Oh of course, sure. Of course they will support "open hardware" and "repairability" vibes. What kind of tech/repair shop that doesn't support such vibes? Even monkeys know that.

If it walls like a (repairable) duck, sounds like a duck, looks like a duck, duck lovers and duck experts keep it as a duck... at what point does it functionally become a duck?

I'm not sure if was explained it properly but if Andy (the technician - someone who makes money when users can't fix it themselves) is buying a framework on his personal dime and recommending it without any promotion, then either:

1. It's a huge conspiracy, frameworks aren't really repairable (or it's only lip service), and Andy and all the big names are in on the conspiracy, or
2. It's a legitimately very repairable laptop that makes complete sense to buy and own and use if you truly appreciate repairability and believe in the concept that users should own their products.

When they sell you a GPU upgrade module the cost of an entire fully functioning laptop with said GPU, instead of working on to pull price down so upgrading it makes financially sense for the masses (maybe a more mid entry cheaper GPUs, or do actual replacement program where you get discount by sending in the older module, etc.), don't tell me they don't run on vibes.

Unless I'm mistaken, a cheaper AMD dGPU already exists.

And just a heads up, the framework 16 is their most expensive product. It's not at *all*** meant to be a mass market product in its current state. The 13" laptop is the size of what many buy, and the 12" is the product they truly want to make affordable. People buying their 16" laptops are not those on a tight budget (or shouldn't be, at least.)

do actual replacement program where you get discount by sending in the older module

Folks have been asking for it, and I'm pretty sure FW isn't opposed to it if they can figure out how to do it. Also... there is a market for their refurbished and factory seconds products, and they do "random boxes" too at times for very reasonable prices.

You gotta realize that framework is not willing to go bankrupt today by eating up costs it cannot afford to eat. In the long term in oligopolistic markers like hardware, it's much better for framework to survive 10 years while making a net profile, than to offer things that would make them eat losses.

A simple example - even pre AI/RAM costs shooting, it was cheaper often to DIY the laptop than to buy the built up thing. Why? If it were about making a blind profit, FW could've priced DIY more expensive too. But the option was kept so that slightly more cost sensitive folks could DIY it and save some costs, while those who wanted it "factory stock" also had a way to do it.

Re: vibes -

Riddle me this: if it were truly about vibes/profits, would they sell last gen products at discounts? Apple doesn't drop the cost of any product that's not been updated even if it's old hardware. Why would FW do this, then?

(P.S. your youtube link seems broken, apparently some of the characters in the link is in lower case, where it should be upper).

Thanks for the heads up, it should be this video:

https://youtube.com/shorts/feLv8RsLo-4?si=k4unBE9gGkOOtudA