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The Factory of the World - Documentary On Manufacturing In Shenzhen

Posted by samzenpus on from the how's-it-made dept.

szczys writes: This Hackaday documentary (video) looks at the changing ecosystem of manufacturing in the Pearl River Delta (Shenzhen, China) through interviews with product engineers involved with the MIT Media Lab manufacturing program, Finance professionals in Hong Kong, and notables in the Maker Industry. Worth checking out for anyone thinking of a hardware startup or just interested in how hardware gets made.

34 comments

  1. "Documentary"? by Doub · · Score: 5, Informative

    It's half a dozen interview of westerners slapped together with a background music, with poor sound recording on top of that. It hardly deserves the "documentary" qualifier. And if you expect to see any manufacturing done in Shenzhen, you'll be disappointed.

    1. Re:"Documentary"? by Sponge+Bath · · Score: 2

      No cats? Screw that.

    2. Re:"Documentary"? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Didn't know that they allow youtube access in China and you out of the cage.

    3. Re:"Documentary"? by gl4ss · · Score: 2

      not to mention that there's no mention of who they are, just talking.

      it's like it's lacking final edit. sheesh, even gamer youtube stuff is better edited. this is just pointless babble without even a clear objective.

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    4. Re:"Documentary"? by KGIII · · Score: 2

      I would penis the blond unless she is pear shaped. The top looks good. Did I mention I would penis her? I would.

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  2. Far more opportunities there by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This province alone has more engineers and programmers than the whole US

    1. Re:Far more opportunities there by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1

      That's what she said! (The alien programmer from Sirius about Earth...)

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  3. Re: The Factory of the World - Documentary On Manu by Desiree+Hindenburg · · Score: 1

    What was that annoying hum on the background? No really, what was it?

  4. Re: The Factory of the World - Documentary On Manu by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I believe they call that... "music"... poor kids these days... what are they going to do when the power goes out?

  5. "Maker Industry" isn't a thing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's called having a hobby. Or it's a job. It's not both.

    1. Re:"Maker Industry" isn't a thing by ArcadeMan · · Score: 1

      It's an industry that sells hardware to people who have this hobby.

      I just received my Raspberry Pi 2 to build a tiny arcade cabinet (yeah I know, quite original) and without the "maker industry" I would probably be forced to make a bigger cabinet using a mini-ITX computer motherboard or pay multiple hundreds of dollars for an industrial SBC without any community support built around arcade and console emulators.

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  6. Ah ... sour grapes ! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Even if what they have produced are 'crap', as you said, they are still much better than what you can pump out

    Get out of your mother's basement sometime, kiddo!

  7. 2 thumbs up by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I for one found that to be a great watch. Shared it on slack with my coworkers and shared it to my tech friends on facebook. As for the hum, it drew me into the first 20 minutes of the doc with this suspensful feeling only to realize what was actually going on. I like that trick. Great share.

    1. Re:2 thumbs up by SpaceManNH · · Score: 1

      Well said, i totally agree

    2. Re:2 thumbs up by Desiree+Hindenburg · · Score: 1

      Ok, thank you. But the next video you shoot, please consider at least muting the hum while the people are talking.
      Thanks again.

  8. Re: The Factory of the World - Documentary On Manu by TheGratefulNet · · Score: 1

    is it, at least, good old amercian 60hz hum or that evil commie 50hz variety?

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  9. Hackaday Heartburn by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    This video was remarkably consistent with Hackaday's web presence. They took some excellent starting material and then screwed it up in an effort to be "cool". The ridiculous audio drone is perfectly analogous to the "super cool" black background that visually obfuscates the Hackaday webpages.

    The Hackaday project pages also demonstrate a resemblance to the video. The information in the video was interesting, but there was no underlying development of an idea. Likewise the Hackaday project pages take lots of great information and dump it onto a template that often obscures the excellent work being done.

    I actually visit Hackaday regularly because they offer the meat and potatoes that I crave. It's just too bad that they drown it in all their special sauce.

  10. They misspelled "Hellhole of the world" by sethstorm · · Score: 0

    Given that it's made with a labor market that depends on a constant supply of desperate people, no thanks.

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    1. Re: They misspelled "Hellhole of the world" by DNS-and-BIND · · Score: 4, Informative

      nope. Workers in Shenzhen are highly mobile and if they don't like something, they walk out and get another job across the street. Bosses moan they have to pay more and more to keep workers on the job. It sounds like you were a victim of the NPR fake story that said things were like that. Seriously, it was a total lie, the journalist just went there and told a story about what he wished were true instead of investigating the conditions on the ground. It was widely reported when it came out and we're going to be dealing with the fallout for years to come. Facts != narrative.

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    2. Re: They misspelled "Hellhole of the world" by Zontar+The+Mindless · · Score: 1

      I can see you've not actually been to Shenzhen recently. I have.

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    3. Re: They misspelled "Hellhole of the world" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I've lived in Shenzhen for 5 years. Double that in China overall. You're claim is bullshit. There's a huge supply of workers but a small supply of jobs. Even someone who's flunked out of econ101 could figure that one out. Not to mention the mentality of the Chinese which doesn't have the kind of gumption you're describing. You sir are a fool and a liar. Much worse than the media you rail against.

    4. Re: They misspelled "Hellhole of the world" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I do so hate when my is claim is bullshit.

    5. Re: They misspelled "Hellhole of the world" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I was there last week, is that recent enough for you?
      I visited 6 different factories / suppliers during my stay.
      The factories that have difficulty with high turnover of workers are the ones that can not provide 2-3 hours overtime per day during weekdays, normal workday on saturdays and free sundays + national holidays. The workers expect it and as he said, they are highly mobile.

      I don't know what you were doing in Shenzhen, but visiting factories probably wasn't it.

    6. Re: They misspelled "Hellhole of the world" by ArcadeMan · · Score: 1

      I was there last week, is that recent enough for you?
      I visited 6 different factories / suppliers during my stay.

      Mike, is that you?

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    7. Re: They misspelled "Hellhole of the world" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Shenzhen sexpats are total scumbags. "gumption"? Where's your confederate flag, ol' boy?

      Actually, it is much worse when journalists lie. If he's lying, which he's not, how many people will read it? Journalists affect millions of people at once. This story will be gone off the front page by tomorrow, and 90% of Slashdot readers don't even read comments.

  11. Can't watch it. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It appears that the makers of this so-called documentary have never actually made a documentary before. Talking heads with very little to no B-roll to cut away to and make it more interesting, terrible audio, and an uninspiring opening with dull shots of skyscrapers. Yawn.

  12. Sounds like you're a victim of the PRC's lies. by sethstorm · · Score: 1

    Nope, but don't let facts get in the way of *your* narrative!

    Nice bullshitting by Apple, though.

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    1. Re:Sounds like you're a victim of the PRC's lies. by DNS-and-BIND · · Score: 1

      http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2012/03/16/148761812/this-american-life-retracts-mike-daiseys-apple-factory-story

      A highly popular episode of This American Life in which monologuist Mike Daisey tells of the abuses at factories that make Apple products in China contained "significant fabrications," the show said today.

      "We're horrified to have let something like this onto public radio," Ira Glass, the show's executive producer and host said in a blog post today. "Our program adheres to the same journalistic standards as the other national shows, and in this case, we did not live up to those standards."

      The 39-minute piece aired in January and TAL says after 888,000 downloads, it became its most popular podcast. The story is compelling: It tells of the awful working conditions of Chinese workers making shiny Apple products like iPhones and iPads at factories owned by a company called FoxConn, which also manufactures products for other electronics giants.

      The piece essentially made Daisey Apple's chief critic and it also inspired a Change.org petition that collected more than 250,000 signatures demanding that Apple better the working conditions at the factories.

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  13. Along those lines by jafiwam · · Score: 1

    Along those lines but better done. "Manufactured Landscapes" is a documentary that in part, contains lots of shots of factories in China.

    Preview on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

    1. Re:Along those lines by KGIII · · Score: 1

      Here it is on Hulu if you can stand the ads:
      http://www.hulu.com/watch/4635...

      At least I am assuming it is the same one. I did not verify it and I have JavaScript disabled so I did not double check. Should be though, it is from Google Video search. Will watch later.

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