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Shenzhen: The Silicon Valley of Hardware [video] (2016)

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Re: Shenzhen: The Silicon Valley of Hardware [video] (2016)

#32

I don't know much about HW development but recently I wanted to play around with making a smart quadcopter to play with ML - so I'm looking in to what would be required on the hardware side. Devboards I see online with a high powered ARM board are in 150-200$ range for the devboard without camera/sensors and with stuff I don't need (network ports, display ports, etc). Then I look at my 150$ Chinese smartphone (Xaomi…

Pi 3 or Zero, perhaps?

The parts aren't really available on the open market, but your best bet might be to get a secondhand phone with a broken screen.

There are also people designing dedicated "arduinocopter" boards and suchlike, which have a microcontroller, motor controllers, and IMU all on board.

Re: Shenzhen: The Silicon Valley of Hardware [video] (2016)

#35
post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>profoundly illiberal government that has no goals other than its own survival and that's supported by a lot of human misery, This is common misconception. China is authoritarian country but it's not a totalitarian dictatorship. Chinese government actually has problems of controlling it's population and people are not afraid to show their displeasure with protest and riots when things are wrong. Politically modern Ch…

> They are not forced to work in Foxconn, they choose to work in Foxconn in exchange of enough nutrition. That's totally untrue. People who come from the country side can't change jobs like that, they need some kind of permit to change jobs and sometimes they are actually forced to work somewhere. The job market in China is clearly biased against the worker, there is no real freedom of work for a large amount of peop…

Let me guess, you live in the US and think you live in a completely free democracy?

Re: Shenzhen: The Silicon Valley of Hardware [video] (2016)

#37
post #35
post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> They are not forced to work in Foxconn, they choose to work in Foxconn in exchange of enough nutrition. That's totally untrue. People who come from the country side can't change jobs like that, they need some kind of permit to change jobs and sometimes they are actually forced to work somewhere. The job market in China is clearly biased against the worker, there is no real freedom of work for a large amount of peop…

Let me guess, you live in the US and think you live in a completely free democracy?

This is not an argument.

The OP took the time to write up some actual criticisms and you've waved that off with "you must be American". That's not fair criticism. You can be disenchanted with American democracy and still see Chinese authoritarianism as far worse.

Do you have any response to the OP or are you just going to wave them off?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_China

Numerous human rights groups have publicized human rights issues in China that they consider the government to be mishandling, including: the death penalty (capital punishment), the one-child policy (which China had made exceptions for ethnic minorities prior to abolishing it in 2015), the political and legal status of Tibet, and neglect of freedom of the press in mainland China. Other areas of concern include the lack of legal recognition of human rights and the lack of an independent judiciary, rule of law, and due process. Further issues raised in regard to human rights include the severe lack of worker's rights (in particular the hukou system which restricts migrant labourers' freedom of movement), the absence of independent labour unions (which have since been changing[3]), and allegations of discrimination against rural workers and ethnic minorities, as well as the lack of religious freedom – rights groups have highlighted repression of the Christian,[4][5][6][7][8][9] Tibetan Buddhist, and Falun Gong religious groups. Some Chinese activist groups are trying to expand these freedoms, including Human Rights in China, Chinese Human Rights Defenders, and the China Human Rights Lawyers Concern Group. Chinese human rights attorneys who take on cases related to these issues, however, often face harassment, disbarment, and arrest.[10][11]

Re: Shenzhen: The Silicon Valley of Hardware [video] (2016)

#38
post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>profoundly illiberal government that has no goals other than its own survival and that's supported by a lot of human misery, This is common misconception. China is authoritarian country but it's not a totalitarian dictatorship. Chinese government actually has problems of controlling it's population and people are not afraid to show their displeasure with protest and riots when things are wrong. Politically modern Ch…

> They are not forced to work in Foxconn, they choose to work in Foxconn in exchange of enough nutrition. That's totally untrue. People who come from the country side can't change jobs like that, they need some kind of permit to change jobs and sometimes they are actually forced to work somewhere. The job market in China is clearly biased against the worker, there is no real freedom of work for a large amount of peop…

>they need some kind of permit to change jobs and sometimes they are actually forced to work somewhere.

Your information is outdated. China is changing rapidly. Things that were true 20 years ago are not true anymore.

It used to be that people had to be part of a work unit. In return people received free housing and were assigned a job. This is not true anymore. People can move around the country relatively freely, they can pick their job and buy their house. On the other hand they may have to live in the street and or go on without a job.

Big companies like Foxconn provide housing etc. and may try to control their workers, but people can quit and leave. They even have strikes. Chinese workers still don't have right to organize, but sometimes collective bargaining is allowed at factory level.

Chinese government still restricts workforce moment into some areas to prevent formation of slums in the cities.

Re: Shenzhen: The Silicon Valley of Hardware [video] (2016)

#39
post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> They are not forced to work in Foxconn, they choose to work in Foxconn in exchange of enough nutrition. That's totally untrue. People who come from the country side can't change jobs like that, they need some kind of permit to change jobs and sometimes they are actually forced to work somewhere. The job market in China is clearly biased against the worker, there is no real freedom of work for a large amount of peop…

>they need some kind of permit to change jobs and sometimes they are actually forced to work somewhere. Your information is outdated. China is changing rapidly. Things that were true 20 years ago are not true anymore. It used to be that people had to be part of a work unit. In return people received free housing and were assigned a job. This is not true anymore. People can move around the country relatively freely, t…

What about hukou?

In November 2005, Jiang Wenran, acting director of the China Institute at the University of Alberta, said that the hukou system was one of the most strictly enforced apartheid structures in modern world history.[56] He stated, 'Urban dwellers enjoy a range of social, economic and cultural benefits while peasants, the majority of the Chinese population, are treated as second-class citizens.'[56]

Kam Wing Chan (陳金永 Chén Jīnyǒng) and Buckingham's (2008) article, "Is China Abolishing the Hukou System?"[30] argues that previous reforms have not fundamentally changed the hukou system, but have only decentralized the powers of hukou to local governments. They conclude that the hukou system remains active and continues to contribute to China's rural and urban disparity.[31]

In March 2008, over 30 leading intellectuals wrote an open letter to the Government, asking for the "immediate abolition of the rural-urban dual hukou system." In 2008-09, web posted essays remarked the Hukou system as a "caste system" of China, and "China a great country of discrimination."[32] The system is currently only partially enforced, and it has been argued that the system will have to be further relaxed in order to increase availability of skilled workers to industries.[33]

I understand that there has been some reform, but it still exists.

Re: Shenzhen: The Silicon Valley of Hardware [video] (2016)

#40

I don't know much about HW development but recently I wanted to play around with making a smart quadcopter to play with ML - so I'm looking in to what would be required on the hardware side. Devboards I see online with a high powered ARM board are in 150-200$ range for the devboard without camera/sensors and with stuff I don't need (network ports, display ports, etc). Then I look at my 150$ Chinese smartphone (Xaomi…

Check out the neo platform that comma.ai is building for self driving vehicles. It is meant for cars not drones but it might be a good starting point for you: https://github.com/commaai/neo
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