If there was a bunch of pent-up consumer demand for repairable machines, someone would eventually notice, start doing making those products, and make a lot of money.
We can clearly see from existing markets that that is not true.
There is a vast market for repairable phones that run free software and have unlockable bootloaders, but that market isn't significant enough to convince incumbent manufacturers to stop abusive wasteful practices like built-in batteries, proprietary screws, proprietary drivers and locked bootloaders.
In fact, it's the abusive practice itself that constrains the free market.
The market is "vast", yet "not significant enough" for manufacturers to take advantage of it? Doesn't sound vast to me.
If the market was truly vast, someone would start targeting it by selling such products.
Very few people care about free software and unlockable bootloaders on their phones. Very few people in the world even know what a bootloader is, and among those who do, very few really care about unlocking the bootloader on their phone.
Relatively few people care, yet these things still matter. These practices are still abusive.
Should those of us who care about the problem - which is those of use who understand the problem - wait until a literal majority of customers complain to start solving the problem?
Don't use the ideals of a free market to give corporations a free pass to abuse customers. This ideology that regulation is inherently evil and must be avoided at all costs does nothing to help the free market. It only blinds from common sense.
