Field Notes

Why I Started Building My Own Portable Infrastructure (Building Nomad: Part I)

A look at my tried-and-true travel systems and philosophy, and why I'm building my own pocket infrastructure node for computing.

May 13 • Neil Hawke

The Great Leap Forward… This Time With Robots

China leads the world in robotic factory automation. At a critical moment, they're pivoting from outcompeting on cost to outcompeting across the board.

Mar 14 • Neil Hawke

Myth and Mythos: The American Industrial Worker

How a nation built on industrial labor convinced itself that nobody wanted the job, and what the 2020s reshoring wave reveals about the future of U.S…

Feb 8 • Neil Hawke

From Sand to Smartphone: A Field Guide to the Electronics Stack

The essential guide to how electronic goods are made, layer by layer, for consumers, and industry newcomers.

Dec 22, 2025 • Neil Hawke

Christmas Dispatch: Two Small Towns That Quietly Run the Holidays

How Oregon forests and a Chinese manufacturing hub shape Christmas across continents.

Dec 8, 2025 • Neil Hawke

Special Dispatch: Normal Computing’s Thermodynamic Chip

Noise, heat, and the next frontier in AI hardware

Oct 30, 2025 • Neil Hawke

From Highways to High Tech: Vietnam’s Bid for Electronics Relevance

As global supply chains rewire around risk, Vietnam’s next leap won’t be built in factories, it’ll be paved on its roads.

Oct 16, 2025 • Neil Hawke

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