
Bunnie Huang’s “Hardware Hacker” book is in print - Tomte
https://boingboing.net/2017/03/09/making-and-breaking-hardware.html
======
acidburnNSA
I bought a copy when it was discussed on HN back in March and loved reading
it. I lent it to some like-minded builders-of-things at work and they loved it
too and sold it on a few others. It's super inspirational and down-to-earth,
like yeah you can just go to Shenzhen, learn the ropes, and get your ideas
manufactured whole-sale if you just go out and do it.

I loved the heirloom laptop idea that he made, and was inspired by the on-
board GPIO to discover the FT232H breakout board that Adafruit sells
(basically GPIO over USB) and now I have a cool "swiss army knife" for my PC.
Sure made it easier to read precise measurements from my digital protractor
while calibrating my DIY star-tracking camera mount.

That's just a little idea, but this book gets big ideas spinning in your head.
Highly recommended.

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apetresc
Worth noting that the author's other book in a similar vein, "Hacking the
Xbox", was made freely available by No Starch Press in a kind of protest after
Aaron Seartz' death:
[https://www.nostarch.com/xboxfree](https://www.nostarch.com/xboxfree)

~~~
tomcam
Correction: the late, keenly missed Aaron Swartz

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j_s
Basically says "the book is out"

[https://amzn.com/dp/B06XDHKV94/](https://amzn.com/dp/B06XDHKV94/) $17.99
e-book

> Publication Date: March 15, 2017

\--

The Hardware Hacker: Bunnie Huang's Tour-De-force |
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13284784](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13284784)
(40 comments, Dec 2016)

> zcarter: _Prominently featured in a recent documentary on manufacturing in
> Shenzhen. Recommended:[http://www.wired.co.uk/video/shenzhen-full-
> documentary](http://www.wired.co.uk/video/shenzhen-full-documentary) _

> endgame: _It 's published by nostarch, so if you get it from them directly
> you can get a DRM-free ebook:
> [https://www.nostarch.com/hardwarehacker](https://www.nostarch.com/hardwarehacker)
> _

> billpollock ( _founder, no starch press_ ): _It 's based on bunnie's blog
> but one of our editors poured her heart and soul into this. She's a EE with
> incredible passion._

~~~
geomark
Up vote for that video on wired. Really interesting.

------
payne92
Note: this book has been in print for a while, since March, 2017.

I love bunnie's work and I got this book as soon as I could. It's good, but a
little uneven: it felt like stitched-together blog posts (which much of it
is), without good unifying threads.

I do recommend it though, especially for entrepreneurs contemplating a
hardware startup. The war stories are a reminder of how _hard_ it is to build
and ship reliable hardware, and how you can get tripped at every turn.

------
rjzzleep
I've been contemplating for a while, how much does it make sense to move to
Shenzhen for a while to understand how production works. How important is it
to speak Mandarin ? Are there companies hiring, where I could get a glimpse
into that?

Of course like many others I'm spoiled by SF salaries, however I've noticed
that there are huge numbers of valley hardware startups and crowfundings and
most of them fail when it comes to actual production.

Ps. I'll probably get this when I'm home, but am curious if any of these
questions are answered there.

~~~
flachsechs
i'm guessing it's more useful to speak cantonese in shenzhen.

if you don't speak either, hire a translator.

~~~
Taniwha
No, Mandarin - Shenzhen is a new city, people have come from all over China -
some people do speak Cantonese, but almost everyone speaks Mandarin

------
kirillzubovsky
Reading it as we speak. For a noob in hardware, it's a very good read that
highlights some unexpected aspects of Chinese manufacturing. Sometimes the
book takes a turn from a high-level overview and jumps into minute details,
but you can always just skip those parts for now.

If you don't want to buy a book, there is a video on YouTube about him which
talks about many things covered in the book. It's about an hour long.

Edit: here's the link to that Wired video, "Shenzhen: The Silicon Valley of
Hardware (Full Documentary)" >
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGJ5cZnoodY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGJ5cZnoodY)

------
VectorLock
Amazon link without affiliate tag of a dead blog:

[https://www.amazon.com/Hardware-Hacker-Adventures-Making-
Bre...](https://www.amazon.com/Hardware-Hacker-Adventures-Making-
Breaking/dp/159327758X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1505140861&sr=8-1&keywords=hardware+hacker)

~~~
falsedan
> _a dead blog_

lol & nodding in agreement

What's with the breathless write-up in the article?

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philsnow
I wonder the the author controls the pricing, check out the pretty price graph
over time:
[https://snap.philsnow.io/2017-09-11T08-33-57.uht5fvfr2cro9pf...](https://snap.philsnow.io/2017-09-11T08-33-57.uht5fvfr2cro9pfxn7f8.png)

------
contingencies
Anyone looking to learn about the Shenzhen hardware scene is welcome to join
us here on a nontrivial project for either a paid internship or (with relevant
skills, experience or motivation) a full time position. Minimum commitment 12
months.
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15157396](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15157396)

------
agumonkey
his video of mitm a cpu through a fpga was flabbergasting

~~~
spiderjerusalem
sauce?

~~~
agumonkey
I think it was this one
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXlUQHhgcUk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXlUQHhgcUk)

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sqldba
I would like this to be on Audible, but it seems neither of their books are.

~~~
rocktronica
There are a lot of great photos and PCB closeups that obviously won't
translate into narration.

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fiokoden
Strong recommendation. I shall buy, but not through your affiliate links.

~~~
MatthewWilkes
BoingBoing seems to be nothing but advertising these days, I sometimes still
go to it out of habit but I feel so marketed to every time it loads.

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plastroltech
Holy shit Boing Boing.

~~~
VectorLock
I know right.

