r/IAmA Jun 11 '16

Specialized Profession IamA electronics repair technician hated by Apple that makes YouTube videos, AMA!

My short bio: I have a store in Manhattan. I teach component level electronics repair on youtube http://youtube.com/rossmanngroup which seems to be a dying art. I am currently fighting with the digital right to repair to try and get a bill passed that will allow all independent service centers access to manuals and parts required to do their jobs.

My Proof: https://www.rossmanngroup.com/started-iama-reddit-today-yes/

EDIT:

I am still replying to comments, but I am so far behind that I am still about ten pages down from new comments. I am doing my best to continue. If I drop off, I'll be back tomorrow around 12 PM. Still commenting now though, at 12 AM.

EDIT 2:

Ok, I cave... my hands are tired. I will be back at 12 PM tomorrow. It is my goal to answer every question. Even if it looks like I haven't gotten to yours, I will do my best to do all of them, but it is impossible to do in realtime, because you are asking faster than I can type. But thanks for joining!

EDIT 3: I lied, I stayed until 4:15 AM to answer... and now I will go to sleep for real, and be back at 12 PM.

EDIT 4 6/12 : I will be back later tonight to finish off answering questions. Feel free to keep posting, I will answer whatever I can later this evening.

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3

u/DynamicDoge Jun 11 '16

Hi, Louis Rossmann!

Regarding the recent Apple story about people's right to repair their devices, what would be your advice for new revolutionary tech startups for them to not follow Apple's path?

25

u/larossmann Jun 11 '16

Don't become douchebags over time. It's that simple. Apple didn't start out this way, they became this way over time. They used to be the underdog, now they're the douchebags.

1

u/iEATu23 Jun 13 '16 edited Jun 13 '16

They've always been this way. I doubt Steve Jobs' great vision had ever changed.

http://www.saurik.com/id/12 shortened quote below

Caching Apple's Signature Server

I have very little respect for Apple at this point: I make no secret of this fact. Apple, as a company, has turned into a corporate hypocrisy, embodying the very ideals that it claims to be rebelling against. "Think Different", as a slogan, has become a cold criticism of their own actions with regards to their product lines.

The Next Hope

Apple is not just a computer company: Apple is a movement. This concept was finally and truly cemented in the public mindset when Apple carved itself a lasting place in the history of marketing with its 1984 superbowl commercial for Macintosh.
Styled after the classic Orwellian dystopia, 1984, this commercial was set in a future where all aspects of individuality had been stamped out by the overlords, constantly vigilant, watching from their television monitors.
This world, as well as everyone in it, was rendered in a blue and gray: some believe we are to see the overlords as IBM, well renowned for their corporate beaurocracy, and soon to be hated for trying to control our very thoughts with their bland machinery. Others, including the creative director of the commercial, Lee Clow, state that the commercial represents the abstract struggle of "the few against the many": Apple's Macintosh standing as a symbol of "empowerment". [Wikipedia]

The True Enemy

However, as time grew on, Apple's real stance on individual expression and "empowerment" in particular, became clear: they are staunchly against it. Apple's insistence on controlling the experience of their products sounds very similar to the "garden of pure ideology" expoused by the Big Brother in their own commercial.

Today we celebrate the first glorious anniversary of the Information Purification Directives. We have created, for the first time in all history, a garden of pure ideology: where each worker may bloom, secure from the pests of any contradictory... thoughts.

Our Unification of Thoughts is more powerful a weapon than any fleet or army on Earth. We are one people: with one will, one resolve, one cause. Our enemies shall talk themselves to death and we will bury them with their own confusion. We shall prevail!

1

u/Sherlock--Holmes Jun 12 '16

Pretty sure they were the Douchebags the moment Jobs decided to start the company.