The Maker Movement is making a big noise right now. A bit like my son, Perry, seen here in action in one of the two bands he's been playing in. Perry has discovered, like so many nowadays, that the digital environment is rejuvenating the art of making things in the physical world. Maker culture is rising in tandem with digital culture. This post will give you an overview of the Maker movement.
I'm speaking more as an observer than a participant, though as I've read Chris Anderson's Makers (2012) it is inspiring me to try (in my own way) to become a "maker." That's not easy for me, having few crafting skills (with things; with words, that's different). In fact, in the past I have been taxed to my limit to help my sons create their pinewood derby cars for boy scouts. But Perry is showing me the way. He has become a legitimate maker.
Perry has been making his own drum set -- but not by himself. He has told me how much helped he has gotten from an online community devoted to making drums (ghostnote.net). You can see Perry's drums that he has been making in the photos. In his performing and recording, he actually uses the things that he makes.
So, I've assembled some basic info on makers and the maker movement, which I've put into my digital culture wiki under "maker" (reposted here):
Maker
A maker is a tinkerer, a hobbyist, or hands-on enthusiast. Makers predate the internet or even electronics, but in the digital age, a maker movement or a maker culture has emerged, flourishing today due to the proliferation of niche communities (see the long tail), to the rise of how-to instructional videos and DIY (do-it-yourself) online tutorials, and to the new availability of commodity hardware and social media. In short, it is easier than ever to find out how to make things (electronic or otherwise), to share one's process of creation, to participate in maker communities (in person in maker spaces or through various online communities), and even to market or commercialize one's creations.
Maker culture is a cousin to hacker culture and is often associated with entrepreneurialism. It is also associated generally with the concept of play -- a kind of joyful amateurism blending personal passions and a spirit of discovery. Authors such as Chris Anderson (Makers, 2012) and Kevin Carson (The Homebrew Industrial Revolution: A Low-Overhead Manifesto, 2010) see makers and the maker culture as a disruptive innovation in fabrication and business, dubbing the maker movement a second industrial revolution.
Makers today are tinkering with sensors, robots, CNC routers, and 3D printers, as well as with open source software and open hardware. See, for example:
- MakerBot (3D printer)
- Arduino (open source electronics prototyping platform)
- DIY drones (do-it-yourself unmanned aerial vehicles
- Sparkfun Electronics (components)
- Adafruit Industries (kits and parts for open source hardware electronics projects)
- Shopbot (CNC routers / digital fabrication tools for prototyping)
- Ponoko (online platform for digital making)
- Raspberry Pi (low-cost, single-board computers for education and tinkering)
See also:
- Make magazine (began 2005)
- Maker Faire (began 2006)
- Makers (2012) Nonfiction treatise on the movement by Chris Anderson
- Makers (2009) Novel by Cory Doctorow
- Purdue University's Maker Manifesto
- The Maker's Bill of Rights
- A Making Manifesto (Maker Faire Africa, 2012)
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