I’ve been a fan of DIY projects myself since I can have shit without actually spending a dime on boojee shit but now it appears capitalism is ruining it from PC’s, to reducing parts available to be used, to fake DIY vids to keep money, and good old copyfraud.

What do ya’ll think?

  • redtea
    20·
    1 year ago

    When I was young it was possible to take things apart like TVs and washing machines and repair them with genetic parts. I’m not even talking like a generic ‘part’ but parts of parts. For example if the washing machine went you could take it apart, remove the motor unit, dismantle it and replace whatever was broken inside the motor. Cars were the same.

    It was possible to make something else fit if you couldn’t find something exact. My TV broke once. Took the back off, identified the short, cleaned it up, bit of flux, and re-soldered it. Problem solved. I still do things like this if I can but most things don’t come apart and their guts are more inaccessible or soldered/glued/riveted together.

    This only makes the task more difficult. What makes it impossible is e.g. IP protected parts that break if they’re disconnected from the whole. You can take your car to a garage now and even if they fix it, if they can’t connect it to their computer, the new part won’t be able to ‘talk’ to the rest of the car, so it won’t work, anyway.

    It’s infuriating and one of the reasons for so much waste. They should make another zombie apocalypse film but make it realistic. The characters can’t jump start cars because they don’t have the code or because the battery subscription wasn’t paid. They can’t repurpose any tech to make a ‘lab’ because the parts won’t talk to each other or start up again. Then again, it might be a bit of a boring show.

      • redtea
        11·
        1 year ago

        It’s a problem of capitalists intentionally doing everything they can to make products irreparable and obsolete within a prescribed timeframe. There’s a big ‘right to repair’ movement about this. It’s a losing battle for as long as there are imperialists. But that movement still represents the segments of the DIY community that have come up against the limitations of trying to make or repair things without permission from rights holders.

        What you’re talking about could be illegal. If a local garage gets caught fiddling with the software to get a Ford back up and running without paying the licence fee, Ford might sue them for IP beaches. I’ve no doubt that some garages will do it anyway. But it’s no way to run a successful business in the long term. And it’s an inordinate amount of work for someone who just wants to change the battery on their car – which used to be a five-minute job (and still is, for the physical part of it). Fiddling with the software on a car might also e.g. void one’s insurance.

        This is what the monopoly stage of finance capitalism looks like (i.e. imperialism). Individuals cannot make a dent.

        I agree that the DIY community should learn a bit of software development but now you’re talking about two communities and a wholly different skill set. Most people, including myself, wouldn’t know where to start. Different tools are needed, too, increasing the cost. All because manufacturers insist on adding software and complexity where it isn’t needed; purposely to force consumers back to the manufacturers or their subsidiaries, shutting out third parties.

          • redtea
            2·
            1 year ago

            Agree with all that. The more companies do to stop consumers repairing their products or using their parts/software to build new things, the more it will force ordinary people to look for solutions and to work together. I can’t wait to be able to build my own printer. So far as I know you can get quite close but the tech for the finer, inkier end of things is all closed off. Hopefully somebody works out a solution to that soon. As you say, a renaissance spirit might open that up.

    • cfgaussian
      5·
      1 year ago

      In groundskeeper Willie voice: “Damn capitalists, they ruined capitalism!”

      Seriously though this is just part and parcel of the inherent contradictions of capitalism which is a self-destabilizing and self-sabotaging system.

      • MeowZedong
        2·
        1 year ago

        Let’s just buy capitalism to fix capitalism. More capitalism is always the answer. Its capitaliception.

  • 201dberg
    15·
    1 year ago

    One big issues is you used to be able to get materials for the same or similar price points as the manufacturers. So things you could build yourself, housing, furniture, etc., you could really save money on. Then the capitalist realized they could buy, and resell, all the materials at marked up prices. So it no longer is cheaper to build yourself when the other capitalists can get those same materials cheaper, export as much labor as they can, and give you a product that is not only cheaper than doing it yourself but also takes less of your valuable free time. Free time which no one has because we are working our lives away for other capitalists.

    What is the saying about Ikea/premade furniture? Something like “I can build something just as good for twice the price.” ?

    And it’s not just that kind of construction. Premade PCs are often cheaper because the makers are getting the materials at cheaper prices whereas when we go to the market for components they are heavily marked up.

    So many hobbies and diy stuff is like this. Hobbies popped up using different things because those items were cheap and affordable. Once a market developed for them they crank up the prices and people move to the next thing that they can afford. Until there’s nothing left. So we sit on our phones and/or TV all day and rot out brains out because there is nothing else we can afford to do.