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Comment by hub_ | Hacker News Reader

They are actually working on that. With DRM, DMCA, shitty software, etc. They want you to go back to the vendor to make sure things are fixed. Repairable? Only by authorized service dealers. At a monopolistic cost.

And in the US you can thank the EPA for helping with that.

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Who is "they"? Apple? Because they USED to sell laptops that were serviceable, and have slowly over time migrated to once that aren't. Not because of software, but in order to reduce the size.

And EPA? What?

If you want a 1kg notebook that's 100x the power of a room-sized $40,000,000 Cray 2 from back when, you'll have to leave off things like connectors, removable covers, generalized internal interfaces, empty space (for varying-sized components), beefier batteries (to run whatever you plug in), etc. Some of us value compact over modular.

You want "repairable by user for cheap"? Such is eminently available, and will decidedly not weigh 1kg.

You're right, my Thinkpad X201t weighs 2.89 lbs. That's 1.31kg, it's so difficult to lug around but at least I can replace the hard drive, RAM, keyboard, CPU fan, battery, and fundamentally keep it maintained until the processor fails.

How exactly is the EPA involved?

Probably means CARB, where states that have adopted California's emissions regulations require certain parts of the vehicles be replaced by special CARB-approved versions when they fail. Even if they're exactly the same as non-carb approved versions yet cost 2-3x as much.

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