As the owner of a phone and laptop repair shop in San Diego, Tony Heupel says he often faces roadblocks. Products seem intentionally designed to be difficult to fix, he says, and it’s not always easy ...

John Fadel claims he can fix anything that plugs in. The inside of his shop, American Electronics, is a testament to that. The walls are lined with radios from the 1930s, speakers, VCR players, and ...