Believe it or not, the Amish are loving electric bikes

> In some ways, doesn't this put the Amish squarely in the "hacker" demographic?

Yes. You might enjoy this article [1].

[1] https://kk.org/thetechnium/amish-hackers-a/

I think that's stretching the term. Self reliance is part of a lot of ways of living but central to 'hacking' is transgression of boundaries and repurposing of tools in unorthodox ways and that's very far from the Amish spirit. Hacking inherently has a tolerance for risk and experiment that conservative adoption of tech tries to avoid.

I think it's true that the Amish deserve respect as craftspeople, but it's still important to maintain some critical distance. They are still deeply religious folks, with orthodox views who cede a lot of control to their local pastor. I would not know much about it other than that they are very heterogeneous, but it appears that there is a steady stream of folks who want out, and those who exit get shunned by their previous communities.

Do you control the photovoltaic cells production or the lithium cells supply chain?

Probably not…

> In some ways, doesn't this put the Amish squarely in the "hacker" demographic?

I would say: "No."

Hacking is about making objects (very often computers in a general sense, but hacking is not restricted to it) do things that the creator did not intend them to do, and is often against the intention of the creator of the object.

In this sense, a central component of what makes hacking what it is, is subverting things.

Amish culture is, on the other hand, about obeying the rules of their culture. So, what the Amish do is self-sufficiency, but at most very rarely hacking.

The Amish has a more intentional approach to technology than a lot of us.

They don't consider just the benefit but the downside.

It’s the same as any other religion or hobby. Follow the rules you like and either ignore, bend, or change the ones you don’t.

Like kicking your ball out of a buried lie in a sand trap when you’re a 32-handicap.

When you can't get gas for your car, it's a large, heavy, utterly useless pile of metal.

When you can't get electricity for your e-bike, it's a large, heavy, but still functional bicycle.

If you build your society around automobiles as a form of transportation, you become critically dependent on enormous supply chains beyond your control. Collapse those supply chains, and modern America would be uninhabitable without the automobile.

If you build your society around e-bikes as a form of transportation, you'll be... Mildly inconvenienced if those supply chains break down.

One of the factors that many Amish groups use when deciding to adopt novel technology is determining how reliant that would make them on the outside world. Automobiles generally have a very hard time passing this test. Bicycles, and electric bicycles have a much easier time.

I've also never heard of having no choice but buying into a predatory 20% APR loan to buy a bicycle.

Amish have self driving vehicles, while we still struggle to develop anything close to that kind of tech.

I had the opportunity to spend a week in an Amish Bed & Breakfast last year, in an Amish community. It was a fascinating experience, and I learned a lot about the Amish. I'm no expert, but because I doubt we'll have actual Amish posting about themselves here, I'll do my best to share my understanding respectfully.

There are multiple "orders" of Amish: The Swartzentruber, Beachy, New Order, and others. There are also Mennonites (with their own variety of orders) which are closely related to the Amish. Different orders have different views towards technology. Most of the individuals we were around rode e-bikes and all carried cell phones (flip, not smart). We were told to feel free to take as many photos as we wanted, but please not of people (outside of my party). Several had electricity in their barns, but not their homes. One family had electricity in the home, but had special permission from the church on account of medical needs. It was all very fascinating.

The Amish shun technology for 2 main reasons. (1) Like you said, things that break their ideal society. They want to encourage the family, community, etc.. But also (2) Things that risk their societal independence. #2 was a surprise to me, and I think it's a lesser-known aspect, but makes sense. Their persecution in the late 1600s & early 1700s in Europe is core to their cultural identity. Shunning modern ways is a way to buffer themselves against a recurrence and ensure long-term safety. They can be and are very open to adopting modern ways, but they need time (often decades or more) to assess and allow modern ways to be proven. In that sense, they're not shunning technology so much as they are sticking with what's been proven to work -- if it ain't broke, don't fix it! The horse and buggy has been proven as a viable long-term solution, so why switch? Adopting modern vehicles puts them at risk, because they then become dependent on global supply chains, which are not proven to be long-term reliable.

8 to 10 miles on a traditional bike is just enough work and time to make it impractical for a lot of people, where an e-bike reduces both margins just enough.

Wow, those Amish made leather goods look amazing. Wouldn't be surprised if a whole lot of it turned out to be fake though...

I knew a wood worker in Floria who made great stuff but his Etsy was a total flop. He moved and changed address on site to North Carolina. He can’t keep up with orders now. No other changes. Same products, no advertising.