[Codejunkie] has written up a great explanation as to why we mod. He’s specifically talking about the Sony PSP, but many of the points he makes carry over to any modding. Though the “why” question may seem like a no brainer to most of us, we do hear it a lot. We strongly suggest you take a few moments to read his article.
Who hasn’t been asked this question? We all have different reasons to mod things. Some people do it to make improvements, some people do it just for the fun. He lists some of the more practical reasons and makes some insightful comparisons.
For example, he likens some modding to making personalizations to your car. Has anybody asked why you put a custom shifter knob on? No, because we are used to this, just as they are used to being locked out of their electronics. He also talks about products that are crippled from the factory. We’ve covered this situation on Hack a Day before. Is it wrong for you to want your product to function to its built in potential?
He covers a few thoughts on homebrewing software for the PSP as well. There’s no reasonable explanation for why you shouldn’t have full control over something you own.
Great article- a recent crippleware issue I dealt with;
Sansa E250 Doesnt Support SDHC cards
-but if you “mod” it and install ROCKBOX firmware
IT DOES…..
I mod so that I can give it to the man, and take back what is rightfully mine!
I mod because I can. Nothing of mine stays “stock” for very long, simply because I know there’s more potential for the device than what was sold to me. Lets see… I modded my old ipod (before it had a rather bad meeting with the floor…), my dad’s Canon S50 camera, my PSP, my phone (free internet baby!) and my car (only 8k miles and already modded.. please help me…) Its not so much about personalization as it is complete ownership, because modding means that 1) You are in control and 2) You are now responsible. It takes the fear out of breaking warranties and cracking open things that the manufacturers never wanted you to see. Have I totally borked something cuz of modding? Hell yeah, but the risk/reward factor is often too great to pass up.
why do i mod? it made a xbox1 SO MUCH more enjoyable, i use it EVERY day while most people let theirs sit and do nothing.sure i could have used a computer, but everyone that comes over can use a xbox, everyone loves to play old school games and halo.. and all the data shared on my network sure helps keep me entertained.
NDS’s without flashcarts are just useless to me, i love to toy with games (edit), and they give me the ability to do that. plus i only have to carry around a NDS- no carts. (even though its my girls DS)
my phone? cingluar 8525 running WM6.1 waiting for more android development.
i’m a poor geek, mods make cheap technology do great things.
my answer is simpler than all of yours. I mod because I /can/ that is it.
i mod because i love manipulating electronics to do exactly what i want
I mod, therefore I am.
For as long as I’ve remembered, I usually enjoy dismantling and modding things more than actually using them. For instance, I’m not really good at any FPS, but I love making maps for them. I can’t explain WHY this is, but I just love tweaking things in hopes of making them better, and when they work, it’s just a feeling of pure ecstasy.
i mod for two reasons
first one, simply improving my own life. making it more efficient. I want.. No, I /need/ my devices to be as efficient and capable as they can be, because wasting perfectly useful resources “just because”, is just wrong.. it’s logically wrong.. plus, i am not only improving my own life, but also that of those who live in the place
and second one – because i am not rich, i don’t have money to buy the “nice” stuff.. for most people, that would mean not having it. if they can’t afford it, they will not have the luxury. for me, it means that i will somehow make something similar myself… but, as long as i can, i will never deprive myself from something just because i have no money.. and this is where modding el-cheapo stuff to do neat things comes into play
I hack for additional functionality. While ‘teh hax r kool’ if one hacks to show off, or be alternative, IMHO thats not in the true spirit of hacking. I would usually classify hack as making the object at hand do something the creators did not intend. Perhaps this shortcoming is due to an overlook or done deliberately. If you can add functionality at little or no expense of everyday usability, sign me up!
BTW:
Funny you say that, 36chambers, as Rockbox is officially supported by sandisk. They sent the main guys a bunch of dev units to efficiently port rockbox over to the sansa platform. After that, I’m not sure what happened to the relationship (I’ve been out of the Rockbox loop for a bit) but yeah :-)
my answer is a bit different from others. I mod because i can touch it. that sounds a bit disturbing at first but if you are in the IT world pretty much nothing i do is really tangible. yeah great so i’m a freak with document control routing and as a DBA but at the end of the day often i feel like wow i accomplished nothing. lately one of my more enjoyable modding hobbies has been welding. A buddy wanted to put a tv that raised and lowered in his car, who really knows why and i didn’t care. I told him i would fab it up for him if he purchased the metal. He has a total of $40 in materials invested into this beast (not including the actuators) where every place in town was quoting a couple grand. it is fun to do something and actually see and be able to touch your work.
I mod for the adrenalin…
@ h_2_o: Hell yeah I am with you man.
While I am not very _experianced_ with electronics I mod just about everything that I buy in some way or another. If not for more power or features just to sit back at the end of my day and say “Look what I can do!” I am a carpenter by trade so working with my hands is a daily task, but, fabing something like you mentioned for a friend (I do stereos quite often) or setting up a computer to run it best instead of letting your neighbor buying a new one is what its all about for me.