Meet a Shenzhen Maker: Mr. Chen

Re:Meet a Shenzhen Maker: Mr. Chen by i386 on Tuesday January 22, 2013 @01:28AM (#5095862)

> Imagine if the massive empty complexes along the 101 in Silicon Valley gets repurposed to be hacker spaces and dorms

I sympathise with your intent but that sounds like a sweatshop to me.

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Re:Meet a Shenzhen Maker: Mr. Chen by lifeisstillgood on Tuesday January 22, 2013 @02:19AM (#5096001)

I kind of agree. However if you put up an advert here saying

" three years in a dorm in SF - running your own Shanzen style mini fab company, no time wasters".

You will get hundreds of genuine people willing to do the sweatshop thing.

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Re:Meet a Shenzhen Maker: Mr. Chen by alaskamiller on Tuesday January 22, 2013 @04:28AM (#5096302)

Those poor college aged kids and their sweaty dorms enjoying the benefits of youth, low overhead, access to information, and sharing knowledge.

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Re:Meet a Shenzhen Maker: Mr. Chen by batgaijin on Tuesday January 22, 2013 @07:42AM (#5096790)

Slaves, really.

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Re:Meet a Shenzhen Maker: Mr. Chen by msutherl on Tuesday January 22, 2013 @10:58AM (#5097691)

And what of working retail, or in a factory?

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Re:Meet a Shenzhen Maker: Mr. Chen by derleth on Tuesday January 22, 2013 @05:01AM (#5096383)

> that sounds like a sweatshop to me.

No, for one fundamental reason: The people in real sweatshops don't have any other realistic option. The people in the proposed complexes along the 101 would have the ability to say "screw this" and go do something else.

I once had the idea that wealth really means having options. I don't know if that's universally true, but it certainly applies here. Silicon Valley is fundamentally wealthier than the areas where sweatshops which are sweatshops spring up.

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