⋆ welcome to punk engineering ⋆

by amira sinclair

Proposal Letter

Intro

I am writing to propose my final research project: an analytical and investigative report examining the shift from tinkerable, user-repairable technology to rigid, cooperation controlled consumer products. I intend to use the influence of the shift from a tinkerable community of music sharing devices to a subscription and capital driven subscriptions has influenced music, and describe how music lovers are reclaiming music and music technology. Delving into music tech will serve as a gilding case study and to discuss how the right to repair and the accessibility of customization within engineering designs impacts people and society. As a whole project will explore how engineering and design choices have systematically removed users' ability to repair, customize, and truly own their devices—and why reversing this trend matters for both individual empowerment and sustainable innovation.

The Problem and Opportunity:

Over the past three decades, consumer technology has undergone a transformation toward capital-driven consumerism. The devices were once once easily deconstructed, customized with colorful modifications, and repairs (boomboxes, Walkmans, CD players, etc.) have been replaced by sleek, sealed products designed for planned obsolescence rather than longevity. This shift represents more than aesthetic preference for the thinnest, shiniest model; it reflects deliberate engineering and business decisions that prioritize control and profit over user autonomy. As the right-to-repair movement continues to gain momentum and concerns about e-waste intensify, there is both a need and an opportunity to examine how we arrived here and chart a different path forward. Although streaming has become the dominant form of media consumption, we are starting to see a resurgence in analog forms of music listening (CD/Record/MP3 players), as music lovers seek to reclaim agency and community. As someone is seeking to develop a more active relationship with music through building a CD and MP3 collection and engaging in local music spaces, I have felt how tinkering with my devices and buying/borrowing pieces locally has broadened my relationship with music tech. The personal stake in reclaiming music as an art that is integral to my identity and community is part of what drives this research, but the implications extend far beyond music players to devices like tractors, smartphones, medical devices, and the very philosophy of how we design technology for public good.

Background and Context

Preliminary research reveals a documented pattern across industries. As Amy Zhang notes in Limn's obsolescence issue, planned obsolescence has become embedded in product design, from consumer electronics to agricultural equipment. The John Deere tractor controversy exemplifies how corporations use proprietary software and restrictive contracts to prevent farmers (who own expensive machinery outright) from performing basic repairs. Similarly, the evolution from customizable Walkmans to locked-down iPhones represents what I term a shift from "punk tech" to "hyper-controlled tech", i.e. from decentralized, user-modifiable systems to centralized, monitored, and artificially restricted products. The right-to-repair movement, championed by advocates like Kyle Wiens of iFixit (Limn's obsolescence issue), argues that this shift harms consumers, stifles innovation, and creates massive environmental waste. Meanwhile, research on "punk urbanism" in Kigali (explored in A New City for the End of the World) demonstrates how communities worldwide are developing insurgent, decentralized alternatives to top-down technological solutions. These examples suggest that "punk engineering", a design that prioritizes openness, repairability, and user empowerment, could produce viable alternatives to current industry practices.

Research Plan and Objectives

This project will combine literature analysis, case studies, and firsthand documentation to build both an analytical framework and practical recommendations. My research objectives include:
1. Analyze the technological shift: Document how and why consumer technology evolved from tinkerable to rigid, examining business models (planned obsolescence, subscription services), design philosophies (form over function, proprietary systems), and legal frameworks (copyright, warranty restrictions).
2. Establish "punk engineering" principles: Drawing on the ethos of punk rock's DIY culture and the open-source movement, articulate design principles that prioritize user agency, repairability, customization, and decentralization.
3. Provide concrete case studies: Use music players as the primary thread, interview author of a local punk music zine, attend local punk shows, supplemented by agricultural technology (John Deere tractors), to demonstrate patterns across industries.
4. Document alternatives in practice: Include my DIY MP3 cassette player project as a working example, citing the Instructables community and other grassroots innovation networks that embody punk engineering principles.
5. Offer engineering recommendations: Provide actionable design guidelines for engineers and product developers who want to create more sustainable, user-friendly, and ethically designed technology and everyday people who want to examine or reclaim their techno-agency.

My research will draw on:

• Limn 11: The Obsolescence Issue and Design after Capitalism for current movements against planned obsolescence.
• Right-to-repair advocacy literature and/or legal cases
• Punk Urbanism chapter from Kigali: A New City for the End of the World for insurgent design models
• Instructables and maker community MP3 Player documentation
• Technical documentation of personal DIY MP3 Player
• Accounts from people in the local STL music/punk scene (Zine Author/KWUR 90.3 FM)
• Industry examples (Apple, John Deere, Tesla, streaming services, etc)

Conclusion

This project addresses a critical intersection of engineering ethics, consumer rights, and sustainable design. By examining how we've lost the ability to truly own and understand our music technology, and documenting alternatives that restore that relationship, this research offers both a diagnosis and a suggestion. For engineers and designers, it provides a framework for more ethical product development. For everyday users, it offers a path to reclaim agency over the devices that increasingly mediate our lives.

Sources:

• Image 1: Instructables.com
• Image 2: KWUR 90.3 FM
• Image 3: Library of Congress

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