Had a talk with my niece about fixing her phone that made me question my own rules

She brought me her phone with a cracked screen, a pretty easy fix, but the battery was also shot. I told her I'd do the screen but she should just get a new phone because the battery is glued in and it's a pain. She looked at me and said, 'But you fix things, that's your whole thing. Isn't the hard part the point?' We talked for like twenty minutes. She's in high school and really cares about not throwing stuff away. I've always said some repairs aren't worth the time, but she asked how much time I'd actually save her dad buying a new $800 phone versus me spending an hour with a heat gun and some glue. It hit different coming from a kid, you know? Made me feel a bit lazy for writing off certain jobs. How do you guys decide when a glued-in battery is worth the fight versus telling someone to upgrade?

3 comments

3 Comments

ericnguyen10d ago

Whoa, glued in battery? That's the part that got me. You just said it like it's normal! I remember when you could pop the back off and swap a battery in thirty seconds. Now you need a heat gun and prayers you don't pierce the thing. It's crazy they design them like that on purpose. Makes you wonder if the "hard part" is the point for the companies, not the fixers.

janab8210d ago

Wait, you need a heat gun just to change a battery now?

clairer7910d ago

Isn't the real problem that we just accept glued-in batteries as normal now? I mean, maybe we shouldn't have to fight that hard to fix basic stuff.