Restart Party and searching for the roots of grassroots innovation

restart_logo_complete_black1On 11th June 2015, Adrian Smith was interviewed by Dave Pickering, who produces podcasts for the Restart Party. Dave wanted to learn Adrian’s views on Restart activities, as well as put this movement of fixers into some historical perspective. Restart Parties involve groups of people collaborating and acquiring the skills to fix their broken electronic goods. Given that so many devices are so slick and closed as to effectively be designed for disposal, this is actually quite a deviant activity, and a practice accompanied by demands for designing for longevity and repair, as well as reflecting on the roles these devices play in our lives and worlds. As such, they are part of a tradition of grassroots tinkerers agitating for better technologies. You can listen to episode three of the Restart Party podcast here. The other episodes are great!