How The DIY Electronics Trend Is Empowering People, Communities, Businesses
Escribe Jaymi Heimbuch para Trehugger.com, recogido en el Boletín Electronico de CEDE–In the maker community, there is a mantra: If you can’t open it you don’t own it. It is part of the Maker’s Bill of Rights that lists exactly what should happen to make hardware accessible, extensive, and repairable. For gadget tinkerers, the manifesto is not a quaint or cute concept but something to live by.
And why not? When it comes to our electronic devices, why would we not demand easy-to-open cases, replaceable batteries and components, screws instead of glues, easily accessible documents and drivers, and so on? Without these things, ownership of a device you’ve bought and paid for is actually still quite questionable. If you can’t — no, if you are actively discouraged — to open up and tinker with devices then you don’t own it, you’re just renting.
In a culture that adores ownership, why do so few people care about truly taking ownership of items?
While manufacturers may claim in not so many words that they’re saving you from yourself — after all, dropping a ton of money on a gadget that you open up to try and fix or upgrade yourself, only to break it worse is disappointing to say the least. But if companies made it easy to do just that, how might our world be made better by such access and encouragement?
Many DIYers are breaking through those "warranty voided" stickers, digging through boxes of components, coming up with plans and prototypes for imaginative ideas for solving problems, and we’re seeing amazing results in empowering individuals, communities and businesses to pursue their concepts.
