Spare part availability

Framework Laptop 13
1

Hi,
do you have some ideas for how long you will gurantee spare part availability.
So if i will buy a Framework Laptop January 2022, can i get the same modules for let’s say 3 years?

greetings

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Hi @Guenter_Matthaeus! We haven’t released any specific guarantees around availability, but we certainly plan to support it for at least that long. Many of the parts that will wear out over time are unlikely to need replacement within the first couple of years (hinges, batteries, etc), so we know that long-term availability of replacement parts is a necessity.

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This is a great question! I also appreciate your answer - it’s difficult to create guarantees for young companies.

I have a follow-up question to the original: will you be making the designs open-source (or at least available) so that folks can create their own replacements in the future?

I feel like this would be the way to get around the chicken-and-the-egg question about longevity before the company has been around for a long time.

Thanks,
Neil

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We’re currently preparing a documentation package for Expansion Cards to make it easy to develop new ones. This is something we’re looking at for other module specifications as well.

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I hope the documentation is available in multiple languages besides English to support non-English speakers. Is it possible?

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Hi David - I think that we can probably help there! If the community is large enough we can crowd source translations if not available!

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Wouldn’t it be nice if the spares were available down to Board level. :grinning:
A man can dream…

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@Ben_S From what I understand you will be able to get parts off of places like digi key. For repair shops they can apply for schematics as the board is outsourced

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I have seen mentions of spare parts marketplace in the promotional materials, however, I cannot find anything of the sort on the website. When will it be possible to order/see prices of spare parts for the framework laptop?

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I believe they’re planning on launching the market place soon.

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@reyman yeaah soon is a bit of a relative term. Depending on context it could mean a few weeks or a few months. Given that repairability and spare parts availability is such a big selling point, I feel like we should at least be able to get an idea of the types of parts available and their pricing. Right now the absence of that info seems pretty noticeable. :confused:

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How can I get access to the marketplace? It’s not officially done yet?

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As Jerry Pournelle used to say in his column “Chaos Manor” in BYTE magazine, “It will come Real Soon Now!”.

This was said quite often after promotional announcements and early releases were reviewed.

I wish Nirav and the team well as they:

  1. Respond to issues with batch 1.
  2. Prepare for future batches
  3. Deal with supply chain issues.
  4. Learn even more about what they delivered
  5. Prepare firmware tweaks
  6. Build up inventory to support a marketplace
  7. Build up a marketplace website
  8. Prepare to ship to more regions
  9. Work with Linux distros for full support
  10. And whatever else is in their plans

I don’t know the priorities assigned to all they have planned, but I want them to be a success.

Real soon now, these things will happen.

So far, very happy with my batch 1.

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And on top of all that, hiring folks to get it all done is a bear. They need people who are willing to be on the team! And are qualified. That alone takes a huge effort.

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