Farmers in the United States have won a major victory over tractor maker John Deere. The company has agreed to give US customers the right to fix their own equipment, the BBC reports. John Deere is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of farming equipment. Until now, farmers were only allowed to use authorised parts and service facilities instead of cheaper independent repair options.
Farmers are part of the Right to Repair movement that has been putting pressure on manufacturers to allow customers and independent repair shops to fix their devices. The Right to Repair movement has been calling on companies for many years to allow customers to fix everything from smartphones to tractors. Last year, this resulted in Apple deciding to allow self repair for the first time.
Incidentally, not everyone is enthusiastic about John Deere’s move. According to the American vlogger Louis Rossmann, farmers don’t get much out of it.
More information
- Read the BBC news article
- Read the Memorandum of Understanding that John Deere signed on January 8th
- Watch the reaction of vlogger Louis Rossmann who has been delving into the subject for years
- Read our news article about Apple allowing self repair starting 2022
- Read our plea for a general right to repair
How long does it take until the stupidity of our “smart” internet and things gets exposed?
Google hacked; some joker hacker making a John Deer tractor play a movie; Israel shutting down a nuclear power plant in Iran or Irak? The Pentagon hacked? Hospitals attacked?
What about hacking into John Deer…shutting all farm equipment down during harvest? nothing to eat!
Tesla and the self driving car pipe dream? The carnage unimaginable!