Entry 001 — The shirt that funds the rest

This is the first entry, so it should say plainly what this project is.

RestoreMyIndependence is an exploration into getting free of big tech — not as a costume, but as a practice. We came out of that world. We watched hardware get glued shut, software turn into rent, and every device get better at watching its owner than serving them. This project is us working the problem in public: making things you can open, repair, modify, and actually own.

Why the first product is a t-shirt

Because hardware costs money, and we'd rather be funded by people than by a platform.

The shirt is a heavyweight washed-black tee. On the front, a flock of birds circling — the feed, everyone moving together, going nowhere. On the back, a spiked chain shattering and one bird out. That's the whole thesis, printed where you can't see it while you wear it, which feels right: the way out is something other people notice before you do.

Fifty units, numbered 001–050 at the hem. Pre-order only — we print what sells plus a small overage, so nothing goes to landfill and nobody funds inventory that doesn't exist. Claim one here.

What the run pays for

The first real hardware: cyberdeck cases. The plan is a standardized 3D-printed chassis — sized for Raspberry Pi-class boards — that mounts inside upcycled shells: dead camcorders, old instrument cases, electronics that deserve a second life. Reliable and repeatable on the inside, one-of-one on the outside.

We intend to sell them three ways: finished units, bare chassis kits, and free downloadable files for anyone who'd rather print their own. That last one is the point. If the files aren't free, we've just built another cage with better branding.

What happens next

Every step lands in this log: chassis sketches, first prints, the first donor shell, what breaks, what we get wrong. If the run doesn't sell through, we'll say so and scale the plan to what it funded. If it does, unit 001 of the case line goes to whoever holds unit 001 of the shirt — that seems fair.

The ledger of claimed units is public. The reasoning is on the why page. The shirt is here.