Who the heck are "makers?"

[Leo Bodnar]

Who are those "makers" that Dave mentions all the time when he refers to people tinkering with stuff.
Is this a sort of a breakaway group of cool or disadvantaged youngsters that need to be specifically mentioned?

It just irritates me hearing them "makers" added to motley crew of hackers, enthusiasts and amateurs.  
Sounds a bit PC bollocks to me like they can't just say "policemen" anymore without adding "and policewomen."

"Makers" please come out and state your manifesto.  Why don't you want to be simply called electronics enthusiasts, geeks or anoraks.  
What do you actually make?  I mean as in carmaker makes millions of cars.  Not as in like "I made this cool thing once."

[Bored@Work]

As far as I know the term is an invention of Make Magazine, to define their target audience and then sell more stuff to them.

[saturation]

If you look at the magazine, the term is so broad it goes from electronics to needle craft. 

http://makeprojects.com/

[dmlandrum]

Really, all it is is a convenient catch-all term for people who build their own stuff. There are lots and lots of people, indeed I would say most of the people of the western world, who never make things for their own use. They buy stuff from manufacturers all ready to go. To take this even further, there are people who have the technical and design skill and work for these manufacturers who believe this is the only way things should be. I disagree, but that's just my opinion.

Referring to "makers" within our circle is more than a little redundant and confusing, because we're all used to designing and building things to solve problems, whether for work or around the house. The term is designed for use with people who don't.

[sacherjj]

Sadly, fewer and fewer folks are taught that it is OK to take things apart and see how they work.  If "Maker" helps reduce that, I'm all for it.

Don't get me started on how the term "Hacker" got demonized. 

[shadewind]

As others have stated, it's exactly what it sounds like. Makers are people who make stuff as opposed to people who do not make stuff. Just like programmers are people who do programming.

[Mechatrommer]

makers are the one who buy more tools

[vk6zgo]

Historically,at least in Australia,the term "maker" was synonomous with "Manufacturer".

For instance,if a piece of equipment had no identification on the front,you would look on the

back panel for the "Maker's name".

I haven't heard Dave use it in any other context,but I havent seen all of the Blogs.


VK6ZGO

[Leo Bodnar]

Historically,at least in Australia,the term "maker" was synonomous with "Manufacturer".

That's why I hate usage of this term.  Makers actually make a lot of useful things for others, not for themselves.  Taking apart an old photo camera to extract the flash capacitor does not make you a "maker."

Do we have anybody here who calls themselves "maker" and can explain?

Don't get me started on how the term "Hacker" got demonized.  

It's just been claimed by ignorant media, judged, packaged and dished out for easy consumption to the public.  In the days of 1200 baud modems before www was invented I called myself a hacker but I wouldn't dare now.

[Trigger]

"Makers" are probably the reason you can't hardly find an Atmega328P chip because they're all being bought up to put into Arduinos 

The term has been adopted by the new wave of hardware and electronic hackers so it's a bit hard to really fault them.  It's rather nice to see all of the renewed interest in hobby electronics.  They can call themselves followers of the first church of the electron for all I care

[johnboxall]

After some thought I agree with boredatwork, it's just a clever label thought up by O'Reilly publishing ("Make:", "Craft:" magazines etc.)
I made a sandwich for lunch, am I a maker? Yes. No. By whose definition am I a maker? Who cares! My grandfathers made things. My mother makes things. My art teacher sister makes things. What people do hasn't changed over the years, only the labels for them. I wonder what we will be called in the next decade?

[EEVblog]

As others have said, the term is an invention of Make Magazine.
Why is it significant enough for me to mention all the time? This is why:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maker_Faire
They get 150,000+ people to this event.
Like the term or not, it's one of the greatest boosts to the field of hobby electronics since, well, I'm not sure when.
Before the modern day Maker/Hacker revolution which started maybe 6-7 years ago(?), hobby electronics was on a massive decline that many thought would never recover.

Dave.

[johnwa]

Don't get me started on how the term "Hacker" got demonized. 

Yes, it is impossible to describe oneself as such without people immediately assuming you are up to no good. It appears that the term "maker" is fairly close to the original meaning of "hacker", although unfortunately it excludes people working purely with software. While I am a little dissatisfied with the label "maker", if it fills the void in the language, that is probably a good thing.

[Mechatrommer]

It appears that the term "maker" is fairly close to the original meaning of "hacker".

to my understanding, maker is the one who make something from nothing. the hacker is the one who change something into something else, the functionality and purpose. but a time ago, software guys who only know a little how to intrude to other computer using some tools published in devcon will call themself a hacker. and then there's "cracker" to differentiate the real hacker to the "hacker wannabe". i hope the word "maker" will not have the same fate.

[saturation]

Undoubtedly, but it seems they've squashed all these hobbies into one, and thus the large crowd.  Can't hurt.

Electronics is like astronomy, as a hobby.  You really have to love it to be in it.

As others have said, the term is an invention of Make Magazine.
Why is it significant enough for me to mention all the time? This is why:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maker_Faire
They get 150,000+ people to this event.
Like the term or not, it's one of the greatest boosts to the field of hobby electronics since, well, I'm not sure when.
Before the modern day Maker/Hacker revolution which started maybe 6-7 years ago(?), hobby electronics was on a massive decline that many thought would never recover.

Dave.

[johnwa]

It appears that the term "maker" is fairly close to the original meaning of "hacker".

to my understanding, maker is the one who make something from nothing. the hacker is the one who change something into something else, the functionality and purpose. but a time ago, software guys who only know a little how to intrude to other computer using some tools published in devcon will call themself a hacker. and then there's "cracker" to differentiate the real hacker to the "hacker wannabe".

Yes, when I said "original meaning", I was referring to someone who simply likes to experiment with computers/programming. I know people have been campaigning to make the hacker/cracker distinction, but it looks like that battle is just about lost at this point in time.

i hope the word "maker" will not have the same fate.

Me too, hopefully this one will be a bit harder for the media to contort.

[Leo Bodnar]

The term is so bland and meaningless that media has no interest.

[Mechatrommer]

The term is so bland and meaningless that media has no interest.

the media just follow the trend, profit is their interest. who got interested, are the viewers. esp when the media exagerate/misuse the term.

[Leo Bodnar]

the media just follow the trend, profit is their interest. who got interested, are the viewers.

Viewers are as much interested in EE as in trainspotting.

[Polossatik]

"Makers" please come out and state your manifesto.

They have a bill of rights http://cdn.makezine.com/make/MAKERS_RIGHTS.pdf

[jasonh]

Reading that it looks like a maker is a community thing.   I.e. you have to make it so that it is easy for others to make?

   Some of the stuff I make most people dont have the tools to get close, I guess I am not much of a maker, just a manufacturer.

[Alex]

The word Maker is probably a similar success story to how Google managed to turn the company's name into an everyday verb.

I would call Makers as 'technology with a shade of electronics for the masses', but not electronics enthusiasts or hackers.

But the whole argument of what to call someone involved in technology is flawed, there are as many terms as there are individuals.

Alex

[Leo Bodnar]

I still don't understand why would Dave market his blog to "makers" who seem not to exist anyway.  I have not seen any to step forward and declare themselves a one.

I hope EEVBlog stays high-brow and dispenses really important knowledge that can only be obtained by years of practical experience in the industry. 

The "MAKE Magazine" is mostly trivial and disgustingly saturated with adverts and click-throughs.  Most of their project remind me these:

[johnwa]

The "MAKE Magazine" is mostly trivial and disgustingly saturated with adverts and click-throughs. 

Some of the stuff is a bit trivial, and it does lack a bit of in-depth information at times. But they always have a lot of truly inspiring hacks as well.

It's a bit hard to define their target market really. Some of the projects are obviously aimed at primary school kids, but then they advertise CNC milling machines and things as well!

[vk6zgo]

[quote auth ;Dor=Alex link=topic=3377.msg45768#msg45768 date=1305585340]
The word Maker is probably a similar success story to how Google managed to turn the company's name into an everyday verb.

I would call Makers as 'technology with a shade of electronics for the masses', but not electronics enthusiasts or hackers.

But the whole argument of what to call someone involved in technology is flawed, there are as many terms as there are individuals.

Alex
[/quote]



There is an ideal term-------GEEKS! 

Yours Geekily,

VK6ZGO