The 21st Century Workshop - How to become a Digital Maker

Making things and Do it Yourself (DIY) have a long tradition. New tools are revolutionizing the workshop and local cottage industry and a new maker ethos has emerged.

The MakerFaire movement is part of the changing cultural and technological landscape. It's where science and art meet. It is where computer science and the physical sciences meet.

Governments around the world are taking an interest in supporting the growing phenomenon of “hackerspaces” — community clubhouses where hackers gather to build, invent or take things apart in their spare time. Some refer to these spaces as a kind of “shop class for the 21st century". They are designed to foster a new generation of innovators and to create new start-ups that will alter the geostrategic playing field. Fablabs are another term used to describe these community spaces. Open Source Hardware is another part of this new melange of ideas and practice.

Much of the following information was drawn from Chris Anderson's book Makers - The New Industrial Revolution. I recommend the book to anyone interested in innovation, in economic development and changing patterns of employment.

Wikipedia and You Tube offer a host of resources to understand and participate in this makerworld.

And perhaps as a forerunner of the new model of innovation and distrbution there is Techshop a shared space and tool vehicle for makers.