this post was submitted on 02 Apr 2025
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Right to Repair

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Whether it be electronics, automobiles or medical equipment, the manufacturers should not be able to horde “oem” parts, render your stuff useless if you repair it with aftermarket parts, or hide schematics of their products.

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Software developer and open source proponent Jeff Geerling recently purchased a new Bosch 500 dishwasher, only to find it required an app to access certain features. This is his story.

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[–] Pika@sh.itjust.works 6 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

He mentioned that it is possible to bypass the cloud bullshit with a third party Library he just didn't want to do the setup for it, personally I was waiting for the "so I tore it out of the wall and returned it" because I can't think of a single appliance store that has a return policy that's less than like 30 days. Locking advertised features behind an app would be an instant "honey we're bringing this back to the store"

He even mentions that people have mentioned to return it already

When I posted on social media about this, a lot of people told me to return it.

But I spent four hours installing this thing built into my kitchen.
... 
At a minimum, I think what Bosch should do is make it so that the dishwasher can be accessed locally with no requirement for a cloud account. (Really, it'd be even better to have all the functions accessible on the control panel!)

Why would they do that, the person who posted it's a prime example of why they don't, he's willing to just use it without the features, he isn't even willing to return it even though it's very clear he hates everything about the cloud requirement. Companies aren't just going to change with no action. They change when there's a loss of money involved, processing refunds because of the shitty mechanics hurts the appliance stores selling it which then snowballs into the store maybe thinking twice about buying the appliance again.

That is what makes companies change, not keeping the item and saying "oh well" I guess I'll buy a different brand next time.