Ah, so you're a Boomer and your parents were part of the Greatest Generation. All this time I thought for sure you went to Harvard and were not quite old enough to be a classmate of ee cummings.

Since the OPINIONS section of the BB has moved on from the Okefenoke to the Dismal, I don't have many reservations about posting this here in RWD.

You are absolutely right. The secrets of repair of just about everything made today are jealously guarded by the corporations manufacturing our products. There are all kinds of profit motives, not the least of which is a dealer service network.

The attitude is pervasive. You know, regulation is despised by the corporations and not too skillfully embraced by consumers, and any attempts at it are viewed as red. Check out Ifixit.com for some of the meager legislative efforts toward the "Right to Repair" we here on the BB would support. The corporations have plenty of convincing rebuttals when lobbying for their position; such as safety, trade secrets, and security.

Where I don't agree is in citing technology's advancement as a reason in itself for not fixing your stuff. If the information is made available (repair procedures, design and function, firmware, etc.) not knowing how to apply it or ignoring the tools is not their fault.