Local Neon

How regional supply chains gave shape to the alluring glow of neon. | Continue reading


@theprepared.org | 1 year ago

On Flight Decks

Why do modern flight decks still have so many buttons? | Continue reading


@theprepared.org | 1 year ago

On Stretch Rap (and containers and shipping)

The diaphanous material that expands and stretches to hold together the containerized world. | Continue reading


@theprepared.org | 1 year ago

The Prepared: a newsletter about engineering, manufacturing, and infrastructure

News, education, and resources for hardware engineering, manufacturing, and logistics. | Continue reading


@theprepared.org | 2 years ago

On Geofoam

On the enormous polystyrene blocks supporting modern civil infrastructure. | Continue reading


@theprepared.org | 2 years ago

Ise Jingu and the Pyramid of Enabling Technologies

Our buildings are often long lived things, capable of outlasting the society that produced them. The Egyptian Pyramids are still with us, thousands of years after the civilization that produced them collapsed. The shrine of Ise Jingu is an interesting contrast to this - the build … | Continue reading


@theprepared.org | 2 years ago

Supply chain analysis of iPhone 5c cases and the pencil marks hidden inside them

On Apple, SABIC, Jabil, and the actual people who made the iPhone 5c's iconic plastic cases. | Continue reading


@theprepared.org | 3 years ago

Production Marks – The Prepared

On Apple, SABIC, Jabil, and the actual people who made the iPhone 5c's iconic plastic cases. | Continue reading


@theprepared.org | 3 years ago

Tool Guide

Looking for the highest quality tools out there? Our curated, tested tool guide gives you the best recommendations for hand tools, MRO, and manufacturing engineering equipment. | Continue reading


@theprepared.org | 5 years ago

Building a Cathedral

St. John the Divine, megaprojects, and the spatial triad. | Continue reading


@theprepared.org | 5 years ago

It's *hard* to develop hardware products in Africa

Comparing product development stories across the continent At a conference in Nairobi two years ago, an engineer visiting from Rotterdam stunned me with how easy it was for his team to order electronic components: an order for a BLE chip placed on Thursday evening would be fulfi … | Continue reading


@theprepared.org | 5 years ago

A recycling expert on Apple's “100% recycled aluminum” Mac enclosures

The 2018 MacBook Air is being touted as the “greenest Mac ever,” with a “100 percent recycled aluminum enclosure” being offered as primary evidence. What does Apple’s aluminum recycling program really add up to? We talk to an expert in the global scrap market to find out. | Continue reading


@theprepared.org | 5 years ago