Last week, Google announced it’s starting a programme to help schools (and potentially students) fix their own chromebooks.
Google says it’s partnered with Lenovo and Acer to make repair guides and certain parts available to schools in the USA:
On our new site, schools can easily identify which Chromebooks have commonly repaired components, like the keyboard, display and palmrest. Online manufacturer guides will also show how to repair the devices, find tools to safely fix them, get replacement parts, find training and get system update access if needed.
Just as interestingly, they’re also framing it as a potential way to get students themselves fixing these devices and developing repair skills.
This comes after Google promised 8 years of OS support for Chromebooks for all Chromebooks released from 2020 onwards, which seems promising too.
But as The Verge points out, there are some limitations, notably around warranty:
Before you make a decision about self-repair, please contact your device manufacturer to find out how your warranty might be impacted. Some device manufacturers can provide rigorous repair training to protect your warranty, and others may recommend self-repair only for out-of-warranty devices.
The full Verge article has more details:
Warranty concerns aside, this appears to be an unusually positive move from Google.
Has anyone spotted any ‘devil-like’ details?