Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Mobile

Microsoft expands right to repair through new agreement with a nonprofit

Elizabeth Tirk
By

As part of an agreement with As You Sow, a nonprofit organization geared toward the mindfulness of corporate pollution, Microsoft has announced the expansion of repair options for their devices by the end of 2022.

Right To Repair: Washington Lawmakers Debate What You Should be Able to Fix!

As a shareholder in Microsoft, As You Sow used its leverage to create and push a resolution that encouraged the corporation to take responsibility for some their carbon footprint. This call to action was made with the intention of reducing technological waste and increasing the lifespan of already existing devices from the company by allowing the right to repair.

Related Videos

Kelly McBee, waste program coordinator at As You Sow, says, “Excitingly, this agreement will begin to allow consumers to repair their Microsoft devices outside the limited network of authorized repair shops.”

By answering As You Sow’s resolution, Microsoft has declared it will meet several criteria regarding repairing by 2022. The company has vouched to follow through on research regarding the environmental impact that the right to repair would have, offer a larger variety of available parts and documentation for third-party repairing, and better ways to enable local repair options for customers.

Beyond Microsoft, the desire for legislation concerning the right to repair has been growing alongside technology. Earlier this year a historical milestone was even reached with the first congressional bill addressing the topic.

Other organizations, like Green Century Funds, have been pushing Apple for similar action on the right to repair. While Apple relented some ability to repair devices in 2019 by allowing third-party technicians the certification to repair, current options are still extremely limiting and continue to encourage excess waste pollution.

Microsoft’s new agreement, together with Google’s new focus on sustainability, could be a sign of a new trend in the industry.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Microsoft Teams Premium uses AI to automatically recap your meetings
Three women in a Microsoft Teams meeting.

Microsoft has just made Teams Premium available for a short time. The preview will allow Microsoft's customers to test out some of the new features that won't be widely available for a while yet.

A few interesting features are making an appearance during this short trial run, including the ability to add custom branding to meetings, live translated captions, and meeting recaps prepared by artificial intelligence (AI).

Read more
The secret to helping older people get online is right in front of us
Tablets for seniors

It’s that time of year when you may consider buying an older relative a tablet or phone that’s designed for “seniors.” Images of older folks smiling as they use their new senior-friendly tablet make them tempting, and you could be forgiven for thinking this is all that’s needed for older people to enjoy all the online world offers.

But it’s not. These products may effectively facilitate access to the internet, apps, and operating systems. But at this point, another, far more serious wall is hit: Terrible interface design. It's a massive, misunderstood problem — and it’s not one that can be solved by throwing a GrandPad in granny’s direction.
Good design, marred by small problems

Read more
The SIM card in your phone has secret power to make medicine cheaper
Personal holding five SIM cards fanned out.

Electronic gadgets are a potpourri of pricey and rare elements, but a majority of them end up piling up in an e-waste landfill instead of being recycled. That's not because we lack the tech to recycle it, but due to factors like cost management and process efficiency. SIM cards are among the phone parts that end up going to waste without much uptake in terms of recycling efforts.
Now, the folks over at Imperial College London have devised a method of recycling SIM cards that can potentially help make medicines cheaper. In a world where health care accessibility is in crisis mode — especially in the U.S., where people pay the highest price globally at $1,300 per year on medicines – this encouraging SIM recycling method targeted at the pharmaceutical industry could be a godsend.

It's all about that gold

Read more