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> but the people and community are very different Can you elaborate? I'm not familiar with either of those cultures.

• pjc50 9y ago
  I'm not exactly an inside observer of either, but this is my impression from spending time on electronics.stackexchange.com: Ham culture predates the internet by a long way, when talking over the radio was a sensible option for making friends with interesting strangers in faraway places. Very analogue. Slightly hierachical, generally older, and believe in the importance of theory and credentials. Maker culture is self-taught off youtube and other places. It involves a lot of tinkering and trial and error with Arduinos, Raspberry Pis and breadboards. Very "open source", very digital, very much anti-hierarchical. Although not free of their own gatekeeping issues. ""Millenials"" (+). My feeling is that the wider set of people who were customers for Maplin or Heathkit kits are a lot more like the former than the latter. In some ways it's the difference between people who will build a lego set to the picture on the box and the people who'll freestyle something else with it. (+) I'm so gen X that I have a signed copy of Coupland's book. I also made a couple of Maplin kits when I was younger.