What should we take apart next?
Whether you’re an electrical engineer, mechanical engineer, industrial designer, product marketer, or just a curious human, taking apart devices to peek under the hood can be educational and eye opening, not to mention a whole lot of fun. Here at informal, we’re big fans of a teardown and have been building our little library over the past couple of years. Now we want to expand it, and you can help!
Got a suggestion for what we should tear down next? Let’s set the rough criteria as being less than $300 with an eye for clever features, technology, form factors, you get it. The goal is always to learn something new and valuable by looking at how others design and implement — and, of course, to be entertained. We’d love to hear your suggestions, and better yet, we’d love to feature your teardowns. Email us if you have something in mind you’re itching to take apart and document.
Coming down the pike here, product design engineer (and informal cofounder) Sam Holland is planning on tackling the Teenage Engineering Riddim synth — after he and his son have a blast playing with it, naturally, as well as an old Panasonic VCR – because why not?! We’re excited that electrical engineer and informal member Utsav Gupta plans to tear down a shiny new Lego Smart Brick via the Smart Play Darth Vader TIE Fighter. Meanwhile our friends at Hardware Is Hard might join us for another collab, and engineer Justin Riley will be revealing the secrets of the classic waffle maker he took apart.
For bonus points, how cool would it be if we connected with an engineer or designer from the company that makes the product to get their take on our teardown? Naturally, that might not be as easy with classics like VCRs and waffle makers, but we plan to give it a go with newer gadgets. We <3 collabs.
Check out our teardowns to date, and let us know what you’d like to see next:
Google Pixel Stand
Softmatter Silicone Sensor
Tile Sticker
SimpliSafe Motion Sensor
Simplisafe Keypad
SimpliSafe Temperature Sensor
SimpliSafe Water Sensor
Wyze Doorbell Part 1: Waterproof housing
Wyze Doorbell Part 2: Electronics
Nokia 3310
Fujifilm Instax Mini 8
Green Toys Boat
Flaus versus Floss
informal is a freelance collective for the most talented independent professionals in hardware and hardtech. Whether you’re looking for a single contractor, a full-time employee, or an entire team of professionals to work on everything from product development to go-to-market, informal has the perfect collection of people for the job.