President Biden takes credit for Microsoft pivoting its ‘right to repair’ stance
Think Microsoft was acting out of goodwill with its Surface Laptop SE repair video?
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What you need to know
U.S. President Joe Biden is all aboard the right to repair train, based on his recent remarks regarding the state of consumers' license to tinker with their own tech. He claims his efforts are compelling companies such as Microsoft to embrace the “right to repair” philosophy as well.
You can see the most truncated variation of Biden’s comments over onTwitter, wherein his account stated the following: “When you own a product, you should be able to repair it yourself. That’s why I included support for the ‘right to repair’ in my Executive Order. Now, companies like Apple and Microsoft are changing their policies so folks will be able to repair their devices themselves.”
When you own a product, you should be able to repair it yourself. That’s why I included support for the “right to repair” in my Executive Order.Now, companies like Apple and Microsoft are changing their policies so folks will be able to repair their devices themselves.When you own a product, you should be able to repair it yourself. That’s why I included support for the “right to repair” in my Executive Order.Now, companies like Apple and Microsoft are changing their policies so folks will be able to repair their devices themselves.— President Biden (@POTUS)January 24, 2022January 24, 2022
For context on the situation, consumers have been asking Microsoft to up its devices' user-tier repairability for a long time, and a recentshareholder representative resolutionreinvigorated the debate. Surface devices and Xbox consoles haven’t always made it easy for users to perform their own repairs, which is why the movement has kept fighting.
Now, it seems Microsoft, Apple, and others are changing their tunes, at least a little bit. Recently, Microsoftreleased a videoshowing how customers can replace certain parts of theSurface Laptop SEall by themselves. Microsoft and iFixIt also announcedspecial toolsto help repair modern Surface devices, letting third-party authorized repair shops service those PCs properly.
Based on Biden’s comments, it sounds like his Executive Order and Microsoft’s change of mood may not be unrelated events.
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Robert Carnevale is the News Editor for Windows Central. He’s a big fan of Kinect (it lives on in his heart), Sonic the Hedgehog, and the legendary intersection of those two titans, Sonic Free Riders. He is the author ofCold War 2395. Have a useful tip? Send it to robert.carnevale@futurenet.com.
