Companies like John Deere actively seek to legally prevent farmers from repairing their own equipment in order to squeeze more money of them. Elizabeth Warren’s called for a national right-to-repair law for tractors specifically to counter this.
Oh my neighbors did this.
Thanks Ukrainian programmers! You’ve done us here in Iowa a solid, we do appreciate it
I dont understand why John Deer tractors need software. Like, I’m sure there’s a reason, but I can not think of one.
Ah! Because what you are likely picturing when you hear ‘tractor’ is this
AKA an engine with a lot of torque for Pulling Things strapped to some big tires with a wheel to steer it. Which isn’t inaccurate. But any longer, the driver’s seat of a tractor looks like this
Note the GPS, whole buncha buttons, and computer screen. Because, see, a lot of the functions of modern tractors and the equipment they pull are computer controlled now, and the programs that control those functions (like how much seed to dispense, how frequently, how deep to plant them, how deep to till, how much fertilizer to dispense, ect ect ect) are what this is talking about. John Deere has claimed that sure, you own the HARDWARE, but any longer that hardware can’t run without the software. Without that software, the tractor and equipment you spent half a million $$ on is a gigantic expensive paperweight.
THAT is what they say you are only leasing from them.
Surya Raghavendran started fixing phones when Apple tried to charge him
$120 to fix the defective screen they’d installed in his phone; instead,
he followed online instructional videos and fixed it himself.
That was in ninth grade. Now, Raghavendran is 17 and runs his own business, SKR Screen Repair.
But SKR Screen Repair is in trouble: Apple’s newest Ios version uses DRM
to prevent third party screen repairs, locking out third-party screens.
The change prompted Raghavendran to branch out into politics and
advocacy: he’s joined with Environment Michigan and US PIRG to advocate
for a Right to Repair bill (previously) in Michigan. Raghavendran meets with state lawmakers and has circulated a petition and compiled personal stories about the need to protect independent repair.
Repair services account for 4% of US GDP, and they create community jobs
that let neighbors help each other get more use out of their own
property, while diverting electronics from landfills.
