Trabajar de forma remota no es solo una cuestión de productividad; también es un lienzo para construir hábitos y ritmos que sostienen la concentración a lo largo del día. En mi caso, un compañero constante ha sido, irónicamente, una comedia animada: Bob’s Burgers. Durante las jornadas de teletrabajo, el episodio de fondo se ha convertido en una especie de banda sonora que marca el tempo del día, una práctica que, lejos de disminuir mi enfoque, ha construido una atmósfera de trabajo más fluida y predecible.

Este hábito no nace de la distracción sino de la familiaridad: conozco todas las temporadas, desde la 1 hasta la 16, con una precisión que ya roza lo curioso. Saber qué episodio está sonando sin mirarlo se ha transformado en una especie de entrenamiento de atención; una manera de activar recuerdos y patrones de pensamiento que facilitan la toma de decisiones rápidas y la resolución de problemas simples durante tareas repetitivas. Es, en esencia, un ejemplo de cómo la familiaridad nos puede ayudar a gestionar el rendimiento cognitivo sin perder la curiosidad ni la motivación.

Con el tiempo, descubrí que hay quien se atreve a desafiar esa rutina con tests y cuestionarios sobre la serie. La tentación de probar mi conocimiento es grande, pero el verdadero valor reside en la disciplina de mantener un flujo de trabajo constante. ¿Qué significa esto para la productividad en entornos de trabajo remoto? Significa: establecer pequeños rituales que conviertan el tiempo en aliados y no en obstáculos. Si un episodio familiar se convierte en el hilo conductor de la mañana, tal vez ese es el tipo de rutina que merece ser conocida y explicada, no ocultada.

Este artículo no pretende menospreciar la diversión ni la cultura pop; al contrario, busca compartir una experiencia concreta con la que muchos lectores pueden identificarse. En un mundo donde las distracciones abundan y la multitarea parece ser la norma, encontrar una fuente de confort reproducible puede ser la clave para sostener altas demandas de concentración sin perder la calidad del trabajo.

Mirando hacia el futuro, la idea de que la temporada 17 pueda llegar en 2027 abre la puerta a un pequeño recordatorio: las rutinas laborales evolucionan con el tiempo, y siempre hay margen para adaptarlas. Si surge una nueva temporada, y con ella nuevas referencias, también puede aparecer una oportunidad para revisar, actualizar y enriquecer estas prácticas que, aunque simples, han demostrado ser efectivas.

En resumen, la experiencia de trabajar con Bob’s Burgers como telón de fondo ha sido más que un simple pasatiempo: ha sido una estrategia silenciosa para mantener la concentración, la consistencia y un toque de creatividad diaria. Si te encuentras en busca de rituales que fortalezcan tu rendimiento remoto, tal vez puedas considerar tus propias versiones de este hábito: aquello que, sin quererlo, te acerca cada día a tu mejor versión profesional.

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La Ninja Luxe Café Mini Espresso Machine es una versión compacta de la Ninja Luxe Café. No ocupa un mostrador enorme y, al mismo tiempo, reúne varias funciones en un solo aparato: muelas para moler granos directamente en el filtro, pesaje de la molienda, preparación de espresso o café filtrado y espumado de leche. Con este equipo, es posible prescindir de otros accesorios para el café en la encimera.

Aunque he obtenido bebidas deliciosas con la Ninja Luxe Café Mini, es claro que existe una curva de aprendizaje. Aun habiendo utilizado configuraciones de espresso idénticas, a veces el rendimiento varía: a veces sale aproximadamente una onza y otras veces mucho más. El café de métodos de goteo sale de forma consistente y sin contratiempos. También tuve ciertos problemas al espumar la leche: si se coloca una cantidad mínima de leche en la jarra, puede desbordarse y manchar la superficie de trabajo.

A pesar de ser una máquina semiautomática, es necesario algo de fuerza y destreza manual para colocar correctamente el portafiltro en su lugar. Prepárate para un poco de prueba y error. Si te animas a emprender el reto, es probable que obtengas grandes recompensas.

Diseño y rendimiento se complementan para ofrecer una experiencia de usuario satisfactoria con un conjunto muy compacto. A continuación, se presentan los aspectos más relevantes.

– Precio y disponibilidad: la Ninja Luxe Café Mini está ampliamente disponible en tiendas físicas y en línea (Amazon, Best Buy, Kohl’s, Target y el sitio oficial de Ninja). Precio aproximado: 449,99 USD. Color: negro con cromo, una única variante de acabado.
– Especificaciones clave: tipo semiautomático, dimensiones 26,01 cm L x 30,91 cm W x 34,11 cm H, peso 8,6 kg, estilos de elaboración incluyen Espresso (doble), Triple (espresso), Classic (café), Rich (café) y Over Ice (café). Espumador de leche incluido y sin conectividad a dispositivos.
– Diseño: aprovecha al máximo un espacio reducido y ofrece un conjunto completo en una única máquina. Llega con dos cestas de filtro: una más pequeña para doble espresso y una cesta Luxe de mayor tamaño—no hay una cesta para un solo shot, lo cual es una particularidad de este modelo.
– Operación y uso: el proceso implica colocar la cesta en el portafiltro, añadir el embudo, insertar en el grupo molido y seleccionar el estilo de bebida. La máquina evalúa los granos y recomienda un tamaño de molienda; ajusta el dial de molienda para adaptar la textura a la recomendación y pulsa el botón de molienda.
– Molienda y prensado: tras colocar el café molido en la cesta, se tampona con un émbolo asistido que aplica la presión adecuada mediante un resorte interno. El bloqueo del portafiltro en la cabeza del grupo requiere algo de fuerza y estabilidad para evitar deslizamientos, sobre todo al iniciar.
– Estilos de bebida y resultados: cinco estilos disponibles (Espresso, Triple, Classic, Rich y Over Ice). El espresso tiende a presentar crema, aunque la consistencia de la extracción puede variar entre tiradas; el clásico del espresso con crema estable es destacable cuando se obtiene la cantidad adecuada.
– Dado la naturaleza semiautomática, la consistencia no siempre es perfecta. Si buscas una experiencia con tensión de botón único para cada bebida, esta máquina no es la opción ideal; hay variación entre extracciones y un periodo de ajuste.
– Cuidado y mantenimiento: limpieza de piezas en contacto con el café tras cada uso, vaciado y limpieza de la bandeja de goteo entre tiradas y después de espumar leche. Descalcificación periódica. No hay un acceso directo para limpiar la molienda interna.

Desempeño general: la experimento demuestra una curva de aprendizaje clara. En espresso, la extracción puede ser inconsistente en cuanto al volumen; en cambio, las preparaciones de goteo son constantes y satisfactorias. La capacidad de espumar leche mejora con práctica, y la crema de espresso suele ser destacable cuando se logra la extracción adecuada. La máquina ofrece una experiencia de barista en casa gracias a su sensor y a su enfoque de molienda y prensado manual, pero exige atención y paciencia.

Valoración y conclusiones
– Diseño: 4.5/5. El equipo luce bien en la encimera y, pese a su tamaño, integra varias funciones en un solo dispositivo.
– Rendimiento: 3.5/5. Presenta curvado de aprendizaje y variabilidad en algunas extracciones, especialmente para espresso; las preparaciones de goteo son consistentes y satisfactorias.
– ¿Quién debería considerarlo? Quien desee controlar por completo el proceso de elaboración y busca fusionar molinillo, espresso, café y espumado en una sola máquina compacta. Es ideal para quien valora la experiencia de ser barista en casa y no quiere múltiples electrodomésticos.
– ¿Quién debería pensarlo dos veces? Si necesitas resultados totalmente consistentes con solo apretar un botón o si el presupuesto es un factor crítico, quizás convenga explorar opciones más automáticas o modelos con mayor facilidad de uso.

Puntaje total estimado: 4/5. Aunque no es la opción más barata y requiere tiempo para dominarla, ofrece un conjunto muy completo en un formato compacto que puede reemplazar varios dispositivos en la cocina.

Si te interesa ampliar tu comparación, también conviene mirar alternativas como De’Longhi La Specialista Touch para una experiencia más automática y orientada al usuario, Ninja AutoBarista Pro para un enfoque totalmente automático, o Terra Kaffe TK-02 para un lujo tecnológico con control por voz y opciones de diseño personalizables.

Notas finales: el artículo inicial se publicó por primera vez en julio de 2026 y se actualizó con datos de disponibilidad y precios vigentes. Si te gustaría que adapte este texto a un formato de SEO específico o a un público particular, dime el enfoque deseado y lo ajusto.

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Planificar una escapada de verano puede generar inseguridad si dejas la casa sola por semanas. Aunque estadísticamente es más probable sufrir un robo en invierno, el verano también ofrece oportunidades para los delincuentes. Incluso estando en casa, los riesgos aumentan si dejas las ventanas abiertas para tomar aire durante una ola de calor.

Afortunadamente, existen medidas básicas para reducir el riesgo: pedir a un vecino que recoja el correo y los paquetes, y asegurarte de cerrar las ventanas al salir. Pero la tecnología puede ayudar muchísimo. Y no hace falta gastar una fortuna: ahora puedes comprar cámaras y timbres de vídeo por una fracción del precio y gestionarlas fácilmente desde tu teléfono inteligente.

Comienza de forma sencilla. Una buena idea si te vas por un periodo largo es colocar una cámara interior enfocada en la zona más vulnerable de la vivienda, como una puerta trasera. Por ejemplo, tengo una cámara Nest Cam IQ Indoor enfocada en las puertas del patio que comunican con el jardín. Me gusta porque puede grabar cuando detecta sonido (por ejemplo, un cristal roto) además de movimiento.

Sin embargo, hay modelos más económicos de compañías como Blink (propiedad de Amazon), Ring, y marcas chinas populares como EZVIZ, Reolink y Aqara.

Para la entrada principal, uso un Blink Mini 2K+ que también ofrece una campana para el timbre de vídeo para escuchar cuando suena en la casa. Normalmente desactivo el sensor de movimiento durante el día porque se activa cada vez que una persona de la familia abre la puerta, lo que resulta molesto. Pero cuando voy de vacaciones, activo el sensor por si acaso.

Una consideración importante es dónde se almacenan las imágenes: localmente en una tarjeta MicroSD o en la nube. Personalmente prefiero el almacenamiento local, aunque implica comprar la tarjeta por separado. La ventaja del almacenamiento local es que suele ser más seguro (han existido casos de hackeos a servidores y filtraciones de grabaciones) y, a largo plazo, suele ser más económico, ya que muchos servicios de seguridad requieren suscripciones mensuales para almacenar grabaciones y acceder a funciones de IA como reconocimiento facial y descripciones de videos. Aunque estas funciones pueden ser útiles, para la mayoría de los hogares no suelen justificar la cuota mensual.

Exterior: las cámaras y timbres de exterior son imprescindibles para optimizar la seguridad, ya sea verano o invierno. La elección depende de tus preferencias y del tipo de vivienda. En general, las cámaras de exterior deben ubicarse a una altura razonable para obtener una buena visión y para dificultar el hurto. Algunas ofrecen un ángulo de visión amplio (130–180 grados) y modelos modernos, como los pan-tilt, detectan y siguen movimientos automáticamente. Si quieres disuasión adicional, considera un dispositivo con foco potente y sirena integrada. Por ejemplo, la Reolink Solar Floodlight Cam ofrece dos focos y sirena de 110 dB.

La alimentación de las cámaras exteriores puede ser a través de baterías recargables o placas solares. Los modelos como Reolink Solar Floodlight Cam son populares por su batería extendida gracias a la energía solar. Otros como IMOU AOV PT traen conectividad dual (Wi‑Fi y 4G) para superar distancias y obstáculos de señal. Algunas firmas, como IMOU Cell 3C, integran el panel solar directamente, y otras como Baseus S2 combinan cámara con un panel solar innovador que sigue al sol para maximizar la energía.

Cuando piensas en transmitir clips de video al teléfono, la conectividad es clave. En exteriores, la distancia y las interferencias pueden complicar la conexión entre el router interior y la cámara. Una opción es elegir dispositivos con conectividad dual (Wi‑Fi y celular 4G) como referencia para garantizar la transmisión.

Optimizar la configuración: la mayoría de cámaras exteriores son demasiado sensibles y capturan más grabaciones de las necesarias. Esto consume batería y dificulta revisar lo importante. En la app, ajusta las zonas de detección para que solo graben lo que ocurre en tu propiedad y reduce la sensibilidad para evitar grabaciones innecesarias. Si planeas ausentarte por un periodo, conviene activar la detección 24/7; si no, programa grabaciones para horarios en los que la casa esté ocupada.

En cuanto a la calidad de video, muchos dispositivos ofrecen 1080p; algunos, como Baseus S2 y Reolink Altas PT Ultra, permiten 4K. Aunque 4K es útil para acercamientos, suele ser innecesario y consume más memoria y energía. Reducir la calidad ayuda a almacenar más grabaciones y consume menos energía.

Para la visión nocturna, la visión infrarroja es útil en total oscuridad, y algunas cámaras ofrecen visión nocturna en color gracias a sensores de poca luz o iluminación LED integrada.

Para el timbre de vídeo, la comunicación bidireccional permite hablar con los visitantes desde cualquier lugar. Esto puede ser especialmente útil para disuadir a intrusos o indicar instrucciones a repartidores, incluso si estás en la playa. Algunos modelos permiten respuestas automáticas o cambiar la voz para mayor privacidad. Sin embargo, algunas personas pueden experimentar retrasos o latencias, especialmente en entornos ruidosos o con conexión inestable. Los modelos como Ring integran posibilidades de avisos y respuestas automáticas, y varios otros permiten almacenar clips en dispositivos locales o en la nube, con diferentes costos y ventajas.

Soluciones completas de seguridad: si buscas un ecosistema más amplio, muchos fabricantes permiten integrar varios tipos de dispositivos (cerraduras, luces, alarma) en un sistema más avanzado. Por ejemplo, Aqara G410 funciona como una cámara de vídeo y, a la vez, actúa como hub inteligente con puente Matter y router Thread, integrándose con Apple HomeKit, Google Home, Amazon Alexa y Smart Things. Productos Ring pueden controlarse con Alexa y estructurar rutinas para automatizar acciones en el hogar. Las alarmas Ring, además, pueden trabajar con productos certificados a través de una red Z‑Wave cifrada, facilitando la creación de soluciones completas de seguridad.

Protege tu hogar para el verano: con la temporada de vacaciones, es el momento de pensar en la seguridad. Las precauciones básicas como asegurar ventanas y huecos de correo siguen siendo esenciales, pero la tecnología puede ayudar sin necesidad de gastar mucho. Las cámaras interiores pueden costar menos de 70 USD/50 GBP, mientras que las cámaras exteriores y los timbres de video suelen situarse entre 120–250 USD/100–200 GBP. Aunque las suscripciones pueden aumentar el costo total, muchas personas pueden almacenar las grabaciones localmente y evitar suscripciones mensuales.

En resumen, combinar soluciones tecnológicas modernas con una seguridad física sólida proporciona la tranquilidad necesaria para relajarte durante tus vacaciones, asegurando que tu hogar permanezca bien protegido mientras disfrutas de tu descanso.

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Torn ear tips. Snapped charging case. Dented drivers. Like every other kind of gadget imaginable, the best headphones aren’t built to last, and I’d wager that everyone reading this article has some skeletons (of old, ailing gadgets) in their (metaphorical) closet.

In fact, according to a European Union report, in 2024, 51% people kept their old smartphones even though they were no longer using them, and 34% were still holding onto their outdated laptops and tablets. We just don’t know what to do with our old kit.

So, do you throw away your broken over-ear headphones and buy a new pair? Do you hunt down your nearest electronics recycling bank, or donate them to an organization which could use the parts? In recent years, the second-hand tech industry has boomed, with refurbishing and reselling sites such as Back Market and Refurbed ensuring that used gadgets get a second lease of life.

But too often, that first lease of life is all-too-easily abandoned. The tech you might be recycling — or consigning straight to landfill — might actually be easily repairable.

Per the BBC, a survey suggested that 7,000,000 wireless headphones (yes, seven-million) were thrown away in 2022, in the UK alone. And as we’ll explore later, the majority of those may not have needed throwing away.

There’s a simple truth. Gadget sellers are often loathe to admit it, worrying that repairing your own gadgets may affect their bottom line. And as we’ll also soon learn, many companies seem to make repairs really quite difficult.

The thing is, your faulty gadget may be only a quick fix from working like new. From complicated pieces of kit such as AV machines and computers, to white-label toasters and kettles, electronics can often be repaired at home, for a fraction of the cost of buying new… within reason.

The long road to repairable tech

Tech repairability isn’t a new concept, but it’s a rather new debate. Or, at least, it’s one that’s only recently been at the forefront of the news cycle, under the somewhat beige name ‘right to repair’.

For two years now, repairability has been of growing importance to politicians as well as makers. In July 2024, the EU entered into force its ‘Directive on repair of goods’, and since Europe is a major market for tech companies, changes made for the region have been reflected in tech sold globally.

Designed to go hand-in-hand with several other EU policies on eco-friendly design, the repair directive is designed to make your gadgets easier to fix.

For example, electronics makers are now obliged to repair faulty kit, or make spare parts accessible for a reasonable price, so that third parties can do the repairs for you.

There are several knock-on effects to this and follow-up motions, the most reported being that phone makers will have to fit readily-removable batteries, and manufacturers will have to provide tools so you can make repairs yourself. These rules are changing how companies make their products.

However, there are several exceptions: gadgets designed for wet use, including wearables and headphones won’t need to change. And, more importantly, any gadget sold before the European Union’s legislation went into effect will of course miss out on these repairability boons.

Some companies may look for loopholes — but not Fairphone

Before repairability was codified in legislation, it was still a focus for certain brands. One of those was Fairphone, a Dutch brand which began life as a campaign about conflict minerals in tech, and now makes phones and headphones. Miquel Ballester, its Head of Product, explained to us why it made the jump into physical devices:

“You can put the most ethically sourced materials in the world into a device, but if it dies in a year and a half because a battery’s glued in, you’ve undone most of the good you just did”.

He continued: “In the case of smartphones, earbuds, and headphones, repairability was what made the rest of the mission focus on bringing action into the industry. We’ve been fighting this fight for over a decade, long before ‘right to repair’ was something people brought up at dinner.”

Fairphone devices are modular, meaning you can easily remove and replace the screen, camera, batteries, or other parts, all without having to extricate them from a tightly-packed device. The brand sells replacement parts online, so you can repair faulty components at home.

According to Ballester, Fairphone found that making its phones repairable didn’t mean it had to change the performance and style of its products, but there was an impact on the price: “Designing for modularity means you’re working with connectors, seams, and screws instead of glue and epoxy, and that adds a bit of cost compared to a phone that’s built to be sealed shut forever”.

Don’t chase a high IP-rating (when you probably don’t need it)

I also asked Ballester if any components or specs struggle in repairable gadgets. “Waterproofing is the one I’d point to first,” he explained, railing against the trend of tech companies chasing an IP68 rating.

“Realistically, unless you’re taking your phone free diving, IP55 gets you everything you actually need. It holds up against rain, spilled coffee, sweat at the gym, all the situations people actually put their phones through.”

So, not IP68, which guarantees you protection for 30 minutes in a meter of water? “Chasing that rating basically forces you into permanent seals and factory-glued seams, because that’s still the easiest way to guarantee a device survives being submerged.

“We’d rather give you a device that can be opened and repaired for the next seven years than one that survives a swimming pool once and then can’t have its battery replaced. It’s a genuinely difficult engineering line to walk, and I won’t pretend IP68 wouldn’t look nice on a spec sheet, but chasing it would mean compromising the thing we actually care about.”

As mentioned, the EU’s right to repair changes mean that companies may have to sell tools to repair their gadgets. But for Fairphone, that isn’t a problem; they’ve been designed not to require proprietary tools. A Phillips screwdriver is all you need.

But how repairable is tech really?

Just because a company doesn’t make gadget repairability a selling point, doesn’t mean that you can’t easily fix it. To learn more about the repair process, I visited a local community repair shop called Fixing Factory, which operates several locations in London, UK.

Fixing Factory lets residents bring in broken items to get them repaired, but it also operates as a way to train volunteers in fixing household items.

When I visited the Fixing Factory’s Camden location, the streets around the shop were abuzz — England was just hours away from its ultimately-unsuccessful World Cup match against Argentina. But inside the repair shop, a different kind of squad was assembled: a troop of junior repairers (volunteers learning how to repair tech) were being briefed on safety procedures.

As I waited, I got to admire the huge collection of gadgets in various stages of repair (or lack thereof, in the cases of some training toasters). Laptops, vacuum cleaners, radios, even some throwback iPod nanos. Waiting alongside me was an older lady, who’d somehow managed to transport several startlingly-sized antique lamps in a series of backpacks and strollers, all ready to be repaired by the volunteers.

Not all of the Fixing Factory attendees were in training, and I was lucky enough to speak to several of the expert volunteers. They explained to me how to tell if a gadget can be repaired, what to do if you want to fix your tech, and when you should rely on an expert to bring your tech up to spec.

Identifying gadgets as repairable

One repair volunteer, describing themselves as a ‘generalist’ who liked to fix everything, told me how they’d helped create the teaching material for the trainees in the next room and explained how they work out if a gadget can be fixed in the first place.

“The first thing we do is we will safety check the device. If we’ve got a plug, we’ll make sure we do PAT testing [a standardized way of checking the safety of portable appliances], and then everything goes into an RCD [Residual Current Device, which can instantly turn off power if something goes wrong] before we plug it in, and then we’ll do a functional test.

From there, we’ll then diagnose what’s going wrong and sit down with a member of the public, and work with them and go: ‘okay, tell me the story, what happened, what’s not working.'”

From what I was told, about half of the people with broken tech know why it’s broken, either because of their own research or because the fault is obvious. And the other half “just have no clue”.

The volunteer told me about a recent trial the group conducted, in which they went to a local recycling facility for several months, to log the kind of items thrown away and how much was actually repairable.

“We had far in excess of 70% repairability on e-waste. And so I like to think that’s probably reflective of what comes into Fixing Factory locations.”

I was staggered by that number; by the sounds of it, well over half of the gadgets we throw away could actually be fixed!

Stats from a similar study carried out by The Restart Project also found that only 12.4% of electrical devices thrown away were truly at the end of their life span. A further 7.2% needed repairs that were deemed too costly to be worthwhile; 9.5% were economical to repair; 36.2% were working just fine, and for the remaining 34.7% it wasn’t possible to determine what state of life they were in.

Looking back at that 7,000,000 headphone figure I mentioned before, that’d suggest about 2.5 million of them could get back to a state of working just fine. Truly, the trash is not the first destination for faulty gadgets.

Do (or don’t) try this at home

Repair shops such as Fixing Factory are one option for handling your broken tech, but how easy are they to fix at home? (Unless you have a Fairphone product, of course). I spoke to another Fixing Factory volunteer to find out.

Kevin, a student at a local university, told me: “You can literally fix anything if you watch enough YouTube… but it’s pretty complicated”.

He was one of many volunteers who flagged YouTube and the iFixit channel (and website) specifically, as an invaluable source of information for prospective home repairers. The site publishes teardowns, repair guides, and has an active forum to help you understand just how feasible a home repair is.

Sometimes, even this isn’t necessary: “A lot of things are just dirty and need to be cleaned deeply.”

This is something I understand all too well; a deep-clean of my home-built PC recently made me realize that I didn’t need to buy new parts. It was just dusty.

Kevin gave some sage advice: “Take good notes or good photos to make sure you put [the gadget] back together correctly”.

Another volunteer pointed out, though, that online guides and a little clean both play second fiddle to another, more important type of learning: “Sitting down with someone and sharing the experience, I think is something that’s very valuable.”

Not all tech is worth repairing

Most of the advice so far has pertained to smaller electricals and ‘safer’ items, but often you want to fix something more complicated. When I asked one volunteer whether home tech repairs were feasible, I was told: “Is it feasible? Yes. Is it safe? Questionable.”

There are several dangers involved with lithium-ion batteries, the kind of which you find in most portable gadgets, and their predilection for catching fire is chief amongst them. You don’t even have to be repairing them for disaster to strike.

The North London Waste Authority has identified several types of lithium-ion battery-toting gadgets — including smartphones and electric toothbrushes — as major fire risks. According to the organization, which handles waste disposal for seven London boroughs, “electrical items can easily catch fire if they are thrown into general waste and become damaged in waste vehicles”.

A spokesperson told me that, across 2025, they saw at least 20 fires which could be linked to battery combustion. They even shared a video of one such incident, which you can see above. Stats from the National Fire Chiefs Council point to there being over 1,200 battery fires across the UK in bin lorries and waste sites that same year.

And it’s even worse if you’re intentionally trying to fiddle around with them.

“One false move and you can suddenly have a nasty fire,” one volunteer told me, adding, “Equally, when you’re dealing with mains voltage, you can suffer some serious burns, let alone cardiac arrest. I would encourage anybody to find a friendly electrician, or someone with some qualifications, or a place like Fixing Factory.”

Unrepairable tech isn’t a manufacturing accident, as the Senior Workshop Manager and Operational Specialist of the Fixing Factory location I visited, Petra Backovska, explained to me. “Sometimes, you find that tech isn’t built to be repaired, or repaired easily. And if there’s something that wasn’t made to be repaired, they make it really hard for you to do it — you can actually break it very, very easily”.

Backovska identified cheap electronics manufacturers as a prime culprit for unrepairable tech, where important considerations are forgotten in favor of low costs and mass production. But more complex electronics were just as bad: “There could be things that need to have a CE mark on every item [as opposed to one for the entire gadget]”.

This is a mark affixed to most tech products sold in the European Economic Area to show that they’re compliant with European health, safety and environmental standards. It’ll be familiar to anyone who lives in the area; inspect any gadget within arm’s reach, you’ll likely find the mark hidden somewhere.

“So if the item doesn’t have a CE mark, it’s not safe, and we’re not going to touch it anyways. So that could increase the number of things that we turn down, because we just don’t know if it was manufactured safely.”

I was also told that such a mark doesn’t necessarily mean tech is safe: “Sometimes the mark is actually fake, and someone just slapped it on and didn’t actually do all of the standardized testing in the process, which allowed them to produce something in large quantities very quickly, to sell it very cheap. But that also means that the item is not safe.”

So how do you know if something should be repaired at home, or by an expert? Every volunteer advised that, if in doubt, consult an expert or take it to a repair shop: “It’s that classic thing: asking is always the safest way.”

There’s a hard way to learn, and an easy way

Given the risks mentioned, I asked whether repairing tech from home could actually be dangerous, but was told by Backovska, “It doesn’t have to be, but you need to have some training and follow the safety steps.”

“If you jump into something just guessing things, then you’re learning the hard way — and the hard way might be that you give yourself an electric shock. If you don’t have experience with repairing, bring it to your local repair group.”

I was told that Fixing Factory works with regulators, safety experts and product designers in order to create health and safety processes. These are taught to trainee volunteers, many of whom pass them onto customers whose goods are broken.

One of the volunteers I spoke to helped develop the training courses I got to witness, and told me that gadget-specific skills were often passed along, between volunteers and gadget owners.

The money and the waste

At the heart of the matter, two key reasons define why tech repairs are important. The first is economical: it will often be much cheaper to fix a device than to buy a new one. Second is the environmental impact: e-waste is a massive (and growing) problem, and keeping a hold of old gadgets (by repairing them) reduces the amount of clutter in landfill.

I love to quote a United Nations stat looking at e-waste from 2022: apparently, it’d fill roughly “enough trucks to form a bumper-to-bumper line encircling the equator”. Our planet has a gastric band of junk, and hopefully, it’ll push us to stop throwing away electronics. It’s one of the core drives behind the aforementioned EU legislation.

The Restart Project is a UK-based charity which focuses on the right to repair electronics; it lobbies for legislation, helps organize repair groups (like the Fixing Factory I visited) and educates on the state of electronics. I spoke to Fiona Dear, co-Director at The Restart Project, to learn where repairable tech is going in the future.

“We have seen a bit of change [from companies] in recent years, and that’s generally as a response to legislation. Even if the legislation isn’t enacted, [manufacturers’ changes are] in anticipation of legislation.”

At the moment though (and in Europe, at least), this is limited: “There’s only really legislation for two kinds of products. The first is white goods like dishwashers, and there’s been legislation in place for a few years now. And it’s just expanded to smartphones and tablets in Europe — that’s why we’re seeing a difference.

“Unfortunately, there’s nothing much on the horizon for other product categories”. That’s why it’s such a shame that, as mentioned earlier, wireless earbuds have seen a repairability exemption.

A problem of parts pairing

When I asked how technological changes are affecting repairability, one massive problem reared its head, which Dear called out specifically: “Parts pairing”.

Parts pairing is a software limitation some brands apply to their devices. The gadgets will recognize when non-native parts are added, and throw up an error message when you try to use them.

For example, a phone might not let you use a new screen, a pair of headphones might reject their drivers, or a laptop might not play with a battery you install. In fact, software seems to be public enemy number one for tech repairability at the moment.

“A dishwasher or even a toaster, might have some kind of smart element in it,” Dear explained, “which means it’s dependent on software, and software isn’t designed to last for as long as the mechanics of the product”.

As iFixit points out in its guide to parts pairing, this is done by brands to encourage you to use its own repair services, instead of third-party ones (or repairing your own tech at home, using replacement parts). Often, the brand in question has unique access to make these error messages disappear. Dear flagged refurbished smartphones as being especially susceptible to this practice.

“Parts pairing is, in my personal opinion, one of the more cynical practices in this industry”, Fairphone’s Miquel Ballester explained. “Every component we ship, whether it’s a battery in a Fairphone or bud and case battery in Fairbuds, is built to be freely interchangeable”.

But software limitations remain an issue for tech longevity. “The repair experts who point out that software is the real bottleneck are right. It’s exactly why we also treat long-term software support as inseparable from the repairability story”.

The brand’s latest mobile, the Fairphone 6, has a guaranteed 8 major Android updates, one of the longest life spans pledged by an Android maker. For many years, any more than two years’ updates were a rarity, but nowadays companies are offering more and more updates. The Samsung Galaxy S26 and Google Pixel 10 series, for example, both have 7 years in the can.

It takes a change of attitude

When I told peers that I was working on a tech repair piece, I received some intriguing reactions. Some view it as a great way to keep your gadgets ticking along (as it should be), but stories of cowboy repairers abound.

Recently, we covered a story about a Best Buy repairer who downloaded private photos from a broken iPhone, y some people I spoke to seemed to harbor suspicion towards the rows of mobile phone repair shops which line some British high streets.

But the high proliferation of gadget repair stores is indicative of something different: a strong demand for our gadgets to keep working longer. Tech shops aren’t fronts for dodgy dealings; they fix the devices we use every day, which is probably a more lucrative market than narcotics or single-use vapes.

Over the last few years, the rise of AI has driven up memory prices, causing gadgets to cost a lot more money, and new purchases to be more and more of a treat. You’ve surely noticed that electronics purchases nowadays cost a lot more (and bundle in some useless AI tools as a consolation prize, but that’s a gripe for another day).

With no sign of that slowing down, gadget repairs are only going to be more and more important. And so a change is needed: a change in attitude to tech fixing, a change in our own skill sets so we’re able to do so at home, and a change in legislation so that companies have to make it easier for us to mend our ailing electronics.

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