Hardware mashups & small-scale efficiency: Shanzhai culture
February 28, 2009 — Abigail Hamilton
I am the first to complain about the shoddy craftsmanship that our thirst for ever-lower prices on goods has brought to bear. I mean, I buy a dustpan and it doesn’t work. The edge is too thick, so a line of dust doesn’t go in. And then it cracks because the too-cheap plastic is degrading quickly. For example.
So I’m interested in making globalized manufacturing work better. I posted earlier about Bunnie Huang of Chumby’s thoughts about manufacturing in China. (His challenge was to ensure the Chumby was made in ethical factory circumstances 100% to specification.)
That was interesting but thanks to my fabulous Slashdot RSS subscription, I found a truly fascinating is new post at Huang’s blog about small hardware mashup firms. They form a subculture called S
Shanzhai that can produce small-run knock-off and innovated electronics with feature swaps and other modifications (iPhones with user-replaceable batteries, anyone?). They work cooperatively with each other through an open BOM system, and remain tightly knit until a firm goes legit and is thus out of the fold.
The post is great and includes a lot of thought about production and distribution models that support innovation, and the comments are just as interesting. Some really good thinking and questioning about IP rights, zoning regulations, creativity, economics, North Philly blight, you name it!
Oh yeah, and the WSJ covered Shanzhai as well.
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