The Amp Hour

Finishing Prototypes with Zack Freedman

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This is a crossover episode with The Contextual Electronics podcast (also made by Chris). There is a video version of this podcast available as well.

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  • 0:00 Introduction
  • 2:05 What Zack is building (a computer)
  • 2:40 A water cooled oscilloscope
  • 3:40 How Zack got started
  • 4:40 Hackaday article
  • 5:20 Bluetooth heads up display
  • 5:40 Hoboken Hackerspace
  • 7:15 NYC electronics scene
  • 8:30 Working with artists
  • 10:00 Working on the set of Mr Robot
  • 11:05 Doing a first run prototype for a startup
  • 13:10 Building skills in high pressure environments and on consulting jobs
  • 17:45 Working on deadlines
  • 19:10 How many projects are in a single video?
  • 20:45 Building subassemblies
  • 21:30 Building projects "backwards" (outside in)
  • 23:00 Not thinking your idea is the last good idea you'll ever have
  • 24:15 The prototyping mindset
  • 27:00 Ranking risk in a project
  • 29:15 Usability in wearable projects
  • 31:30 "The role of most prototypes is to try to kill the idea"
  • 33:30 What makes people want to buy a prototype?
  • 35:45 Minimizing features in any one prototype / test
  • 36:30 Consumer products should be shown to thousands before going to market
  • 38:00 YouTubers' battle for attention (check out Voidstar Lab to see all of Zack's videos)
  • 41:00 YouTube theories
  • 44:45 Zack's persona
  • 47:00 Filming b-roll to keep things interesting
  • 51:00 YouTube comment positivity
  • 52:25 Maker Twitter
  • 54:00 Full time YouTube
  • 54:20 Changes in the hardware space since 2012
  • 56:40 Prototyping tools
  • 58:30 "The Maker Movement"
  • 59:25 Working for industrial clients
  • 1:01:40 Focusing on the technology vs the purpose of the technology
  • 1:03:30 Building a project because you want the thing (output)
  • 1:05:30 Technology being used to move the world forward
  • 1:07:15 What will Zack build in the future?
  • 1:09:40 The Cyberdeck
  • 1:12:15 Cyberdeck cafe Discord
  • 1:13:10 Building on a stream vs on a video (streams happen on Zack's Patreon every Monday and Friday)
  • 1:14:40 Previously wanting to go into game design
  • 1:16:30 Providing a representation of what people think the process is
  • 1:17:20 People think IronMan is reality
  • 1:18:20 Bringing people into the field
  • 1:20:25 "Finish more projects"
  • 1:23:30 Going beyond the getting started projects
  • 1:26:20 People genuinely interested in a topic will skip beginner classes
  • 1:27:35 Engineering is intrinsically solitary
  • 1:29:30 Trying to figure out gender discrepancies in making
  • 1:31:05 "What's it like to put yourself out there?"
  • 1:32:30 Putting yourself out there will help you find more positive feedback
  • 1:35:05 Building community
  • 1:37:00 Finding Zack's work and joining his community
    • Patreon
    • YouTube
    • Discord
    • Twitter
    • Instagram
    • 1:38:40 Conclusion
      • ...more
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      The Amp HourBy The Amp Hour (Chris Gammell and David L Jones)
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