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

WIRED Investigations · documentary · Watch on YouTube

Manufacturing & industrial processesEmbedded systems & DIY electronicsStartups & entrepreneurship

What it is

A WIRED Future Cities documentary on Shenzhen, covering its hardware-prototyping culture and shanzhai copycat manufacturing. It looks at how the city's ecosystem evolved and what the rest of the world can learn.

Why Hacker News recommends it

Strongly recommended in Shenzhen and hardware threads for its view of fast cycles, loose IP and the maker ecosystem.

  • 8 people recommended it
  • 8 different months
  • 5 strong recommendations
  • first 2016, last 2022

What HN commenters said

  1. “I wholeheartedly recommend WIRED's Future Cities documentary on Shenzhen and the companies that dwell there.”

    Shows the extreme competitive pressure on Shenzhen hardware companies.

    coord, 2016-10 · Strong recommendation · in “Mirai Botnet Client, Echo Loader and CNC source code”

  2. “There's an excellent documentary on the hardware/hacking ecosystem in Shenzhen on YouTube”

    Documentary on Shenzhen's hardware and hacking ecosystem and its fast tech cycles.

    drewmate, 2017-01 · Strong recommendation · in “A 24-year-old made $345K in 2 months by beating Kickstarters to market”

  3. “highly recommend watching the documentary.”

    Detailed look at Shenzhen.

    tmoreton, 2017-04 · Strong recommendation · in “Shenzhen is a hothouse of innovation”

  4. “I'd highly recommend watching this mesmerizing feature on Wired UK”

    A mesmerizing Wired UK feature on Shenzhen.

    smckt, 2017-08 · Strong recommendation · in “Shenzhen: China’s ‘skyscraper capital’”

  5. “For a companion piece I highly recommend this hour long vid by Wired about Shenzhen. It's worth your time”

    Shows Shenzhen's maker mindset reaching buyers, and how the hoverboard fad arose.

    lubujackson, 2018-07 · Strong recommendation · in “Letter from Shenzhen”

  6. “the brilliant Wired documentary on Shenzhen”

    Shows the boundary between the city and urban village, and relocation of 150k people.

    thisisit, 2018-12 · Recommendation · in “Jack Ma: US wasted trillions on warfare instead of investing in infrastructure”

  7. “there's a great Wired documentary on Shenzhen”

    nexus6mike, 2020-01 · Recommendation · in “Shenzhen’s economy under strain: blame the trade war?”

  8. “Item two in a list of loved documentaries, on Shenzhen's copycat manufacturing culture.”

    irsagent, 2022-09 · Recommendation · in “Ask HN: What are some of the best documentaries you've seen?”

Excerpts from Hacker News comments, linked to the originals. Summaries and labels were written by a language model from those comments.

Topics: shenzhen, shanzhai, hardware startups, manufacturing, china

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