Several years ago, Louis Blessing’s wife asked for his help replacing the battery in her laptop. An electrical engineer by training, Blessing figured it would be a quick fix. But after swapping out the old battery for a new one and plugging the laptop in, he discovered it wouldn’t charge.
It quickly dawned on Blessing that the laptop recognized he had installed a battery made by a third party, and rejected it. It’s a classic example of a practice known as parts pairing, where manufacturers use software to control how — and with whose parts — their devices are fixed.
“To me, that is a garbage business practice,” Blessing told Grist. “Yes, it’s legal for them to do it, but that is truly trash.” After the failed battery swap, Blessing’s wife wound up getting a new computer. CONTINUE READING