The Hardware Hacker Manifesto
daeken.com
daeken.com
I'd take a slightly different approach though - I will actively search out and support groups and companies that allow me to truly own my hardware. Be that Jolla, Pandora or various stumbling-but-slowly-getting-better Kickstarter projects.
I understand the reasons why hardware's become relevant again, but the pendulum's swinging too much in the direction of a dichotomy, in a time when hardware and software are becoming anywares.
Come'on, you don't even have proper memory at that age. And then "to figure out how it worked", sure. We all dissected electronics when we were young, but that is hardly what I would call hacking. I don't get people's obbsession with bragging about how early they start. I guess it's since most hackers (pg, esr, Linus etc.) have these stories how early they start and somehow people think they need to do so to become great programmers (or hackers). It's not all bad though, I remember how motivating it was reading about those stories at young age.
Edit: And I never said that I was successful, but simply that my goal was understanding. It was most certainly my goal (it was something that repeated through childhood, many, many times), but it was equally certainly a failure.
It's also a well studied fact that younger minds are more impressionable and have great neuroplasticity. People who start something early in life are often much better at things, and not just because of the length of time they've been doing it. It becomes second nature. It fundamentally affects the way they learn to think.
Yes, there are plenty of great programmers and engineers who didn't start so young. Personally though, I started at the age of 9, and it's set me so much ahead of my peers. Don't underestimate the abilities of the young or the value of exploration and learning while young.