The problem I always have with comparisons to Apple and the like is simply the size of the company and the amounts of sales. Apple has financial accounts, that most countries worldwide can’t even dream of achieving.
Stockpiling parts for millions of phones is much easier, than for 100,000 phones; even more so, when you virtually “own” the factories. Not to mention the fact, that Apple doesn’t really care, if 100,000 parts go waste.
Regarding open source hardware, I have to admit, that it’s new to me.
Still I would guess, that publishing some blueprint could result in legal liability for them, A risk, a company has to be careful to take. But I might be totally wrong there.
Yes, and that’s why there is no comparison with Apple in my message, it’s just that the explanation reminds me of the rhetoric used by Apple. I thought it was clear, but you’re right to emphasize the difference. I wanted in no way say that FP should provide spare parts like Apple does. The question was only about the blueprints and the legal responsibility.
As you say, one cannot compare FP and Apple, and one of the differences is that FP is under EU-law. I would hope that it could be easier for FP to disengage liability than it is in the USA but I don’t have a clue either!
During the 4 1/2 years I had a FP2, I ‘got through’ 7 or 8 bottom modulets - most of them replaced under garantee due to their short life time. It seems to me it was a weak design.
My FP3+ is a much more robust design and I have (so far - after several months use) experienced absolutely no problems.
I agree with your diagnosis of the real cause of the bottom module microphone problem. Squeezing the case tightly in the area of the bottom module got the microphone working again, but it was impossible to use the phone in this manner. I used a bluetooth earpiece instead.
As always, thanks for the feedback shared in this thread. We fully understand your frustration and once again apologize as we realise this would be a challenge for some of you.
Since we launched the Fairphone 2 over 5 years ago, we’ve been working hard to ensure module availability. We stockpiled parts based on future sales and refurbishment projections, while keeping in mind our environmental footprint and minimising e-waste by not producing more than necessary. But spare part sourcing can be challenging, especially as a small player in the electronics industry. This becomes increasingly difficult once the manufacturer of the modules stops production.
To answer the question about blueprints, we understand that there are customers who are already building their own modules. However we unfortunately cannot provide blueprints because the design and manufacture of electronics requires specific knowledge of materials and electronics.
We manufacture a modular device because we believe in empowering Fairphone owners to repair their device in a way that is safe. However, we are also a business and as such we are subject to product liability laws and we have to meet standards of professional duty of care, as already pointed out in a previous comment. So when deciding whether we can share the blueprints with you, and in so doing implicitly endorsing you to make your own modules, we cannot just look at this from a sustainability or an owner’s right to repair perspective. We also have to consider whether making the blueprints publicly available without being able to assess users’ technical capabilities would be considered the act of a responsible manufacturer. This means we have to ask ourselves if we can take sufficient action to ensure the safety of the Fairphone owner and the wider community, and by making this information publicly accessible, we would not be able to do so.
That said, if your Fairphone 2 is still covered by our manufacturing warranty and after troubleshooting it is found that your bottom module needs replacement, then we are able to offer you a replacement bottom module.
To emphasize a point made in the original email – this is not the end of the Fairphone 2. We have enough supply of other spare parts, such as batteries and displays, as well as a major Android upgrade coming up very soon.
I really appreciate your transparency, but the statement I picked out here is obviously very hollow. The Fairphone 2’s life ends as soon as its first module seizes to function that no longer has spare parts available, it’s as strong as its weakest link. Very few people are willing to put up with hardware crippled in ways like “the camera is broken” or “the microphone is broken”. Based on experiences from me and many others, the first component to go is the bottom module, with a mean-time-to-failure that seems to be around 12 months.
Strange argument.
It’s like: we cannot provide software sourcecode because software development requires specific knowledge of programming.
It reminds me of the first open source software discussions 20 years ago.
So we can count on Fairphone in open hardware so we have to do it by our own.
That’s actually like claiming that a car must be trashed once the glovebox has become unusable.
There is still a secondary microphone in the FP2, there is an audio jack for a headset and there is bluetooth for wireless headsets. Without the primary microphone, using the FP2 for phone calls is still possible in more than one way, it is simply a bit more inconvenient.
If you take this quote out of context, then indeed! Luckily I did follow up with:
Which clarifies that I’m talking about components that provide core functionality. “Pedantically” speaking you’re still right because I forgot to be more precise. But looking at the spirit of our claims we agree a lot more than that.
You’re absolutely right in saying that some issues can be worked around with e.g. a headset. My experience with two-week waiting-for-shipping transition periods though is that in practice I’ll miss every call I get because my BT headset is in the last pocket I check, which unfortunately rarely is the first, and pairing takes long enough for the caller to give up. I’ve had to deal with that during job applications, which was an absolute nightmare on everyone involved. And I can’t call with a secondary microphone. Others definitely couldn’t hear me when the primary was gone.
The fact that a workaround might exist doesn’t mean it’s practical or the fault is acceptable. At some point you take your loss and invest in new. For me that point is definitely when the microphone ceases to function and I can’t replace it anymore. I’ve had a pretty good ride with ~5 years, so my disappointment is not so much driven by a feeling of personal unfair treatment by FP or anything like that. Just gutted to hear that this will probably be how my FP2 dies, as the rest of the phone can last me a bit longer. But heck, one component has to be the first that goes. That being said: others who joined later won’t get the same value for money, and I understand their disappointment.
Which circles us back to the first point: the Fairphone 2’s life ends as soon as its first module stops to provide a core functionality and no longer has spare parts available, it’s as strong as its weakest link. I’ll stop short of defining what a core functionality is and let each decide that for themselves. I suspect being able to make a call is high up on that list.
Luckily I’ve never had my bottom module fail to the point that USB doesn’t work. It’s always just the microphone giving up first.
That’s only half of the important information. The following might be even more important, as - at least I from my point of view - would not want Fairphone to risk being hold accountable for any mishaps with DIY bottom modules. And I am absolutely sure, there are enough people out there willing to make such a thing a court case:
However, we are also a business and as such we are subject to product liability laws and we have to meet standards of professional duty of care,
And that’s - in my opinion - the one (slightly important) difference between soft- and hardware. A bad program usually only bricks your phone (bad luck for the user), while bad constructed hardware is more likely to result in serious damage to things or people (bad luck for a possibly unlimited amount of people).
Therefore, when it comes to critical stuff like steerings for cars or medical devices, I would be a bit hesitant to publish the source code as well.
But - honesty to be served - this might all be due to my lack of expertise in this area in combination with my livid fantasy. And I am willing to learn and stand corrected anytime.
EDIT: @RSpliet@urs_lesse
I agree with you both and just want to point out, that for a while the second-hand market or maybe a batch of refurbished modules (if that’s feasible) might prolong the vanishing of FP2’s from the market.
(And I guess, that - outside of this forum - there are many FP2 owners, that are willing to invest in a new phone when some module breaks after 3 years; even if this module could be replaced. Simply because the newer device offers “so much more”. Some have already been complaining in this forum, that even the FP3 is kind of outdated hardwarewise. Not every Fairphone user is that different from the average phone user out there.)
I usually get the Fairphone newsletters but didn’t receive this email (I already checked the spam folder). Does anyone know where I have to subscribe for it? I’d like to be informed about such changes.
Apart from this the bottom module of my Fairphone is still working well since 5 years. I wonder what the reasons are that it breaks that often for others. Maybe if a reason can be found it may help to do something to avoid the damage? And increase the life of your Fairphones.
The question is: Where does the “right of repair” really end?
Can you actually ensure the safety of the Fairphone owner when you allow to open up the phone? I know, this is a provocative question, but what are we talking about here? A bottom module is just a piece of electronics, it neither explodes itself nor is it connected to the battery. And if there was a way to change a Fairphone into a bomb, nobody would need an original device blueprint for that!
“So, that’s it for now. Any questions? You, Sir!”
(This is a meme made with a screenshot of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96XfmrJMlNU , where Bas van Abel originally quoted himself, asking: “Why doesn’t Nintendo want me to open up their devices?” He wanted to repair the Nintendo DS of his son, but “screwed up screwing the screws”. Nintendo mechanically made sure that the device cannot be opened by someone who uses common tools.)
Here is my guess: Failure is due to physical stress.
The first cause for this is simply the flexible design of the phone. When carrying the phone in a (trouser)pocket, it is bending with every movement. And since the bottom module is designed like a “L”, I would guess, that it is reacting even worse to flexing (especially in the corner), than the straight top-module.
Another important reason, I would consider responsible, is using the phone with a USB cable plugged in, while loading, navigating in the car or on the bike etc. The movement of/tear on the cable is - in my opinion - adding to the physical stress.
That doesn’t mean of course, that this kind of handling is mishandling the phone. It’s rather due to the design flaws of the FP2, that a treatment, that is perfectly fine for all the other phones with glued parts, is causing damage.
Ant that’s the reason for the enhanced sturdy design of the FP3(+).
Remember:
All pure guesswork by me. Though I consider it plausible, I might be wrong. There might be some modules with other troubles or of lower quality as well.
Conclusion Handle with care!
If you want to have long time fun with your Fairphone 2.
I suspect that another factor exacerbating the issue is the vibration motor being on the same module as the microphone. That alone shouldn’t cause issues, but if there’s another weakness (insufficiently sturdy soldering, physical problems that cause the pogo-pins to be disconnected from the PCB, you name it…) this could definitely accelerate a fault.
Hello _Chris. My camera failed last month. I became engaged with the annoyance of FP2 failure when I discovered I could only carry on using it with a downgraded 8MP camera.
I think it was my order of a 8MP camera that precipitated my receipt of the email. I find it incredibly annoying that the information in it is not near the top of the Fairphone webpage, which is why I had no qualms about posting its contents in full.
I fully agree that the microphone appears to have failed much more frequently than the USB port in FP2 bottom modules. My judgement that the USB port poses a bigger problem was actually not based on the frequency of its failure but on the – in my eyes – fewer workaround options there are for the charging port. The one workaround would be to use an external charger for the battery – for my taste this would be a bigger hassle than the microphone workarounds.
Some of us happen to have enough knowledge of electronics and materials to recreate the whole fairphone if they had to.
No, you don’t.
AFAIK, no company ever got successfully sued because it provided the schematics and dimensions of its products to its customers and someone got hurt while using this information.
