41–47 of 47 posts
I'm heartbroken that Halted closed. Is tinkering with physical stuff in the bay area dead? Or well, scaled back significantly in comparison to a decade ago.
I'm heartbroken that Halted closed. Is tinkering with physical stuff in the bay area dead? Or well, scaled back significantly in comparison to a decade ago.
I am the only one I know in the Bay Area who has at least the bare minimum tools for tinkering. Given the way housing is here, I consider it a luxury.
It's a shame - in 2008/9/10 it was really something to see, but as a few other commenters have said, it's (and a lot of the maker movement for that matter) have declined a bit. I personally think this is due to the infantilization in part of a lot of media outlets, where the emphasis has been placed on getting the ideas into the most hands possible instead of folks who'd actually benefit. Focusing the faires around 3…
This seems like knee-jerk lit-snobbery. "It's popular and accessible, so it can't be any good."
This is such an epic, annual celebration of learning and creativity. Losing it would be a tragedy. How do the economics not work out here? 100-150K visitors/year, each dropping (on average? $20 for entrance ticket)? Don't they require commercial presenters to pay for their space? How much does it cost to rent the San Mateo Fairgrounds?
The tickets are pricier than that. $25 for students and $40 adults... https://makerfaire.com/bay-area/BUY-TICKETS/
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Definitely a trend. There's also the TechShop bankruptcy and the subsequent "TheShop.build" clusterfuck, MotoGuild shutting down, etc.
Yes. Maker spaces in Silicon Valley are doing very badly. I was a TechShop member for most of a decade. They went bankrupt, in a very messy way. I'm currently a "TheShop.build" member, at least for a few more days. They closed their San Francisco location months ago, despite it still being listed on the web site. The San Jose location got a 3-day notice of eviction from their landlord, but they seem to have survived…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes. Maker spaces in Silicon Valley are doing very badly. I was a TechShop member for most of a decade. They went bankrupt, in a very messy way. I'm currently a "TheShop.build" member, at least for a few more days. They closed their San Francisco location months ago, despite it still being listed on the web site. The San Jose location got a 3-day notice of eviction from their landlord, but they seem to have survived…
Circuit Launch has hot air rework stations, apparently.
I once tried to sign up there. I drove up to Oakland, and even though I'd made an appointment, no one was there to let me in and nobody answered the phone or door. Then my car was rear-ended on the freeway, and when I pulled off at the next exit, the other car kept on going. So I had to report a hit and run. While I was doing this someone approached me and hassled me in what seemed to be the run-up to a mugging. Got rid of him and drove back to the Peninsula.
If those guys were on the other side of the bay, I'd be using them.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I am the only one I know in the Bay Area who has at least the bare minimum tools for tinkering. Given the way housing is here, I consider it a luxury.
I had a dream to move back to the Bay Area and put a mill and lathe and surface grinder and all the other good stuff in a garage for tinkering after my PhD, but it seems any job that would pay enough for me to afford such things would probably not leave me the free time to enjoy having the shop.