Geek Tour China 2009

Some readers of this blog may be familiar with my series on “Made in China” — my story of how chumby was manufactured in China. The series was very popular, and I’m glad for that because I think it’s important that the world know more about what’s happening out here in Shenzhen. Instead of just me writing more about the market, I felt the best way to get the word out is to bring more people like you and me out to this place and to show them around, and to have them describe it from their perspective as well. Last year at FOO Camp, I was batting this idea around with Dale and Sara from O’Reilly, and with their encouragement I decided to go for it. Dale connected me with a group of very talented geeks who could benefit from the tour, and PCH (chumby’s manufacturing management company) graciously hosted the event, providing logistical support, local knowledge, factory connections and good cheer to the tour. Currently we are in the heart of Shenzhen wandering around factories, markets and other interesting places.

Above is a group shot from when we visited the plastics factory that does chumby’s injection molding. The attendees on the tour include Leah Buechley, Tom Igoe, Jeevan Kalanithi, David Merrill, Windell Oskay, Eric Schweikardt, and Nathan Seidle. Check out their respective blogs for their perspective on technology in China!

(Photo above copyright Tom Igoe, posted with permission)

4 Responses to “Geek Tour China 2009”

  1. Florin says:

    That’s great bunnie, I’ve worked with PCB companies from Shenzhen and I always wanted to see how their factories look, and how the whole province fits together with all those factories.

  2. […] Wow.  We’ve been in Shenzhen, China for only a few days and there is already way too much to talk about in one post.  As you know, faithful reader, Dave and I are in China thanks to Chumby’s Bunnie Huang and the geek tour ‘09 – a trip which is in large part being generously hosted by PCH.  We have visited plastic factories, electronics factories, textile factories and shoelace factories.  We have visited fabric markets, electronics markets and very gray cellphone markets.   Our goal is to better understand how to manufacture hardware products at scale but we are learning so much more. […]

  3. That’s great bunnie, I’ve worked with PCB companies from Shenzhen and I always wanted to see how their factories look, and how the whole province fits together with all those factories.
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