Comment by spaqin
5 hours ago
We used to have them. Devices so simple anyone with a hammer could fix. Maybe not open source as we understand it today, but rather - trivially reverse engineerable, often with schematics included. Most complex would be rewiring the motor on a washing machine. Did their job fine, but you can't sell them forever, so more complex devices were introduced. Nowadays motorcycles would probably be the closest equivalent, they're often very simple to work on.
> often with schematics included
That was even the norm for complex electronics for decades. But since it makes it easy to reverse engineer it, it's no longer being done due to fear of cheap clones (often inferior, and still doesn't stop anyone these days).
> more complex devices were introduced
And people buys them because they don't care
And have been convinced there is no alternative. And if you suggest investing in public transit or building mixed-use neighborhoods that don't require car access they'll pop their suburbanite heads.