Planet of fixers? Mapping the middle grounds of independent and do‐it‐yourself information and communication technology maintenance and repair

Abstract

This paper explores the geographical distribution of independent and do‐it‐yourself information and communication technology maintenance and repair (INDIY ICT M&R) activity around the world. It examines a large set of Google Analytics data pertaining to users of free, open‐source online repair manuals provided by iFixit, a US‐based organisation that develops the free manuals, sells tools and components, and also engages in technical education and policy advocacy. The paper draws on three years of available user data (2016–2018). Over this time period the total user base of iFixit's manuals grew from over 1.3 million users to more than 4.1 million users across the planet. However, counter to what might be expected, the global distribution of iFixit users does not systematically co‐vary with internet access rates or with the population size of locations. The results reported here, while partial, are valuable in that they demonstrate both a globally distributed phenomenon and high‐resolution location patterns of INDIY ICT M&R activity. Mapping the extent and spatial patterning of such activity is a jumping off point for the kinds of qualitative analyses needed to elucidate the how's, the why's, and the meanings of the observed uneven distribution patterns. More broadly, the results suggest fruitful directions for deeper analyses and research into both pragmatic questions about ICT maintenance and repair (such as their social, economic, and environmental significance), as well as more speculative questions about how and why the fates of ICT within and between production, use, and discard stand in for dreams of technological futurity and nightmares of social and environmental breakdown.

Carbon and water conservation value of independent, place‐based repair in Lima, Peru

“…We further supplemented the more detailed information from Youtube repair videos by consulting repair guides for relevant models of smartphones and tablets available from iFixit. iFixit is a wiki-based site devoted to posting free repair instructions covering more than 13,000 devices in some dozen languages (Lepawsky, 2020). Combining information from the Youtube results and relevant iFixit manuals about specific repair steps, tools, intermediate materials, and components enabled us to add detail to our LCA analyses not otherwise available in existing LCA databases or literature (see the description of LCA later and Sections S1-S6 of Supporting Information S1).…”

Online Equipment Repair Community in Russia: Searching for Environmental Discourse

“…The mental aspects of repair are related to a new way of thinking to get away from overconsumption; they involve creativity and cultivating values such as care, upgrade, repurposing, and appreciation [5,8]. Researchers discuss the gender issues of repair, in which the technological aspects of repair are associated with males and care with females [33]. The researchers note that an important social function of repair is the development of local communities, solidarity through participation in repair cafes, and other events [28].…”

Towards a World of Fixers Examining barriers and enablers of widely deployed third-party repair for computing within limits

“…Documenting ICT maintenance and repair at anything other than coarse scales of national or subnational regions is a challenge due to differing jurisdictional definitions of repair as an economic activity and what sectors of the economy are aggregated together to count that activity [24,47]. Using a novel dataset Lepawsky has recently demonstrated the global extent of independent and do-ityourself ICT maintenance and repair activity (INDIY ICT M&R) [22]. His results show that INDIY ICT M&R involves a growing population of people numbering in the millions of individuals who are ubiquitously, but unevenly, distributed around the world.…”

“…First, although it has been shown that millions of people are engaged in INDIY ICT M&R activities around the world [22], it remains unclear whether sufficient scale is achieved to impart genuine material and energy savings. There is anecdotal evidence from Apple, the largest OEM by revenue, that third-party repair has slowed sales of iPhones, one of its flagship products [3].…”