On Sunday, August 4, 2013 2:03:43 PM UTC-5, Michael Black wrote:
On Sat, 3 Aug 2013, Oregonian Haruspex wrote:



On 2013-07-28 18:56:37 +0000, extra class said:



3. Gen Xers have not interest or desire in dyi projects



Considering that we Gen Xers are responsible for everything from the Maker

movement to creating affordable 3D printing machines, I think you're way off

base here.





The "Maker Movement" is hype, it rides on the people who've always been

interested in building things. Since the magazine hasnt't been around a

decade, there hasn't been enough time for many to start from point zero

and get good enough by now, so it rests on the existing hobbyists.



A 3D "printer" is interesting, but once the hype disappears, what's the

point? I rarely think "I wish I could make an exact copy of that plastic

piece". I have other ways to make pieces i need, or make do. The field

is just about plastic now, so it's not like you can make something really

signficiant. The notion of making a gun out of plastic, not only is that

not going to stand up that well after much use, but one could always make

some sort of gun out of bits and pieces, or so I gather.



3D printing is another dumbing down. Yes, it will be valuable to some,

but once the masses get their hands on it, they will simply let other

people create the parts, and it will just be a matter of "printing" them

at their house. No skill required.



And like I said, that's some of the hype of the maker movement, more

people can follow instructions, but it doesn't raise them up.



I've been going through old magazines, a local bookstore having found a

stash of them. The skill level to build the projects was much higher than

in "Make", but it was a whole wide field. "Build a two man sub for about

$400" says an article in Popular Science from about 1968. YOu can't tell

me the kids have invented something new when building things had such a

large infrastructure decades ago. And it wasn't just Popular Science (and

it's projects and tips), it was Popular Mechanics, Mechanix Illustrated,

Popular Electronics, Radio Electronics, Electronics Illustrated,

Elementary Electronics, Science and Mechanichs, endless annuals and

semiannuals like that one I found a few years ago about prospecting for

uranium and "Communciation WOrld" a quarterly that carried White's Radio

Log forty years ago, QST, 73, CQ, Ham Radio and some glorified newsletters

dedciated to niche amateur radio topics like RTTY and VHF. The astronomy

magazines that often included projects about building telescopes or

accessories. Woodworking magazines and model railroad magazines. The

magazines were endless, and they all had projects you could learn from,

projects you could build.



Michael

A guy in New Zealand is using his 3D printer to build an Aston Martin car.