4 ms·

The failure of IoT and consumer 3D printers also helped kill the Maker movement. Along with Pebble and countless other failed Kickstarter projects. Hardware is

The failure of IoT and consumer 3D printers also helped kill the Maker movement. Along with Pebble and countless other failed Kickstarter projects. Hardware is hard. Best to stick with software based businesses.

mr_crankypants 7y ago
Y'know, it was the arrival of IoT and consumer 3D printers (and drones, etc.) that really killed the maker movement for me. After Make Magazine started devoting every other issue to consumer products that cost $500 and up, I finally conceded that the Maker movement had become a firmly upper middle class pastime, and canceled my subscription.
- Xunxi 7y ago
  I disagree with the "upper middle class” gripe. Instructables is still resourceful if you don't like consumer product reviews. There are also tons of hacks on YouTube and build logs on forums. I think a the maker inertia is killed by dwindling creativity, access to equipment and fear of losing out to Chinese competition if you intend on bringing your product to market. *I could be wrong
  - mr_crankypants 7y ago
    TBH, of the 3 alternative reasons you present, I kind of view all of them as being somehow related to my gripe. "Dwindling creativity" because all these expensive tools are creatively limiting. For example, 3D printing is cool, but, compared to lower-tech methods, it can also be a lot to wrangle. Once upon a time, if you needed to make a part, you'd hand-carve it, or cast a rough version and then finish it. There's very little between you and the act of creation. With 3D printing, you've got to worry about what kinds of shapes your printer can and cannot make, and have to spend a whole bunch of time on CAD, calibration, etc, etc. My own suspicion is that, oftentimes, the thing you're making is just a by-product, an excuse to play with the expensive toy. "Access to equipment" -- yup. Once upon a time, DIY was about doing things on the cheap, and there was a lot more stuff being done with inexpensive hand tools, many of which could readily be acquired at estate sales and the like. Now you apparently need to blow a typical person's monthly entertainment budget on a makerspace membership in order to get access to laser cutters and CNC lathes. "Bringing your product to market" just isn't a part of the DIY I originally loved. To me, DIY is a hobby you do for fun, and a creative outlet, not a yet another form of startup incubation.
driverdan 7y ago
What do you mean the failure of consumer 3D printers? 3D printers are now cheap, large, and reliable.
- sigstoat 7y ago
  not sure what the other fellow meant, but when 3D printing first hit the scene, the hype was that we'd all be printing replacement parts for our broken appliances and what not. i'd bet my pants that there have been more Benchys printed than repair/replacement parts for consumer appliances.
  - silversconfused 7y ago
    It's hard to make parts for things that are designed to be unrepairable. That said it's also hella not cost effective. I'm in $400 or more, and have only printed a few daily use items. My printed clothes dryer knob has been working great for a few years, and my printed curtain rod brackets are working fine so far this summer. The replacement button I made for my father's CNC lathe is working fine a few years in too. That said, being able to sketch something, bang it out in openscad, and have a part waiting for me on the bed the next morning is pretty magical.
  - fr0sty 7y ago
    Exactly. "consumer" is the important qualifier. Yes printers are relatively cheap and reliable, but even the most consumer-centric printers are far from "plug and play" last I checked. When there is a printer that an "average" person can take from new-in-box to reliably printing Benchys in less than 24hours then consumer 3D printing will have arrived. We aren't there now, and I'm not sure when, if ever, we will be.
skykooler 7y ago
Pebble wasn't a failed Kickstarter project; it was a successful Kickstarter project that was then bought up and killed off by Fitbit.
- brlewis 7y ago
  "Pebble was losing money, with no profit in sight." - discussion at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13161832 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13161832
- codesushi42 7y ago
  Wrong. Pebble croaked and Fitbit got them on the cheap when they basically liquidated.
- Fnoord 7y ago
  Well, right before they were bought, they were in deep financial trouble. They didn't reach the volume they planned to have. I would not say Pebble is a failed Kickstarter project, but they were going bankrupt. Ie. failing as a company.

mr_crankypants 7y ago

Y'know, it was the arrival of IoT and consumer 3D printers (and drones, etc.) that really killed the maker movement for me. After Make Magazine started devoting every other issue to consumer products that cost $500 and up, I finally conceded that the Maker movement had become a firmly upper middle class pastime, and canceled my subscription.

Xunxi 7y ago
I disagree with the "upper middle class” gripe. Instructables is still resourceful if you don't like consumer product reviews. There are also tons of hacks on YouTube and build logs on forums. I think a the maker inertia is killed by dwindling creativity, access to equipment and fear of losing out to Chinese competition if you intend on bringing your product to market. *I could be wrong
- mr_crankypants 7y ago
  TBH, of the 3 alternative reasons you present, I kind of view all of them as being somehow related to my gripe. "Dwindling creativity" because all these expensive tools are creatively limiting. For example, 3D printing is cool, but, compared to lower-tech methods, it can also be a lot to wrangle. Once upon a time, if you needed to make a part, you'd hand-carve it, or cast a rough version and then finish it. There's very little between you and the act of creation. With 3D printing, you've got to worry about what kinds of shapes your printer can and cannot make, and have to spend a whole bunch of time on CAD, calibration, etc, etc. My own suspicion is that, oftentimes, the thing you're making is just a by-product, an excuse to play with the expensive toy. "Access to equipment" -- yup. Once upon a time, DIY was about doing things on the cheap, and there was a lot more stuff being done with inexpensive hand tools, many of which could readily be acquired at estate sales and the like. Now you apparently need to blow a typical person's monthly entertainment budget on a makerspace membership in order to get access to laser cutters and CNC lathes. "Bringing your product to market" just isn't a part of the DIY I originally loved. To me, DIY is a hobby you do for fun, and a creative outlet, not a yet another form of startup incubation.

driverdan 7y ago

What do you mean the failure of consumer 3D printers? 3D printers are now cheap, large, and reliable.

sigstoat 7y ago
not sure what the other fellow meant, but when 3D printing first hit the scene, the hype was that we'd all be printing replacement parts for our broken appliances and what not. i'd bet my pants that there have been more Benchys printed than repair/replacement parts for consumer appliances.
- silversconfused 7y ago
  It's hard to make parts for things that are designed to be unrepairable. That said it's also hella not cost effective. I'm in $400 or more, and have only printed a few daily use items. My printed clothes dryer knob has been working great for a few years, and my printed curtain rod brackets are working fine so far this summer. The replacement button I made for my father's CNC lathe is working fine a few years in too. That said, being able to sketch something, bang it out in openscad, and have a part waiting for me on the bed the next morning is pretty magical.
- fr0sty 7y ago
  Exactly. "consumer" is the important qualifier. Yes printers are relatively cheap and reliable, but even the most consumer-centric printers are far from "plug and play" last I checked. When there is a printer that an "average" person can take from new-in-box to reliably printing Benchys in less than 24hours then consumer 3D printing will have arrived. We aren't there now, and I'm not sure when, if ever, we will be.

skykooler 7y ago

Pebble wasn't a failed Kickstarter project; it was a successful Kickstarter project that was then bought up and killed off by Fitbit.

brlewis 7y ago
"Pebble was losing money, with no profit in sight." - discussion at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13161832 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13161832
codesushi42 7y ago
Wrong. Pebble croaked and Fitbit got them on the cheap when they basically liquidated.
Fnoord 7y ago
Well, right before they were bought, they were in deep financial trouble. They didn't reach the volume they planned to have. I would not say Pebble is a failed Kickstarter project, but they were going bankrupt. Ie. failing as a company.