I’ve been a fan of DIY projects myself since I can have shit without actually spending a dime on boojee shit but now it appears capitalism is ruining it from PC’s, to reducing parts available to be used, to fake DIY vids to keep money, and good old copyfraud.
What do ya’ll think?
I feel like this is a problem of ignorance. And maybe that DIY community needs to catch up on the softwares to repurpose the parts.
It’s a problem of capitalists intentionally doing everything they can to make products irreparable and obsolete within a prescribed timeframe. There’s a big ‘right to repair’ movement about this. It’s a losing battle for as long as there are imperialists. But that movement still represents the segments of the DIY community that have come up against the limitations of trying to make or repair things without permission from rights holders.
What you’re talking about could be illegal. If a local garage gets caught fiddling with the software to get a Ford back up and running without paying the licence fee, Ford might sue them for IP beaches. I’ve no doubt that some garages will do it anyway. But it’s no way to run a successful business in the long term. And it’s an inordinate amount of work for someone who just wants to change the battery on their car – which used to be a five-minute job (and still is, for the physical part of it). Fiddling with the software on a car might also e.g. void one’s insurance.
This is what the monopoly stage of finance capitalism looks like (i.e. imperialism). Individuals cannot make a dent.
I agree that the DIY community should learn a bit of software development but now you’re talking about two communities and a wholly different skill set. Most people, including myself, wouldn’t know where to start. Different tools are needed, too, increasing the cost. All because manufacturers insist on adding software and complexity where it isn’t needed; purposely to force consumers back to the manufacturers or their subsidiaries, shutting out third parties.
I agree about companies making things harder to repair. But things are going in the right direction in Europe at least.
For the skills I understand it’s hard, especially because it also is about two communities that don’t understand eachother well : software and hardware engineers.
There are a lot of resources to learn programming for DIY communities though if you look at the robotics or domotic stuff. Arduino and raspberry pi are among those.
The opensource community is the next step. A lot of free softwares are being developed. For obscure stuff it may not be easy, but if you understand electronic and programming, you can do a lot.
And this is the direction for modern stuff. Somehow it’s reviving the renaissance man spirit.
Agree with all that. The more companies do to stop consumers repairing their products or using their parts/software to build new things, the more it will force ordinary people to look for solutions and to work together. I can’t wait to be able to build my own printer. So far as I know you can get quite close but the tech for the finer, inkier end of things is all closed off. Hopefully somebody works out a solution to that soon. As you say, a renaissance spirit might open that up.