Why You Should Get to Know and Join the Maker Movement
One day we’re going to look back at the period of time before the maker movement and the existence of makerspaces and wonder how we ever lived without them.
What exactly are makers, and why do they need makerspaces? Their answer is simple: For the benefit of the entire world.
Makers…well…make things. Makers make many things: physical objects, electronic gadgets and gizmos, carpentry, or even paintings and music. And their movement is designed to keep them making things and to encourage all of us to do the same. The maker movement was created to give anyone with an ounce of creativity the resources, support, and opportunities to easily continue to share creations with the rest of the world.
Ian Cole, at his superb Raising Geeks blog, explains that the maker community “celebrates learning, and freely shares ideas.” In the past, makers weren’t sharing ideas; they were sharing their products once they’d been built, copyrighted, patented, and locked tight from anyone’s input along the build process.
Cole points out that in order for makers to sustain their movement, sharing had to become easier than Internet message boards. The answer? The “makerspace” where “computer groups, electronics groups, robotics groups, craft groups, sewing groups, etc.” could “meet, share ideas, learn, and work together.”
Makerspaces typically offer nothing more than a Wi-Fi network, perhaps some coffee or cold beverages, and tables and chairs. It’s the creative people who join them—and the sharing that commences upon walking in the door—that make the space truly magical.
David Hussman, founder of DevJam, a group of agile development collaborators, recently opened SoMakers, a makerspace for those interested in producing…well…anything. I asked David to first define what the maker movement means to him and what he hopes SoMakers can bring to South Minneapolis—and ultimately the rest of the world.
Hussman’s remark about “lowering the bar” for makers is essential to the success of the movement. Not everyone will walk in the door with the knowledge, the tools, and the time to build a great idea from start to finish. This may very well be the one aspect of the definition of the maker movement that everyone can agree on.
With the inventions that are truly shaping the future involving technology, fabrication, beauty, and more, it’s almost impossible for one person to do anything on his own, and the maker movement completely eliminates the need for that challenge to intimidate anyone.
ZDNet's Rachel King quotes maker Laura deLeon who is comfortable knowing that she doesn’t “need to know everything” because her local makerspace has “provided an environment where she can connect with people who can help her to that outcome.”
