According to what was reported by the editorial staff of Grist and a group of shareholders called As You Sow, Microsoft has just started a study, together with a third-party company, to make their devices easier to repair. The ultimate goal would be to make life easier for customers, so that they can get their broken device repaired even in retailers not necessarily associated with Microsoft.
Does Microsoft want to make its devices easier to repair?
As You Sow defined Microsoft’s commitment in this direction as an encouraging step, specifying however that it is, for now, only this: a step. What Microsoft has actually done today is to declare that it will conduct a study, which will be used to guide its future design plans and expand device repair options.
The fact that the Redmond giant has at least shown itself willing to initiate a procedure of this type is undoubtedly important and is more than other tech giants have done when it comes to right to repair. However, without further details it is difficult to say how much impact this study will have.
Furthermore, it is not even clear at the moment whether the public will end up getting these details or not. According to what has emerged so far, Microsoft is expected to publish a summary of the findings by May 2022, although mention is made of the full study, which in all likelihood will remain secret for business reasons. Evaluating whether the company will keep its promise will be quite simple anyway: just understand if it will become easier or less to repair an Xbox console or any other Microsoft-branded device.
In practice, it will be enough for us to wait a few months to discover the truth, and for our part we will continue to follow the news in this sense with great interest.