iFixit

iFixit is a private company in San Luis Obispo, California. The company was founded in 2003, as a result of Kyle Wiens[5] not being able to locate an Apple iBook G3 repair manual[6] while the founders[7] were attending Cal Poly. iFixit promotes the consumers' right to repair, selling repair parts and publishing free wiki-like online repair guides for consumer electronics and gadgets on its web site.[8] The company also performs product teardowns of consumer devices.[9][10]

iFixit
Private
Founded2003
HeadquartersSan Luis Obispo, California
Key people
Kyle Wiens,[1] CEO
Luke Soules, CXO
Websiteifixit.com
iFixit.com
Alexa rank2,554 (September 2016)[2]
Users1,200,000[3]
Content license
Creative Commons BY-NC-SA[4]
No manual was available for the Apple iBook G3

Business model

iFixit has released product teardowns of new mobile and laptop devices, which provides advertising for the company's parts and equipment sales.[11] These teardowns have been covered by PC World,[12] the Mac Observer,[13] NetworkWorld[14] and other publications.[15][16]

Co-founder Kyle Wiens[17] has said that he aims to reduce electronic waste by teaching people to repair their own gear,[18] and by offering tools, parts, and a forum to discuss repairs.[19] In 2011, he traveled through Africa with a documentary team to meet a community of electronics technicians who fix and remake the world's discarded electronics.[20]

iFixit provides a software as a service platform known as Dozuki to allow others to use iFixit's documentation framework to produce their own documentation. O'Reilly Media's Make and Craft magazines use Dozuki to feature community guides alongside instructions originally written by the staff for the print magazine.[21][22]

On April 3, 2014 iFixit announced a partnership with Fairphone.[23]

During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, iFixit and Calprig, the California arm of the Public Interest Research Group, worked with hospitals and medical research facilities to gather the largest known database of medical equipment manuals and repair guides to help support the health industry during the pandemic.[24]

Reception

In September 2015, Apple removed the iFixit app from the App Store in reaction to the company's publication of a teardown of a developer pre-release version of the Apple TV (4th generation) obtained under Apple's Developer Program violating a signed Non-Disclosure Agreement and as such their developer account was suspended.[14] In response iFixit says it has worked on improving its mobile site for users to access its services through a mobile browser.

In April 2019, it was revealed that some Oculus Quest and Oculus Rift S devices contain a physical easter egg reading "Hi iFixit! We See You!",[25] illustrating the fact that device manufacturers are well aware of iFixit.

See also

References
  1. Wiens, Kyle. "Kyle Wiens". kylewiens.com. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
  2. "ifixit.com Site Info". Alexa Internet. Retrieved 2015-11-21.
  3. "Leaderboard". Retrieved 2015-05-18.
  4. "Content Licensing". Retrieved 2013-10-17.
  5. "Triangulation 373 Kyle Wiens, iFixit | TWiT.TV". TWiT.tv. Retrieved 2018-11-19.
  6. "Meet the $21 Million Company That Thinks a New iPhone Is a Total Waste of Money". inc.com. 5 April 2017. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
  7. Wiens, Kyle. "Fix Things, Never Force It: Lessons From Grandpa". theatlantic.com. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
  8. "Where we are coming from". iFixit. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
  9. "Gadget Teardowns". Retrieved 20 September 2016.
  10. "Gadget Teardowns - iFixit". www.ifixit.com. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
  11. How iFixit Uses Teardowns As Marketing 3.0, by Leander Kahney, Cult of Mac Sep. 18, 2009, retrieved July 2, 2010
  12. "17-inch MacBook Pro Gets Torn to Pieces". PCWorld. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
  13. "iFixit Shares MacBook Air Take Apart -- The Mac Observer". www.macobserver.com. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
  14. Brown, Bob (2015-09-30). "Apple gives iFixit app the boot". Network World. Retrieved 2015-10-03.
  15. "iFixit in the Press". Retrieved 15 April 2012.
  16. "iFixit in the Press and Media". www.ifixit.com. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
  17. "I Won't Hire People Who Use Poor Grammar. Here's Why". hbr.org. 20 July 2012. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
  18. Taub, Eric A. (20 July 2010). "Cooling Your Laptop, or Your Lap?". nytimes.com. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
  19. Biersdorfer, J. D. (22 September 2010). "Ways to Remove a Broken Plug". Retrieved 20 May 2018 – via NYTimes.com.
  20. Wiens, Kyle. "Why Fixers Will Save Our Planet". The Atlantic. Retrieved 15 April 2012.
  21. "Make: Projects". Retrieved 15 April 2012.
  22. "Home - Make: DIY Projects and Ideas for Makers". Make: DIY Projects and Ideas for Makers. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
  23. iFixit and Fairphone – Fixing The Cell Phone Problem, IFixit e-mail of April 3, 2014 (web version)
  24. Goode, Lauren (May 19, 2020). "Right-to-Repair Groups Fire Shots at Medical Device Manufacturers". Wired. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
  25. https://www.theverge.com/2019/4/12/18308132/facebook-oculus-touch-controllers-secret-messages-nate-mitchell-apology
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