to revert’ could also be part of our set of rights to repair. Discussing security Part of Powell’s work is focused on the design of Internet-connected devices, through the Virt-EU project. From her conversations with developers, she highlights the tension in balancing openness and security when designing consumer technology. Closed systems can be more efficient and more resistant to security threats, however, they can enhance the information asymmetries that limit our right(s) to repair. As an example, we talk about Apple’s controversial T2 chip, which could contain a ‘kill switch‘, disabling devices repaired by third parties. Without discounting the challenges of security in our increasingly networked world, Powell maintains that security features cannot be an excuse to hold excessive control over the devices we use. She pushes us not only to demand autonomy to decide how we might tinker with or repair our products, but to seek out gaps in the market and opportunities that this autonomy can create. Links: LSE: Alison Powell Alison’s blog VirtEU Project Alison Powell was a speaker at Fixfest 2017 Restart Project: Right to Repair The post Restart Podcast Ep. 39: Repair and autonomy in a networked world appeared first on The Restart Project.

In December and January, European member states approved groundbreaking measures which ensured that appliances (dishwashers, fridges, and washing machines) become more repairable. But as always, the devil is in the detail. After much celebration and fanfare about the new European regulations guaranteeing some “right to repair” for consumers, we needed to chat with Steve the Spindoctor. Steve runs solo business in South London, tirelessly saving appliances from the shredder. His work is relentless. He has little time for BS and he understands every angle of running a professional repair business. The new ecodesign regulations have professional repairers as their intended targets: they call for manufacturers to provide spare parts and repair documentation to professionals. It all sounds so good. But our interview with Steve feels like a tour of terrible caveats. Spare parts and “bundling” Steve confirms that sealed drums – and the “bundling” of drums and ball bearings – is the main reason washing machines are not fixable. The regulation does nothing to fix this. And a similar problem is arising with the heating systems on dish washers. Generally speaking, the cost of spare parts is the main obstacle to many repairs. Software and circuit boards We ask about software and circuit boards, as pros will have increased access to both. But access to software powering these appliances is no real revolution for Steve. And what about guaranteed access to spare printed circuit boards within 15 working days for pros? Without a warranty on these, and quicker access to them, this is no game-changer for the Spindoctor. As he asks, what family can wait 15 working days for their washing machine to be fixed? Design for disassembly On the bright side, design for disassembly is indeed a major win for Steve. He hopes it will reduce his time opening up machines, and thereby make more repairs viable. He also hopes that this public interest will lead people to maintain and care for their appliances better. Links: World Economic Forum: A New Circular Vision for Electronics, Time for a Global Reboot Restart’s London Repair Directory Steve the Spindoctor’s webpage Our original two-part podcast with Steve the Spindoctor (1, 2) Our analysis of the new Right to Repair measures Analysis of the ecodesign regulations by Cool Products [Feature image courtesy of UK Whitegoods] The post Restart Radio: New Right to Repair rules, broken down by a pro appeared first on The Restart Project.

We’ve always been inspired by the tenacity of Jane, who is the ‘inventor, founder and fixer in Chief’ at Sugru, the mouldable glue company. We interview her about design within the throwaway economy and about the growth of the repair movement. In this episode, you will also hear from Restart Party goers, who share their thoughts on Sugru and discuss the importance of creativity when fixing. First, Jane tells us about the origin of Sugru. It all started when she was a design student, trying to find alternatives to creating just another ‘sexy new product’ for consumers. Playing with materials in the lab, she describes the time she came up with what would become Sugru: a mouldable glue that helped her fix and hack all kinds of objects. This material is initially like playdough or putty — it can be formed into any shape, but then overnight it turns into a tough, durable silicon rubber. Jane takes us on a tour around the Sugru HQ in Hackney, East London, where everything from the manufacturing and packaging to the admin or the creative work of the company takes place. (Sugru, or FormFormForm Ltd, was acquired last year by German company Tesa but remains in London, with Jane as Director.) With Sugru, Jane encourages people to have a go at fixing, and to express their creativity hacking and repurposing what they own. In her very words: “Making those moments happen for somebody who would say ‘I am not a fixer, I could never do that’ to ‘Maybe I could do that’ and then can fix their shoes or their grandma’s wedding ring… It is all about making those moments happen.” Next, we discuss how Jane perceives her role within a growing, global repair movement. She explains how different organisations need to cooperate, as there are various parts to play, from inspiring or teaching to campaigning for our right to repair. The repair culture is both old and new – it was the ‘Make, Do and Mend’ slogan during the WWII, when people repaired due to limited resources, and it is also the more recent frustration with the short lifespan of our products, from our clothes to our smartphones. With Jane, we embrace repair culture while we emphasise the simultaneous need for system change. This will take time and collective efforts by activists repairing in their communities, companies like Sugru, as well as legislators forcing manufacturers to make products easier to repair. Lastly, we ask about the importance of “celebrities” for the repair movement. Jane stresses the need to be inspired, and the value of authenticity in people’s stories. “I don’t know what a celebrity means, but we definitely need people to inspire us.” Links: Jane ni Dhulchaointi: @janeonbike Sugru: Jane’s story Sugru: The Fixer’s Manifesto [Featured image from Sugru] The post Restart Podcast Ep. 38: Inspiring repair with Jane, inventor and founder of Sugru appeared first on The Restart Project.

We interview Libby Peake, Senior policy adviser at Green Alliance. We talk about the public interest in more repairable products, and we discuss the current policy debates affecting our right to repair in Europe and the UK. First, we discuss some news. Apple is worried about the decline in iPhone sales: the company has reported to investors that this is partly due to users repairing and maintaining their current models. We also mention the recent controversy over ‘Veganuary’ with the new vegan sausage roll at Greggs, which could face a backlash against environmental awareness. Next, we comment on the current European vote on design measures for dishwashers and washing machines. As Libby highlights, previously related measures around so-called ‘ecodesign’ have normally focused on energy efficiency, looking at how much energy products consume, rather than how long they last. This legislation is now shifting to also include product efficiency, that is, design changes that improve durability, repairability, recyclability and product composition. This shift can raise product standards, and it pushes us to look at efficiency over the whole of a product’s lifecycle. Citizens are asking for products that last longer, and this is clear in the Green Alliance’s recent report ‘By popular demand’. Libby tells us about this research, which resulted from several workshops and an extensive poll with over 1000 people in the UK. Almost all respondents welcomed a better use of resources in our economy. The most supported initiative was to improve product design, and this included making things more modular so that they can be easier to repair! Then, we talk about the need to keep pushing environmental legislation to prioritise product repairability. Our stuff should be designed to be easier to disassemble and repair, and everyone – not just professionals – should have access to spare parts. We also talk about the new UK Waste Strategy, the first one in more than 10 years. We find it ambitious and focused on the 3 Rs (not just recycling!). It defends an extended responsibility for manufacturers to watch their products lifecycle. However, we miss more details on how this high-level strategy will be implemented. Finally, we share how we would like to see a scenario where our right to repair could benefit both companies and consumers. Policymakers need to guide manufacturers to ensure sustainable technology, as it happened for instance with the harmonisation of phone chargers driven by the European Commission. Links: Green Alliance: Libby Peake Green Alliance: ‘By popular demand: What people want from a resource efficient economy’ [report] The Restart Project: Defending the right to repair in Brussels Motherboard: People bought fewer new iPhones because they repaired their old ones The Guardian: Greggs struggles to keep up with demand for vegan sausage rolls The Restart Project: Compelling evidence that citizens want repairable products The post Restart Radio: Popular, planet-saving right to repair appeared first on The Restart Project.

We interview Andrew Hatton, Head of IT at Greenpeace UK. We talk about the environmental implications of using the Internet and Greenpeace’s campaign on the topic. First, we discuss a vote by members states of the European Union (EU) on new measures which can have crucial implications for the repairability of our products. Along with other organisations, we coordinated a “welcoming committee” in Brussels in front of the EU Council: the first ever protest for our right to repair, at least in Europe. Also in tech news: Amazon will start selling Apple products directly on its platform and, in return, small refurbishers not authorised by Apple will be kicked out of the online store. This level of control by such powerful companies is deeply worrying. The episode focuses on Greenpeace and their longstanding campaigning for a greener Internet. Back in 2012, the organisation was already focused on this issue – they published a report and they protested at the Apple store in Regent Street, London. Pretending to be Apple staff, the so-called ‘Apple geniuses’, they informed customers about Apple’s excessive reliance on coal for its cloud services. Cloud services include the vast array of online platforms we use daily to work, share files or watch movies (such as iCloud, Google Drive or Netflix). Given their massive traffic, we need to put pressure on the big companies enabling these services to adopt more sustainable practices, such as shifting to renewable energies. Companies need to be critical about where their energy comes from and about their plans for a greener cloud. These practices are analysed by Greenpeace, resulting in their striking scorecards. These rank companies according to criteria such as their energy supply, transparency around energy use and sources, and advocacy. Andrew emphasises the importance of companies pushing for change, highlighting Google or Salesforce as leaders, and others like Amazon as ‘laggards’. In 2019, Greenpeace will publish an updated report examining the current ranking of companies’ data centres – the engines that power cloud services. They look particularly at Virginia (United States) as the ‘data centre capital’ of the world. It has been estimated that around 70% of Internet traffic passes through Virginia’s data centres. Still, there are not many alternatives today to using these online services, and even organisations like Greenpeace need to make compromises. Andrew takes us through some of these tensions, for instance when buying IT equipment or choosing cloud providers, and how they try to select the most sustainable suppliers. We also talk about the pressure from the tech industry to weaken legislation that could push for greener tech. We too share our frustration with manufacturers as they keep lobbying against our right to repair what we own. Finally, we comment on the hardware, on the importance of upgrading the devices that power data centres. These servers components are devices with a massive embodied energy, so we should make sure that they keep running for long, and that they are easier to upgrade and repair. Links: Twitter: Andrew Hatton The Restart Project: First protest for the right to repair in Brussels Boing Boing: The EU could give every European the #RightToRepair Motherboard: Amazon is kicking out all unauthorised Apple refurbishers off Amazon The Independent: Greenpeace targets Apple London store Greenpeace: Clicking Clean [link to their 2017 report]   [Featured image by BalticServers, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0] The post Restart Radio: Greening the internet with Greenpeace appeared first on The Restart Project.

Fixfest UK gathered 59 community repair activists from all across the country, representing 25 different repair groups. This event was all about sharing the love for fixing, as well as common visions and opportunities for collaborations. With the day’s theme of ‘Hope’, many ideas emerged to work for sustainable and impactful repair action in our communities. In this episode, we talk to some of Fixfest UK participants, who share their experiences. They talk about their group’s work, their motivations and aims. This was the first Fixfest UK, after last year’s international edition, and it happened in Manchester, the home of the first atom splitting, first co-op store, and first programmable computer. The event started with a warm-up session led by our podcaster Dave Pickering. It is unusual to be surrounded by so many other people who run community repair groups in their communities, and that is what makes Fixfest so unique. Throughout the day, participants attended and ran multiple sessions, covering topics ranging from hands-on skillshares to policy discussions around our Right to Repair. We also had an unexpected repair on site! There was an ‘out of order’ sign on the toilet at the venue which led to some participants performing some good ‘guerrilla repair’. Participants also shared some of their most memorable repair stories, some featuring a porcelain bunny, a radio or a hedge trimmer. Others commented on the best moments of Fixfest: from visualising community repair events as sites for social change to promoting more inclusive fixing spaces. Also at Fixfest, 25 community repair groups drafted the Manchester Declaration, which brings together the grassroots frustration experienced by people at our events, when they realise that their products are breaking long before they should. Links: The Restart Project: Inspired and energised from Fixfest UK The Restart Project: Fixers and organisers, time to join our platform (Restarters.net) The Manchester Declaration Photo album (photos of the day by Mark Phillips) The post Restart Podcast Ep. 37: Voices of UK fixers appeared first on The Restart Project.

Mark Phillips tells us about his work photographing the practice, people and communities involved in repair culture – from Cuba to our very own Restart Parties. First, we discuss some tech news. Two “yay-boo” stories from Apple: recycled aluminium in computers and its pilot programme for repair of some ‘vintage’ devices. Both seem like good news at the outset, but are undermined by Apple’s attempts to restrict third party and DIY repairs, which can help so many more people and save so many more resources. Lastly, we discuss the latest updates on the case of Korean Samsung workers: the company has finally released a mediation plan to compensate workers who were exposed to carcinogenic substances. We reflect on the human stories hidden behind complex supply chains. Mark is at home with complexity, with a background in engineering, but he has been photographing since he was a child. His interest in repair culture started in Cuba when he travelled there for an academic conference. He came across an old car with an adjustable wrench in the door, took a photo, and then he immersed himself in a long-term project capturing ‘the never-ending life of Cuban things’. We talk about how devices have been getting more complex to repair. Mark is, however, fascinated by people across the world that manage to repair what might seem impossible today. In Cuba, people will find a way around a faulty product, they will creatively find the hacks and materials to bring things back to life. As Mark said, ‘Some might look weird, but they are still functional!’ Street-side cigarette lighter repairs in Cuba Nobody would wish to live under the difficult conditions that drive repair culture in certain parts of the world. However, these photographs and these stories can provoke us to rethink the system we live in – to expand the limits of creativity and the possibilities of the materials and resources around us. In fact, Mark has found these examples in Cuba and recently in Ghana, but also here in the UK when photographing the repair culture that emerges at community events such as our Restart Parties. Mark also talks about the practical difficulties of photographing at a repair event, given the busy environment and the not always best lighting. And of course, we also comment on cameras themselves, an item that tends to be hard to fix, including at our community repair events. Finally, we share our views on the future of repair culture. Mark tells us about some sustainable design projects that have inspired him and given him hope, such as Isla Bikes (bicycles for children on a leasing model) and Fairphone (easily repairable modular smartphone). We talk about the importance of people who find solutions to problems, from the repair activity at community repair groups, to the creativity of designers that come up with more repairable and long-lasting products. Links: Mark A Phillips Photography Mark A Phillips: Reparacion – the never-ending life of Cuban things The Verge: Apple will reportedly launch a pilot program to repair devices as old as the iPhone 4S The Verge: The new MacBook Air and Mac mini are made of 100 percent recycled aluminum The Hankyoreh: Arbitration committee for Samsung’s leukemia outbreak proposes final mediation [featured image by Mark Phillip at a Restart Party] The post Restart Radio: Photographing repair culture appeared first on The Restart Project.

We interview independent professional repairer Rico Cerva, to celebrate the crucial contribution that repair businesses make to extend the life of all the gadgets we use. We talk about the personal stories behind people’s devices, the barriers to repair caused by manufacturers and the future of repair as a profession. On Saturday 20 October we celebrated Repair Day worldwide, with over 150 events that gathered people to fix together. Repair Day is about making repair more visible, and it includes the work of community groups but also that of independent repair professionals, like Rico. We are in Rico’s family home in Basildon, where he has set up his fixing lab. A typical work day for Rico is ‘like opening Christmas presents every morning’. He gets his orders through the post from individuals and repair shops worldwide, and he fixes them all on the same day (sometimes over 10 phones). Most of the faults he repairs have to do with dead phones, no longer switching on. Some present extraordinary challenges, like his successful data recovery from an iPhone X – which had been destroyed by a baboon or a chimpanzee! View this post on Instagram A post shared by Rico Cerva (@federicocerva) This year’s edition of Repair Day focused on our Right to Repair what we own. In line with this movement, Rico tells us about the barriers he faces when repairing devices. One example is the lack of publicly available schematics for Apple devices: if published they would ease the diagnosis of faults. Another example is the home button in iPhone 7 and beyond, which can’t be replaced by users but rather only by Apple! Although he is only 23, Rico already claims ‘to fix the impossible’. Rico tells us how he became interested in repair when his dad smashed his PlayStation with the car. Rico managed to get it back to life, and from then he wouldn’t stop tinkering with and fixing other people’s devices. He then moved to the UK from his home in Cyprus and worked in remanufacturing, running quality control on smartphones, and from there he eventually started working as a fixer at iSmash. In his free time, he would do fixes at home, shared through Instagram, concentrating on what repair businesses normally can’t do and ultimately decided to become fully independent with his own repair business. Rico is also passionate about sharing his fixing skills – he regularly runs microsoldering workshops and he also trains other professionals from repair businesses at his home in Basildon. Finally, Rico takes us through a repair in action, fixing the famous touch IC disease on an iPhone 7 (where the device switches on but gets stuck on the Apple logo screen). We open up the phone, we explore its components and we manage to fix the audio chip responsible for the fault. Links: Open Repair Alliance: International Repair Day grows massively in second year Open Repair Alliance: About Repair Day Instagram: Federico Cerva iFixit: iPhone 7 home buttons aren’t user replaceable Motherboard and Forbes on iPhone 7 audio IC Rico Cerva’s Youtube channel: How To Fix The iPhone 7/7 plus Apple Loop Disease/Speaker and Microphone Greyed! The post Restart Podcast Ep. 36: Fixing the impossible with Rico Cerva appeared first on The Restart Project.

Ugo and Restart volunteer Ben announce upcoming International #RepairDay and comment on recent issues related to the Right to Repair movement in the United States and Europe. In this show, we share our excitement for upcoming International Repair Day, which takes place on Saturday 20 October. This will be a day to celebrate repair worldwide, and there are many ways to get involved whether you are an individual, business or community repair group. Share your passion for repair (and your fixes!) using #RepairDay to join the global conversation, share and learn new skills at a community repair event, or visit your local repair shop to get your products back to life! If you are running a repair event on the day please register here, and if you want to find your closest event happening on the day check the Repair Day map. We also reflect on the recent Fixfest UK, which happened last weekend in Manchester. Almost 60 repair activists got together representing repair groups across the UK, from Scotland to Northern Ireland to Wales and England. This event was a brilliant opportunity to strengthen the UK repair network. Throughout the day, various workshops and discussions covered many topics relevant to community repair: from increasing inclusivity at events to promoting online communities, to practical sessions on circuit boards and soldering. You will hear more about Fixfest in an upcoming Restart podcast! One of the sessions at Fixfest was about the Right to Repair movement – making repair more accessible and cheaper in the future. We’ve been recently campaigning to put pressure on the European Commission, which was considering indefinitely postponing a vote on a package of measures affecting the repairability of our products. Thanks to multiple initiatives, including a letter to the Commission we co-signed with other 54 organisations, the vote will go ahead in December/January. This presents an opportunity for changes such as requiring manufacturers of white goods (fridges, washing machines and dishwashers) to provide spare parts for at least 7 years! However, Italy, Germany and the UK are key countries opposed to this change, so we need to keep raising awareness and putting pressure. Then, we go over to discuss other tech news. In line with our claim for our Right to Repair, we talk about the recent ‘kill switch’ present in the newest MacBook Pros. Apple has installed what they claim to be a security chip, which could disable the laptop software if parts are replaced by a non-authorised repairer. iFixit did a test to try this out and it is apparently not yet active. However, there is a threat that once these laptops are no longer under warranty, this switch might disable your device if you take it to an independent repairer. We also talk about Surya Raghavendran, the inspiring 17-year-old from Michigan who has been all over the news. This avid repairer realised that some of his fixes of iPhones were useless, due to a software update by Apple disabling the third party screens he was using to repair. Other tech news we commented on included the recent pay rise of Amazon workers, the hacker who leaked information from 50 million Facebook accounts or the end of Google+ also for data breaches.   Links: Open Repair Alliance: Get involved in Repair Day 2018 The Restart Project: Inspired and energised from Fixfest UK Petitions for the Right to Repair and  longer-lasting products: UK, Germany, Italy Motherboard: Apple’s new proprietary software locks will kill independent repair on new MacBook pros iFixit: Apple’s secret repair kill switch hasn’t been activated – yet Motherboard: This 17-y.o. has become Michigan’s leading Right to Repair advocate BBC: Amazon raises wages amidst criticism The Verge: Facebook hacker stole login information for 50 million accounts The Guardian: Google to shut down Google+ after failing to disclose user data breach   The post Restart Radio: Celebrating community repair and announcing #RepairDay appeared first on The Restart Project.

We interview researcher Jessika Luth Richter from Lund University. The topic: the ‘critical’ materials that are found in our electronics – what makes materials ‘critical’, their global supplies, their mining, and how little we recycle them. We also discuss the demand of some of these materials for renewable energy. First, Jessika walks us through some of the critical materials that are essential for our smartphones to function: some are needed for touch screens (like indium and tin), others for batteries (like cobalt), and many more make up the electronics, from wires to micro capacitors. Both the European Union and the United States have published lists containing the materials they consider critical: 27 and 35 respectively. So whether a material is labelled as critical will vary depending on each region’s supply chain and demand for materials. Then, we discuss how critical raw materials can be found in many deposits around the world. However, not all countries have developed the expertise to mine them safely and affordably, and currently most import them from China. While there are reserves in Europe, there isn’t enough drive to ensure mining complies with environmental legislation at European level while still being profitable. While you might not have heard of critical raw materials before, ‘conflict minerals’ may sound more familiar. However, not all conflict materials are considered critical. Conflict zones imply supply risks, potentially making a material critical, however there can still be other sources, as is the case with gold. Next, we talk about issues when recycling critical materials. With a few exceptions, like cobalt or tungsten, critical materials have very low recycling rates. These materials are found in various parts of our devices, and also in very small amounts. This makes it hard to separate these materials after they are shredded in recycling facilities. Jessika talks about some innovative technologies that could make this process more efficient. However, she points out that the unpredictable demand of these materials makes it difficult for these technologies to develop. Despite their unpredictable demand, there are technologies which will rely extensively on critical raw materials, for instance renewable technologies like wind turbines or solar panels. Lastly, we reflect on how each of us can work towards a more responsible use of critical raw materials. At a minimum, Jessika suggests, we should be thinking more about the products we purchase and embracing repair to make things last for longer. Keeping products in the loop, Jessika adds, we can slow the demand for these materials, while giving more time for recycling technologies to thrive. Jessika Luth Richter is currently collaborating with Restart to the ‘Refer’ project, a European network of universities working to raise awareness about critical raw materials.   Links: Lund University: Jessika Luth Richter European Commission: Critical Raw Materials U.S. Department of the Interior: 35 minerals deemed critical to the U.S.  BBC Sound Effects Library for the coal mining sounds in the podcast The post Restart Podcast Ep. 35: Exploring the critical materials in our electronics appeared first on The Restart Project.