Fusing the JTAG port

One thing has really been dwelling on my conscience since I interviewed with a certain mobile device manufacturer. They disclosed something to me which could very well be common practice for a large part of the industry, but really shouldn't be.

For those unfamiliar with JTAG, it's a programming / testing methodology for highly integrated circuits and chips on a circuitboard. Essentially, JTAG is a software-controllable circuit probing method that goes where hands cannot. Manufacturers have used it for a long time to mass-program their mobile devices. All of phone's firmware can be programmed at once through this interface, even if that firmware lives on multiple chips.

However, some chip and mobile device manufacturers have taken it upon themselves to actually fuse the JTAG port, so that once it's been programmed, that interface can be burned - made permanently, electrically disconnected. While this is good on some levels for security purposes, it has the awful side-effect that the device can never be re-used or refurbished. When a device can never be reused or refurbished, it often ends up in the scrap heap, just like billions of other mobile phones.

Aside from restricting the owner's freedom to do as he or she whishes with the mobile device, the Free Software Foundation would also term such manufacturing practices as 'defective by design'.

Why Don't Manufacturers Build Mobile Phones to Last?

I bought a Motorola L2 14 months ago from a Fido store in Toronto - I was quite happy with it, considering that all I really ever want in a cellular phone is the ability to talk. The L2, although nothing special by today's standards, was a major step up for me because it had a colour LCD (Wow!!). Aside from that, it was my first major introduction to Google Mobile applications, such as Gmail and Google Maps. I was quite satisfied with the Motorola L2 - until the keys became completely unresponsive! Yes, only 2 months after the warranty had expired, the keys became fully unresponsive! I brought the device back to the nearest Fido outlet and they said it was most likely a short circuit they would not replace the handset, understandably, but also would not repair it. My L2 had not done much more than sit on a desk for the year that I owned it. Usually I used it for little more than a watch! It never got wet or experienced a single fall! Maybe dust was an issue, but it really shouldn't be.




In my opinion, if portable electronics are not built to last, then the manufacturers should be providing either recycling or repair facilities directly to the consumer. There are an estimated 130 million mobile phones disposed of annually in the U.S. alone!
In many cases, a large portion of the mobile phones depicted left were probably fully functional when they were disposed of. In many other cases, a replacement part is all that's necessary to restore the phone to its original fully working state.

I fell back to my previous mobile and it works marvellously!! That was a much more modest device - a DRASTICALLY more modest device than what is common by todays standards. It was a Siemen's A56, with a monochrome display ;-) These sort of devices were built to last !!

Oddly enough, you never see mobiles like this being sold in North America anymore, because the retailers have told us that we need colour LCDs, with games and cameras, and iTunes built-in. But if the phone doesn't work as a phone, what good is the rest?

The Siemen's should be fine for me until the OpenMoko / eo1973 GTA2 is being sold to the general public.