Tony L
Administrator
For the first time in pfm history I’m actually going to stick a ‘political’ thread right in the middle of the audio room!
The picture above contains a few typical examples of the documentation that was supplied by manufacturers back in the ‘golden age’ of audio. You will notice full schematics for vintage Quad and Leak amps, an exploded view and bill of materials for a Garrard 301, and I’ve also included a schematic for my JC Verdier Control B just to prove current companies can certainly still offer this should they choose to.
The accepted position in this past era was you had bought the product, you owned it outright, you had the absolute right to fix and maintain it and the onus of responsibility to provide that information lay firmly with the equipment manufacturer. It was just part of what you were buying. This applied to radical new technology such as say the Quad 303 and 405 which held patents, i.e. the excuse of ‘not giving trade secrets away’ was not used, or was trumped by the core requirement that a product be serviceable long term.
Over the past 40 years, largely coinciding with the computer revolution, we have all but lost this right to independently fix our own equipment. By denying essential documentation to the end user high-tech manufacture has all but moved to a ‘lease’ model where the customer really only has the ‘right’ to request a repair from the manufacturer, and is bound entirely by their answer, assuming of course the company even exists at the point the repair is required. There is clearly a ‘green’ aspect to this too as if a manufacturer charges a high price (i.e. really they want to sell you a new improved model) then the equipment is pretty much guaranteed landfill which is a disaster for our environment.
The reason I’m dedicating a thread to this is the wider ‘Right To Repair’ movement is gaining some real traction at present in the USA and many are even fighting in courts and state government level to overturn copyright protections etc in order to demand documentation to fix their products. The key areas at present are smartphones, computers, cars, tractors, farming goods etc, but I’d like to do my small bit and shine a spotlight on the audio industry too and at least contrast the extent to which the mindset here has changed over my lifetime. I very much want to align pfm as being a green and sustainable site, and this is all part of that picture.
For further reading googling ‘right to repair’ will bring up a lot, plus YouTube channels such as Louis Rossmann, iFixIt etc will certainly find a lot (miles) of content relating to the IT industry, Apple etc, but it is far bigger than that and I know a lot here will have run up against it with their computer-controlled car technology etc.
A couple of examples:
I really do think this whole thing applies to us. We need to at least think about it.
PS This shouldn’t be seen as a rant against modern technology and processes. It is a rant against a lack of documentation and available spares. A rant against a mindset. Surface mount stuff etc is unquestionably fixable, there are techs out there who actually prefer working on it to traditional through hole. What can’t be done is fault diagnosis without schematics, documentation, or the ability to buy spares.
The picture above contains a few typical examples of the documentation that was supplied by manufacturers back in the ‘golden age’ of audio. You will notice full schematics for vintage Quad and Leak amps, an exploded view and bill of materials for a Garrard 301, and I’ve also included a schematic for my JC Verdier Control B just to prove current companies can certainly still offer this should they choose to.
The accepted position in this past era was you had bought the product, you owned it outright, you had the absolute right to fix and maintain it and the onus of responsibility to provide that information lay firmly with the equipment manufacturer. It was just part of what you were buying. This applied to radical new technology such as say the Quad 303 and 405 which held patents, i.e. the excuse of ‘not giving trade secrets away’ was not used, or was trumped by the core requirement that a product be serviceable long term.
Over the past 40 years, largely coinciding with the computer revolution, we have all but lost this right to independently fix our own equipment. By denying essential documentation to the end user high-tech manufacture has all but moved to a ‘lease’ model where the customer really only has the ‘right’ to request a repair from the manufacturer, and is bound entirely by their answer, assuming of course the company even exists at the point the repair is required. There is clearly a ‘green’ aspect to this too as if a manufacturer charges a high price (i.e. really they want to sell you a new improved model) then the equipment is pretty much guaranteed landfill which is a disaster for our environment.
The reason I’m dedicating a thread to this is the wider ‘Right To Repair’ movement is gaining some real traction at present in the USA and many are even fighting in courts and state government level to overturn copyright protections etc in order to demand documentation to fix their products. The key areas at present are smartphones, computers, cars, tractors, farming goods etc, but I’d like to do my small bit and shine a spotlight on the audio industry too and at least contrast the extent to which the mindset here has changed over my lifetime. I very much want to align pfm as being a green and sustainable site, and this is all part of that picture.
For further reading googling ‘right to repair’ will bring up a lot, plus YouTube channels such as Louis Rossmann, iFixIt etc will certainly find a lot (miles) of content relating to the IT industry, Apple etc, but it is far bigger than that and I know a lot here will have run up against it with their computer-controlled car technology etc.
A couple of examples:
I really do think this whole thing applies to us. We need to at least think about it.
PS This shouldn’t be seen as a rant against modern technology and processes. It is a rant against a lack of documentation and available spares. A rant against a mindset. Surface mount stuff etc is unquestionably fixable, there are techs out there who actually prefer working on it to traditional through hole. What can’t be done is fault diagnosis without schematics, documentation, or the ability to buy spares.