Oct.8, 2012
Chris Anderson, the editor in chief of Wired, talks about in a recent interview with Forbes "Why it is easier to be an entrepreneur today than a decade ago and the makers movement". Nowadays everyone can use digital tools to design and create new products and prototype them using 3D printing. These designs and products can be shared with others in online communities, or to make it a reality by using online 3D printing services. Furthermore, Kickstarter, Etsy and other online markets provide a great platform for finance and distribution. Therefore the barriers to entry have fallen, says Anderson.
Anderson explains makers and productivity are the new power of the economic engine, "Today, manufacturing that takes place in the West tends to be more automated, it tends to be more higher tech and it tends to have fewer jobs per product." Today's manufacturing is more about managing automated production and this new shift could bring factories back to the West. Therefore this makers movement is critically important for the U.S. economy.
"The future belongs to Makers -- says Anderson. The future is Design. So tell your kids to learn how to draw, use 3D programs, write code." In his recent book Makers: The New Industrial Revolution he shares the details of his childhood and family history of invention and entrepreneurism. "I started using the tools, started doing it, started the community, started the company, became an entrepreneur; used all of these day in and day out and got a 3D printer, saw my kids—the light bulb go off over their head as they used one. And it was simply the act of becoming a Maker, and becoming a Maker-entrepreneur that made me realize that this was new and big... That was amazing. I certainly realized 'if I can do it, anybody can do it'."
Posted in 3D Printing Technology
Maybe you also like:
- 3D printed Optics from Disney Research
- Lab-grown leather could be on sale within next five years
- Is 3D Printing Safe?
- BotQueue: an online platform for distributing print jobs to multiple 3D printers
- Nanoengineers can print 3D microstructures out of hydrogels in mere seconds
- Control 3D printer with your Raspberry Pi
- Ancient Egyptian Faience techniques could be used in 3D printing of ceramics
- QUAN seeks to develope 3D printing robots to build houses
- The implications of 3D prinitng on global logistics industry
- New 3-way extruder and color blending nozzle developed for multi-colour/material 3D printing
- Will Amazon embrace 3D printing?
- 3D printing identified in Gartner's 2012 Hype Cycle for emerging technology
- White House announced new manufacturing hub in Ohio to promote 3D printing