Modern technology is usually better than old technology. The telephone was a big improvement on the telegraph, while the smartphone has been a huge leap forward for personal communication, among other things. In one area, however, newer might not be better: When modern technology breaks down, it's almost impossible to repair. When the battery of a device begins to fade, for example, it's often not possible to replace the battery alone. Instead, consumers must buy a new device. That's not only unfair but also very wasteful.
This is at least partly because manufacturers are in a race to get smaller. "Every year, the new devices launched by big brands have gotten faster, thinner and shinier, but also more locked down and less accessible to repairs and upgrades," wrote Nirav Patel in the magazine Make. Patel is the founder and CEO of Framework Computer Inc. — a San Francisco-based start-up that wants nothing less than to "fix the consumer electronics industry".
Designed to be fixed
Founded in January 2020, the start-up began by creating the Framework Laptop — a modular notebook PC that customers can repair and upgrade themselves. It comes with its own screwdriver, the only tool needed to take the device apart. And for real DIY fans, there's even a version that customers must assemble and configure themselves. Even with a device that you own, manufacturers often make repairs impossible in practice. This includes not publishing repair documentation, gluing parts together, or not providing spare parts to customers or third-party technicians.
This has led to a growing right-to-repair movement, and some manufacturers are beginning to allow better access — expecting that regulations will soon force them to do so anyway, after U.S. President Joe Biden formally supported the idea in 2021. However, having access to spare parts and schematics isn't enough. The ultimate goal of right to repair is for products to be designed with repairability in mind.
An open market
After a decade in consumer electronics at Apple, Oculus and Facebook, Patel began to worry about how the industry contributes to the growing e-waste crisis. The world is expected to produce 61.3 million metric tons of e-waste in 2023. The challenge for Framework was to build a laptop that's as good as anything else on the market but make it as modular as possible with repairability and upgradability as central features.
"We aimed to make every repair possible for someone who had never been inside a computer before by providing clear labeling and scannable QR codes for instructions," Patel explains. "We also focused on simplifying repairs and upgrades for the most common scenarios, like battery replacement, and memory and storage upgrades. We kept things convenient and user-friendly by avoiding glue and tape."
Through its open-source approach, Framework is actively encouraging the development of a community. "We're looking forward to opening a marketplace to enable people to be able to share modules they develop with each other." And laptops are just the beginning. Framework hasn't yet said what its next products will be, but it has made a statement saying that new financing "unlocks categories even more ambitious than our first one."