"Try This at Home: A Q&A with Kyle Wiens, Right-to-Repair Crusader"

The co-founder of iFixit, the largest repair collective in the world, talks to our contributing editor about repair as craft—and how we can beat the system that doesn't want us fixing our own stuff.

photo courtesy of iFixit

Dear Friends,

In the fast-evolving market of consumer electronics, which generates about 6.9 million tons of e-waste each year in the U.S. alone, the right-to-repair movement has emerged as a powerful force for change. One of its leading changemakers is Kyle Wiens, co-founder and CEO of iFixit, the world's largest repair community. Two decades after a broken Apple laptop launched him on a mission, Wiens sat down with our contributing editor, Jeff Greenwald, to discuss entropy, what makes repair a craft, and the latest wins in the ongoing battle for our right to repair our own stuff.

I hope you’ll enjoy reading our latest feature: “Try This at Home: A Q&A with Kyle Wiens, Right-to-Repair Crusader,” by Jeff Greenwald. And don’t miss the author’s sidebar story about another repair revolutionary, “One Night at the Fixit Clinic with Peter Mui.”

While there is still time, please share your Repair Rants & Raves with us. Tell us about some item you’ve owned, loved, and kept working forever, and why it matters to you. Or tell us about what you’ve bought that should have lasted but turned into another throwaway piece of junk. It only takes a few minutes to fill out our Reader Survey, and we’ll share the best stories throughout this issue.

“The Art of Repair” will continue through early December, thanks in part to our issue sponsor, the Culture of Repair. Each week, we’ll release a feature story, short article, mini-documentary, photo essay, or podcast that relates to our mission—to “create a world built to last.” So please, stay tuned.

In the meantime, I hope you'll always find something intriguing to read, watch, or listen to within our pages. We welcome your thoughts via email, as well as on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. Thank you for reading and sharing our stories, for donating to our cause as you can, and for being such a loyal part of the Craftsmanship community.

Sincerely,

Todd Oppenheimer
Publisher & Editor-in-Chief, Craftsmanship Magazine

Craftsmanship is a reader-supported publication. To help sustain our ad-free, independent journalism, please consider a paid subscription here on Substack.

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photo by Andrew Sullivan

Fall 2023: The Art of Repair

In a culture addicted to novelty and fast profits, the humble art of repair has declined almost to the point of extinction. But it’s not too late: In this issue, we’ll delve into the history of planned obsolescence, and the reemerging ethos of restoration. From the patient hands of watchmakers, piano restoration experts, and veteran appliance repairmen to the story of a young French woman who got her country to ban planned obsolescence, we’ll explore what it really means to create, maintain—and truly value—a world built to last.

This issue is supported in part by a grant from the Culture of Repair. Interested in sponsoring an upcoming theme or project? Contact us at publisher@craftsmanship.net.

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Our Readers Share Their “Repair Rants & Raves”

My father lived by a mantra I still apply today: "Buy the best you can afford, and buy it once.” This has applied to everything I have, from good-quality furniture, footwear, clothing, appliances—and a 2012 Toyota Camry that still runs like a top. To keep it all going, I have the right tools, and have learned to maintain and repair things. I can't tell you when I last had to buy something new… except for those potted palms in my living room. They continue to defeat me.

- Duane H. (Ottowa, Ontario, Canada)

This issue is all about "The Art of Repair," and we want to hear about the belongings you love most for their usefulness, beauty, and longevity—and those you love to hate. We'll share the best entries throughout the issue. Submit your entry here.

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