A self-described adventurer, maker and hacker, Scotty Allen embarked on a nine-month journey to see if he could assemble an iPhone 6s from parts he bought in Shenzen’s Huaqiangbei electronics district.
Allen documented his experience as he explored the “hacker’s paradise” with help from guides and translators along the way. He calls Shenzhen his new obsession and has started a blog titled Strange Parts and a YouTube channel aimed at revealing what he discovers along the way.
Allen says Strange Parts is:
- An exploration of every back alley, industrial market, and tiny workshop I can find.
- Stories that dive deep beneath the surface of technology and the world around us.
- An investigation into stuff that’s not quite correct. It’s a crack in the mirror of normalcy that allows us to peer into the inner workings of the world.
- Not your average technology documentary. No fluffy bullshit – just a real engineer and hacker telling real stories with as many real details as I can share. Shakey camera, bad audio, and all.
- Not your average “maker” site. We want the real details of how stuff actually works, and we want to know how to do it ourselves. Not a dumbed down, over simplified, whitewashed toy version.
Allen’s YouTube video is nearly 24 minutes in length and covers many details of buying the parts and the assembly process.