When Kobo introduced their new ereaders again in April, one of many promoting factors was the truth that they made them consumer repairable so clients may purchase substitute components if one thing breaks.
They put up a Kobo Restore Hub on the iFixit web site with restore guides and lists of components you could purchase for every mannequin. Nevertheless, not one of the components are literally accessible to buy.
It’s been three months now and there’s nonetheless not a single substitute half in inventory.
Granted, there’s in all probability not lots of people on the lookout for substitute components so quickly after the brand new units have been launched, however I’m positive there are some new Kobos on the market with damaged screens and cracked plastic covers.
Think about how annoying it could be when you had a damaged Kobo proper now, and also you couldn’t purchase substitute components for it though Kobo advertises it as being consumer repairable. Issues like cracked screens and circumstances aren’t coated by the guarantee so in these circumstances you don’t have a option to do an trade.
It’s bizarre how Kobo made an enormous deal out of their units being repairable, and but you continue to can’t really restore them even when you needed to at this level. Firms can say their units are consumer repairable all they need, however when you can’t purchase the substitute components then what good does it do?
It brings up another questions as effectively. Like, how lengthy is Kobo going to supply substitute components for every mannequin? Are they nonetheless going to be accessible 10 years from now? How about 15 years from now?
Promoting units which can be consumer repairable sounds good in principle, however it solely works when you can really purchase the substitute components someplace. To this point Kobo hasn’t lived as much as that facet of the deal.
