Creating/Making
Building things
I think that there is a much more subversive problem with building toys today. For the parents who try to buy creative toys that mimic what they learned on - lincoln logs, legos, tinkertoys, erector sets- there are directions and molded parts that imply 'this is how you are supposed to use this'. Follow the directions, match the colors and then it is complete. My grandson wanted to glue his Spongebob lego house together. GLUE LEGOS TOGETHER. Make me cry, why don't you, kid.
I try to give my kids a clue. For about 15 years, every year for Christmas I made one handmade present for everyone - wood, metal, plastic, glass - I've done all kinds of things. My kids are young adults now and they still think the handmade present is a special part of Christmas because you can't just go to the store and buy it.
Making Going Atway in the 1970s
I find it a bit amusing that Millennials have 'discovered' making. Up until the computer age, everyone was making. Expressions like 'Do-dad' and 'puttering in the shop' were common. Every house (with a man in it) had a workbench and tools. I will admit we are in an age of women stepping out of the role of sewing/knitting/baking/canning as their maker space for the first time in ...a long time but for men, they forgot how to use their hands in the 1980s. I think the destruction of gender roles is great. More importantly, people believing they can create, in general, is even better.
I graduated high school in 1975 (which makes me ....old) in Colonie. My sister had to fight to take a shop class - they thought all she needed was home economics. I wanted to take other shop classes, mostly electricity and electronics, but that was discouraged because I was college bound and didn't need those skills. So, maybe this loss of makerism has to do with the belief that a college education let you drop the hands-on skills. People would do those things for you. For sure "hand-made" has cycled from standard procedure to embarrassment to cool. And, we are the cool ones now - we make stuff.
Radio Shack Bankruptcy
They blew the whole maker movement. They were the one company that was poised to gain from the makers. Michaels does craft classes in their stores - the value of bricks and mortar. They could have done demos at schools, short courses, Arduino and robotics kits - real stuff, not the plastic, ready to play Christmas morning crap. Even their RC cars could not be modified.
Makers and the Apocalypse
The only real threat that I know of to electronic tech globally is EMP (electromagnetic pulse) resulting from nuclear detonations. It is far more reaching than the blast so a limited nuclear war could take out everything not shielded on the planet. Barring that, I could rig up a generator from a bike and motor that could charge batteries and run my electronics. Communications is problematic since, other than ham radio, it relies on some kind of hub that is out of my control. (smirk, you hams, I know you are). Mechanical tech should do well in any scenario. Specialized fuels that are not local could become a problem. As long as enough makers survive the apocalypse, a lot of stuff will be salvageable and back on line once basic survival is sorted out. I suspect the first few months with be about food and defense. The smart survivalists will collect makers for future use. "Ah found me two makers and a doctor today!"
Retail Maker Store
I was just thinking. The time might be right for a mall-type maker store. I have no interest in doing this but it is interesting. I know some maker spaces have stores attached to buy supplies and that is very useful, but I am thinking about a storefront that reaches the average person. Radio Shack/Tandy Leather used to do this. There were some hobby shops in malls, but the best ones were separate. There would be a lot of the same toys CoG has, available for demo and purchase, classes and supplies - consumables, motors, arduinos, and of course kits. Sure you can mail order a Kinect, but in the store you can talk to people who know what is being done with them - like the Dick's Sporting goods model they used to promote - an expert in every department. Kid, tween, teen and adult classes along with assistance in gift selection would increase sales. Just sayin'.
I think that there is a much more subversive problem with building toys today. For the parents who try to buy creative toys that mimic what they learned on - lincoln logs, legos, tinkertoys, erector sets- there are directions and molded parts that imply 'this is how you are supposed to use this'. Follow the directions, match the colors and then it is complete. My grandson wanted to glue his Spongebob lego house together. GLUE LEGOS TOGETHER. Make me cry, why don't you, kid.
I try to give my kids a clue. For about 15 years, every year for Christmas I made one handmade present for everyone - wood, metal, plastic, glass - I've done all kinds of things. My kids are young adults now and they still think the handmade present is a special part of Christmas because you can't just go to the store and buy it.
Making Going Atway in the 1970s
I find it a bit amusing that Millennials have 'discovered' making. Up until the computer age, everyone was making. Expressions like 'Do-dad' and 'puttering in the shop' were common. Every house (with a man in it) had a workbench and tools. I will admit we are in an age of women stepping out of the role of sewing/knitting/baking/canning as their maker space for the first time in ...a long time but for men, they forgot how to use their hands in the 1980s. I think the destruction of gender roles is great. More importantly, people believing they can create, in general, is even better.
I graduated high school in 1975 (which makes me ....old) in Colonie. My sister had to fight to take a shop class - they thought all she needed was home economics. I wanted to take other shop classes, mostly electricity and electronics, but that was discouraged because I was college bound and didn't need those skills. So, maybe this loss of makerism has to do with the belief that a college education let you drop the hands-on skills. People would do those things for you. For sure "hand-made" has cycled from standard procedure to embarrassment to cool. And, we are the cool ones now - we make stuff.
Radio Shack Bankruptcy
They blew the whole maker movement. They were the one company that was poised to gain from the makers. Michaels does craft classes in their stores - the value of bricks and mortar. They could have done demos at schools, short courses, Arduino and robotics kits - real stuff, not the plastic, ready to play Christmas morning crap. Even their RC cars could not be modified.
Makers and the Apocalypse
The only real threat that I know of to electronic tech globally is EMP (electromagnetic pulse) resulting from nuclear detonations. It is far more reaching than the blast so a limited nuclear war could take out everything not shielded on the planet. Barring that, I could rig up a generator from a bike and motor that could charge batteries and run my electronics. Communications is problematic since, other than ham radio, it relies on some kind of hub that is out of my control. (smirk, you hams, I know you are). Mechanical tech should do well in any scenario. Specialized fuels that are not local could become a problem. As long as enough makers survive the apocalypse, a lot of stuff will be salvageable and back on line once basic survival is sorted out. I suspect the first few months with be about food and defense. The smart survivalists will collect makers for future use. "Ah found me two makers and a doctor today!"
Retail Maker Store
I was just thinking. The time might be right for a mall-type maker store. I have no interest in doing this but it is interesting. I know some maker spaces have stores attached to buy supplies and that is very useful, but I am thinking about a storefront that reaches the average person. Radio Shack/Tandy Leather used to do this. There were some hobby shops in malls, but the best ones were separate. There would be a lot of the same toys CoG has, available for demo and purchase, classes and supplies - consumables, motors, arduinos, and of course kits. Sure you can mail order a Kinect, but in the store you can talk to people who know what is being done with them - like the Dick's Sporting goods model they used to promote - an expert in every department. Kid, tween, teen and adult classes along with assistance in gift selection would increase sales. Just sayin'.