What the Maker Revolution Will Really Look Like • Hacker News Board

Re: What the Maker Revolution Will Really Look Like

#31

Post by tarice » Thu, Jan 17, 2013, 10:16 PM UTC

michaelfeathers wrote: post #22

Call me pessimistic, but I suspect that the 'Maker Revolution' could bring us a level of legal madness that is far beyond what we have seen in copyright over the past 20 years. Plans for 3D printing are not only copyrightable, they are subject to patent law. That, and the potential for creation of contraband with 3D printers may lead to online clearing houses for designs that you make and print at home, or strict leg…

I wouldn't call you pessimistic - more realistic.

I expect that the reaction of the Manufacturing industry's reaction to small-scale Makers will parallel the Recording/Movie industry to file-sharing, as the situations are similar in many regards.

It's very likely to happen, and it'll suck, but like you said, hopefully we get legislation through in time to protect some of the small Makers so they don't get sued into oblivion by the future-RIAA.

Re: What the Maker Revolution Will Really Look Like

#32

Post by Havoc » Thu, Jan 17, 2013, 10:17 PM UTC

Havoc wrote: post #30

Bless the Maker and His water. Bless the coming and going of Him. May His passage cleanse the world. May He keep the world for His people. This being HN I'll probably get stoned for this reddit-like comment. So be it.

Well that didn't take long. -1 downvote per 8 minutes.

Re: What the Maker Revolution Will Really Look Like

#33

Post by kybernetikos » Thu, Jan 17, 2013, 10:30 PM UTC

ph0rque wrote: post #9

This tacit knowledge is the reason why we don’t have a 3D model of a Stradivarius violin, or even a real-life exact replica of any kind, for that matter. It may be no Stradivarius, but it's a start on 3D printing musical instruments: http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-10-11/the-worlds-f...

That whole thing about the 3d model of a Stradivarius is complete nonsense:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-15926864 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2067981/Resea...

So we do have 3d models of Stradivarius violins, plus computer cut replicas. And on top of that, in blind tests, violinists preferred modern violins anyway.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2012/jan/02/how-many-notes-v...

Re: What the Maker Revolution Will Really Look Like

#34

Post by podperson » Thu, Jan 17, 2013, 11:36 PM UTC

wmf wrote: post #26

podperson wrote: post #21

I think this article misses not only "the" point but pretty much all points about the "maker" revolution. The maker revolution is about the world of "atoms" being converged into the world of "bits". Just as desktop publishing technology engulfed specialized information-centric industries such as mathematical and musical typesetting, 3d printers are the first step towards what Neal Stephenson referred to as "matter co…

3d printers are the first step towards ... where the gap between design and physicality is almost trivial Maybe the author is thinking of the next few years and you're thinking about the next few decades.

Perhaps. I don't think that we'll return to the guild system in the next few years either :-)

Re: What the Maker Revolution Will Really Look Like

#35

Post by derleth » Fri, Jan 18, 2013, 12:00 AM UTC

hosh wrote: post #11

berntb wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>>provide for your needs without depending on a global supply chain. Hmm... reminds me of a discussion (@Stross' blog) about how many people were needed in a society, to support a technological civilization. Stross argued we would need many millions of people. http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2010/07/insuffic... (Of course, lots of specialised services can be replaced with less efficient generic ones, but…

Basic material needs: Food. Water. Shelter. Air. Existential needs: Love, affection, contentment, happiness, connection. Technology can address the basic needs and can never address existential needs. Everything else are wants. Wants are endless since they attempt to address existential needs but never actually satisfy them. In that sense, Stross is correct. There will always be more wants than can be supported by an…

> Love, affection, contentment, happiness, connection.

Technology has addressed these more than you will ever realize.

As has been said already, technology greatly reduces isolation for anyone who isn't young, healthy, heterosexual, cissexual, and of the majority race in the region they find themselves. The ability to form connections based on mutual interests even when geography is against you is easily the difference between living and dying alone and finding a place where you actually fit.

What's more, the ability to make connections anonymously is essential. Being of the wrong persuasion, whatever that persuasion is, in the wrong environment can be grounds for anything from social ostracism to death. Without the technology to anonymously make connections with others, there are people who would risk death just looking for someone they'd enjoy spending time with.

The only people who think technology can't help with what you call 'existential needs' are the people who are lucky enough to not already know what I just posted. And they are amazingly lucky indeed.

Re: What the Maker Revolution Will Really Look Like

#36

Post by yk » Fri, Jan 18, 2013, 12:16 AM UTC

berntb wrote: post #24

yk wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The discussion focussed on the entire technological stack; and I do not think that anybody claims that we will be designing and printing comercial airliners from scratch at home. By contrast the maker revolution is (in its first stages) about the long tail of manufactoring. So in the forseeable future it is about beeing able to sell small runs of specialized goods at prices compareable to more generic and mass produc…

The discussion noted all the specialities needed in education. The point I was trying to make is that a maker revolution has a potential to drastically cut down the number of specialized people needed; consider just e.g. logistics. (Not talking about the first stages.)

Great point. This could be one of the non obvious social consequences of rapid manufacturing. At least if I think of the IT revolution, then in some sense system programmers replaced a lot different specialties, like delivery boys ( by email), accountants ( at least the half that was double checking the books fifty years ago) and type setters. And in a addition people with domain specific knowledge were enabled to use this knowledge efficiently with computers.

Re: What the Maker Revolution Will Really Look Like

#37

Post by jamieb » Fri, Jan 18, 2013, 1:27 AM UTC

jamieb wrote: post #2

I think it'll look like this: http://www.assaultweb.net/Forums/showthread.php?t=142405 "AR-15 30rd Magazine Dowloadable CAD Files" Edit: Maybe I've been reading too much Charles Stross: "Mind you, not everything that comes out of a rapid prototyper is good. Here's the Magpul FMG-9 prototype: and here's some more. Is it a flashlight? Is it a submachine gun? Who knows? Here's another baroque weapon that probably starte…

Called it. Front page HN today:

http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/ny-congressman-i...

Re: What the Maker Revolution Will Really Look Like

#38

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Jan 18, 2013, 6:23 AM UTC

hosh wrote: post #27

berntb wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Uhh... you went of in some weird orthogonal direction. The Stross reference were about the minimum number of people needed for a technological civilization. (Didn't you read it? Are you defending some belief system as an excuse for being religious? We're just talking past each others?) (And you're wrong, anyway. without technology and science, we'd still have little time, get sick and die early -- living under tyrann…

Yeah. I read it. Given the constraint, premise, and assumptions, what Stross says makes sense. It's model that's limited in scope. I'm not being religious. Satisfaction and contentedness is something you can go verify for yourself by observing yourself. It is entirely possible for an individual to fulfill existential needs even with the horrors of 30% child mortality rate, but most people can't or don't do that. Tech…

[deleted]

Re: What the Maker Revolution Will Really Look Like

#39

Post by pbhjpbhj » Fri, Jan 18, 2013, 8:04 AM UTC

jdreaver wrote: post #12

I don't understand why we keep us in the word "democratize" when it comes to increasing individual freedom with technology. Democracy is the tyranny of the majority; we aren't voting to see who gets to produce or consume what. It's a pet peeve of mine because it's simply used as a buzzword and makes no sense in a technological context.

Democratise means to make accessible to all the people, like how democracy gives the vote to all the people.

Re: What the Maker Revolution Will Really Look Like

#40

Post by hosh » Mon, Jan 21, 2013, 10:27 PM UTC

nickpinkston wrote: post #13

hosh wrote: post #4

The author missed the true significance of the Maker Revolution. It is not about people being able to design their own products or having a market full of craptastic products. The Maker Revolution is about being able to provide for your needs without depending on a global supply chain. It's about the kind of material freedom you might have if your neighborhood hardware store, or even your household fab in the garage…

With all respect, I think your's is the "maker idealist" position on this movement. There are many reasons why economies of scale (which are due to physics / engineering problems) will continue to exist in manufacturing - even if many methods are democratized and available locally (a la TechShop today). I've written on this recently: http://www.nickpinkston.com/2013/01/some-thoughts-on-digital...

Interesting. I'll take a look at that.