Shenzhen: The Silicon Valley of Hardware (Full Documentary) | Future Cities | WIRED

I cannot wait for some type of top-down pressure to force IoT developers to take security seriously. The movement has been pushed into overdrive thanks to insane levels of competition where you either crush your R&D into the smallest breakneck period or you live to see your creation being sold for half of what your budget can allow by other firms lifting your efforts while you're still at the workbench.[1] I've been getting cozy with Shenzhen-based hardware accelerators for the past year as part of a personal side-venture and I have not seen a group so pressured to deliver a product as fast as possible with security being a casual afterthought. To get a decent taste of what it's like, I wholeheartedly recommend WIRED's Future Cities documentary on Shenzhen and the companies that dwell there.[2] Their struggles for ephemeral market-share are endemic of the entire community that's taken over embedded hardware for the past few years. The saddest aspect of it all is that this market competition isn't benefiting the consumer. IoT devices are coming out of the factories poorly engineered, badly maintained for far too short of a time, and as we've learned from this attack, being used as vectors for network intrusion and distributed censorship. Even arduino founder Massimo Banzi's widely-lauded IoT Manifesto[3] fails to approach any comprehensive statement regarding a dev's responsibility to build in some level of security to their devices. It just isn't part of the fast-and-loose cu

There's an excellent documentary on the hardware/hacking ecosystem in Shenzhen on YouTube: [VIDEO] . A lot of people there seem to embrace the ethos of moving fast and ignoring IP laws (both original creator and spoofer) because by the time you get a lawsuit or patent filed, the tech will have moved far beyond what you were trying to protect, and it will no longer be worth your time. Basically, move fast and try to keep up. It's crazy how fast the tech cycles are there.

WIRED UK did a great job going into more detail on Shenzhen, highly recommend watching the documentary. [VIDEO]

If interested about Shenzhen, I'd highly recommend watching this mesmerizing feature on Wired UK: [VIDEO]

For a companion piece I highly recommend this hour long vid by Wired about Shenzhen. It's worth your time: [VIDEO] Things that stood out to me was the maker mindset was so prevalent and competitve that it had filtered down to the buyers. So someone cobbles together some new widget for their phone and starts to sell it. Other people see it selling a nd copy it, but they make modifications. Shoppers see it for the first time and decide they want one with a purple strap, so they shop around until they find it or find someone who will make it that way. This is where the hoverboard fad bubbled up but also how and why it "flamed" out. I think it's a fascinating testbed for technology and creativity and economics.

Whenever people talk about failures of government to build infrastructure I can't help but look back at the brilliant Wired documentary on Shenzhen. It depicts a boundary line between the city and urban village. And government had the power to relocate 150k in a snap to get the development going [1] How many countries can actually do that? Sure, couple of hundreds of people can be moved but 100k people, I am sure that cause a riot of sorts and project shut down very quickly. [1] [VIDEO]

Short-term demand seems to be shifting to Vietnam. This seems to have enabled a 'wait and see' approach re: China + tariffs. However, I'd question if Vietnam has enough long-term manufacturing capacity [1] [2] [3] to sustain the short-term advantage it seems to be currently enjoying. Today, China has 16 of the world's 50 busiest ports, including Shenzhen at #3 (all as measured by 2018 TEU volume). [4] However, this is less indicative of capacity than it is of current demand / throughput. Both countries could benefit from building more deep-water ports. China currently has two Panamax ports, with a third on the way. Vietnam has none and is building its first. The U.S., by comparison, has 42 by my count. [5] Separately, there's a great Wired documentary on Shenzhen: [VIDEO] . [1] [LINK] [2] www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3018403/chinese-manufacturers-returning-home-inefficient-vietnam [3] [LINK] [4] [LINK] [5] [LINK]

Here is a list of 20 documentaries I have come to love and return to when I come across them. There is no specific order to them. Enjoy! The * next to the number indicates the last 4 years. If you have seen one listed that you'd like to share what you think about please leave a comment with this structure [# in the list ] Comment... . i.e. [1] Loved learning about Noyce. What a guy. 1. Silicon Valley: Where the Future | PBS: American Experience [1:23:19] [2013] History of the how Silicon Valley came to be. William Shockley. Robert Noyce. Fairchild Semiconductor, The Traitorous Eight. Homepage: [LINK] Kanopy: [LINK] Where to Watch: [LINK] 2. Shenzhen: The Silicon Valley of Hardware | Wired UK: Future Cities [1:07:50] [2016] the evolution of “Shanzhai” – or copycat manufacturing – has transformed traditional models of business, distribution and innovation, and asks what the rest of the world can learn from this so-called “Silicon Valley of hardware". Youtube: [VIDEO] *2.1. The People's Republic of The Future | Bloomberg: Hello World [30:10] [2019] Shenzhen, tech-fueled entrepreneurs try to navigate an authoritarian regime. Youtube: [LINK] 3. The Pirate Bay Away From Keyboard | TPB AFK [1:22:07] [2013] The history of the Pirate Bay. Torrenting. Legal. Privacy. Homepage: [LINK] Youtube: [LINK] Where to Watch: [LINK] 4. Can’t Get You Out of My Head | BBC [6 Part] [2021] Adam Curtis takes you on "An Emotional history of how we got to this place." Economics. History. Power. Psycholo