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"The Fairphone is a modular handset designed with repairability and ethical sourcing of its materials as headline features. It sold 60,000 units. Amazingly, for what sounds like a nerd-phone, almost half of those buyers had never owned a smartphone before. Now the Fairphone 2 is launching, and with a totally-new, in-house design. The new phone is even easier to repair, and because it was wholly designed by the FairPhone team, its supply chain is even more responsible than ever. The Fairphone is thicker than the latest iPhone or Samsung flagship, but that's the point. Instead of packing everything into a tiny case and keeping it there with glue, the Fairphone is designed to be taken apart. The lightweight magnesium frame supports modules that can be easily replaced by the user. "We have designed it with an aim to last three to five years, looking at making it robust and modular-for repairability," says Fairphone's chief communications officer, Tessa Wernink. "Obviously how long it lasts depends quite heavily on the user, so what we as a company are doing is offering an ecosystem around the phone that supports long-lasting use, first-hand or second-hand." Inside the case (itself one of several options) you'll find the core unit, containing all the chips and radios; a replaceable battery pack; a display that can be snapped off and replaced without any tools (not even a screwdriver); a receiver unit, which contains the front camera, sensors; the headset connector and microphones; a speaker/vibrator unit; and a camera module. These modules are designed to balance manufacturing complexity with repairability. For instance, the display comes as a standalone unit, but less-vulnerable components are bundled into one module. The camera, which people are most likely to upgrade as better versions become available, is also housed in its own module. That way you don't need to toss out your whole phone just to get a better camera. "In fact, the motto from the maker mo

¡Cuantas ideas potentes transferibles al ámbito educativo hay en esta iniciativa! Los Repair Cafés son lugares de libre acceso donde todo gira en torno a reparar cosas (juntos). En el lugar donde se lleva a cabo el Repair Café hay herramientas y materiales disponibles para reparar toda clase de objetos: ropa, muebles, aparatos eléctricos, bicicletas, juguetes… y un grupo de voluntarios con conocimientos y habilidades para reparar toda clase de artefactos. La idea es que la gente traiga sus objetos rotos y los repare en el Repair Café con la ayuda de los expertos. Así todos los días hay algo nuevo que aprender. Y quien no tenga nada que reparar, puede venir a tomar una taza de té o café. o a ayudar a otros con su reparación. Incluso puede venir a inspirarse con nuevas ideas extraídas de los libros de reparación que encontrará en la mesa de lectura. Lea el reglamento interno que aplica en Repair Café.

"Burden of Poverty Lacking money or time can lead one to make poorer decisions, possibly because poverty imposes a cognitive load that saps attention and reduces effort. Mani et al. (p. 976; see the Perspective by Vohs) gathered evidence from shoppers in a New Jersey mall and from farmers in Tamil Nadu, India. They found that considering a projected financial decision, such as how to pay for a car repair, affects people's performance on unrelated spatial and reasoning tasks. Lower-income individuals performed poorly if the repairs were expensive but did fine if the cost was low, whereas higher-income individuals performed well in both conditions, as if the projected financial burden imposed no cognitive pressure. Similarly, the sugarcane farmers from Tamil Nadu performed these tasks better after harvest than before. Abstract The poor often behave in less capable ways, which can further perpetuate poverty. We hypothesize that poverty directly impedes cognitive function and present two studies that test this hypothesis. First, we experimentally induced thoughts about finances and found that this reduces cognitive performance among poor but not in well-off participants. Second, we examined the cognitive function of farmers over the planting cycle. We found that the same farmer shows diminished cognitive performance before harvest, when poor, as compared with after harvest, when rich. This cannot be explained by differences in time available, nutrition, or work effort. Nor can it be explained with stress: Although farmers do show more stress before harvest, that does not account for diminished cognitive performance. Instead, it appears that poverty itself reduces cognitive capacity. We suggest that this is because poverty-related concerns consume mental resources, leaving less for other tasks. These data provide a previously unexamined perspective and help explain a spectrum of behaviors among the poor. We discuss some implications for poverty policy."

"Burden of Poverty Lacking money or time can lead one to make poorer decisions, possibly because poverty imposes a cognitive load that saps attention and reduces effort. Mani et al. (p. 976; see the Perspective by Vohs) gathered evidence from shoppers in a New Jersey mall and from farmers in Tamil Nadu, India. They found that considering a projected financial decision, such as how to pay for a car repair, affects people's performance on unrelated spatial and reasoning tasks. Lower-income individuals performed poorly if the repairs were expensive but did fine if the cost was low, whereas higher-income individuals performed well in both conditions, as if the projected financial burden imposed no cognitive pressure. Similarly, the sugarcane farmers from Tamil Nadu performed these tasks better after harvest than before. Abstract The poor often behave in less capable ways, which can further perpetuate poverty. We hypothesize that poverty directly impedes cognitive function and present two studies that test this hypothesis. First, we experimentally induced thoughts about finances and found that this reduces cognitive performance among poor but not in well-off participants. Second, we examined the cognitive function of farmers over the planting cycle. We found that the same farmer shows diminished cognitive performance before harvest, when poor, as compared with after harvest, when rich. This cannot be explained by differences in time available, nutrition, or work effort. Nor can it be explained with stress: Although farmers do show more stress before harvest, that does not account for diminished cognitive performance. Instead, it appears that poverty itself reduces cognitive capacity. We suggest that this is because poverty-related concerns consume mental resources, leaving less for other tasks. These data provide a previously unexamined perspective and help explain a spectrum of behaviors among the poor. We discuss some implications for poverty policy."

"Visible mending (VM) is different from traditional mending in that it makes the repair a focal point, rather than blending it into the original garment. There are many reasons for this, from drawing attention to the fact that a garment's lifespan has been prolonged and challenging the notion that secondhand clothes are only worn by the poor, to making a statement about fast fashion's reputation for disintegration or simply adding a personalized touch. "

"La decisión de la empresa de cámaras Nikon de rescindir los contratos de servicio técnico de sus dispositivos reavivó el debate por el derecho a reparar. Con la emergencia climática respirándonos en el cuello, una de las tantas preguntas que nos hacemos permanentemente es cómo combatir el consumo acelerado de dispositivos electrónicos. Es decir, cómo lograr que nuestras computadoras, teléfonos y otros electrónicos nos duren lo máximo posible para evitar la extracción de minerales e hidrocarburos y reducir la basura electrónica. En definitiva, de lo que se trata, es de combatir eso que llamamos obsolescencia programada y percibida defendiendo el derecho a reparar. La obsolescencia como motor del consumo La obsolescencia programada es la planificación, en la etapa de diseño, del fin de la vida útil de un producto tras un tiempo determinado de uso. Esta puede lograrse a través de la falta de repuestos, la baja calidad de los materiales, la programación del software, etc. Su objetivo es mantener la economía lineal de extracción materia prima, producción, consumo y descarte, sin tener en cuenta las consecuencias ambientales. Esta estrategia se asienta sobre la práctica de lanzar sistemáticamente al mercado nuevos productos con pequeños cambios de diseño que generen la sensación de que los que ya tenemos están viejos, obsoletos, o ya no sirven, y que necesitan ser renovados a pesar de estar en perfectas condiciones. Esta sensación que genera la falsa innovación se denomina obsolescencia percibida. El caso de las temporadas de la industria de la moda o los cambios año a año en los modelos de los celulares son un claro ejemplo de ello. Esto se logra gracias a grandes campañas publicitarias que asocian el consumo a una serie de valores identitarios."