What you need to know
- Microsoft and the "right to repair" movement have been at odds in the past since the former hasn't always made its products the easiest for users to fix themselves.
- Microsoft recently changed its tune with a Surface Laptop SE repair video, wherein it showed how users can easily tinker with the device all by themselves.
- Now, U.S. President Joe Biden is taking credit for spurring Redmond and its rivals to adopt a friendlier stance toward the notion of consumers having the right to repair their tech.
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 on Twitter, 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 recent shareholder representative resolution reinvigorated 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, Microsoft released a video showing how customers can replace certain parts of the Surface Laptop SE all by themselves. Microsoft and iFixIt also announced special tools to 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.
