140: Physics Is the Same Everywhere
Andrew 'Bunnie' Huang, creator of the Novena open source laptop and author of Hacking the Xbox, discusses his new book, The Essential Guide to Electronics in Shenzhen, which he funded via Crowd Supply. He explains the cultural and economic differences between prototyping in China versus the US, noting that Chinese factories use manual assembly with higher defect rates but lower upfront costs. Huang also reflects on the value of open hardware for privacy, the challenges of self-publishing physical books with unique features, and his desire to use his engineering skills to help society.