5 ms·

It's right there in the announcement, albeit coated in tech-startup babble: they're out of money.

• throwntoday 4y ago
  • simfree 4y ago
    Community spaces cost real money. You have a choice as a space to price yourself at gym membership levels ($35 to $75 a month), or go higher and add value with storage space, desk space, really nice tools, staff, etc. Do you want to build a space for occasional use by a random, large assortment of people, or one where the members make consistent, weekly use of the space and value the space highly?
    • throwntoday 4y ago
      >storage space, desk space, really nice tools, staff, etc. All of those things besides the tools are a waste of money. The machine shop at my university was free. The foreman filtered morons and transients by throwing a 300-page safety book at anyone who wanted to cross the yellow-black tape. As a consequence everyone who was there really wanted to be. A low membership price puts it in the range of people who just want access to the tools. The kind of people who would also be hanging out when someone new shows up with an idea and a lot of questions. If boutique makerspaces work, then ask yourself why this place failed.
      • marcinzm 4y ago
        >The machine shop at my university was free. It wasn't free, it was paid for by the university and it's revenue sources. There is a difference.
        • deleted 4y ago
          [deleted]
        • jazzyjackson 4y ago
          • vikramkr 4y ago
            If you're planning on building a fountain somewhere else that doesn't already have an aqueduct, then yes absolutely, since that becomes a very relevant piece of information in your cost analysis
            • jazzyjackson 4y ago
              OP wasn't suggesting anyone build a machine shop and then not charge money, they responded to this argument above: > Do you want to build a space for occasional use by a random, large assortment of people, or one where the members make consistent, weekly use of the space and value the space highly? by saying that price barrier is not a prerequisite for quality and safety of a space. People can value the space they're in because they were initiated into the culture, not merely because it costs $120/month.
        • goodpoint 4y ago
          > It wasn't free, it was paid for by the university and it's revenue sources. There is a difference. No. Free means that the end user does not pay for it. Not that nobody pays for it.
      • thrown_22 4y ago
        >. The machine shop at my university was free. Paid for by tax payers is not free. I agree that there should be government investment in hacker spaces since they are just machine shops that aren't stuck in 1950. The name however was stupid and killed any take up by government. Maker spaces were a slightly better rebranding which at least didn't actively push sponsors away. >If boutique makerspaces work, then ask yourself why this place failed. Because at $100 a month it wasn't boutique. If you want the top end you do what universities do: charge $2k a month and give scholarships to the worth while members who can't afford that.
  • slater 4y ago
    "wokeshop"...?
    • throwntoday 4y ago
      The workshop filled with a bunch of "anarchist" flags where no one is doing anything interesting and members seem more concerned with creating an "inclusive" space than engineering. That wokeshop.
      • Animats 4y ago
        Oh, you mean Double Union in SF.[1] [1] https://doubleunion.org/membership/ https://doubleunion.org/membership/
        • mindentropy 4y ago
          Is that a "wokeshop"?
          • throwaway_4ever 4y ago
            "We are a space for nonbinary people and women (trans, cis, intersex, queer, straight, and not-fitting-into-those-labels). Membership is open to all women and nonbinary people, self-identified." You know, it's a little crazy that it's men being constantly accused of sexism in the tech industry when there are hard-coded rules for excluding men from places, employment opportunities, and not simply treating everyone as equals.
            • mindentropy 4y ago
              Yes.That objective is totally crazy and I wonder why no one is criticizing it. Crazy stuff.
        • the_biot 4y ago
          That is utterly horrifying. It's so nakedly racist and sexist, and proudly so. I comfort myself with the idea that such rabid hatred isn't sustainable in the long run. People mellow out, society mellows out and becomes ever more accepting. Fifty years from now this sort of thing will seem just as alien as, say, the McCarthy era, or indeed the alternate reality of communist states.
  • Animats 4y ago
    What's the "wokeshop"? Humanmade in SF charges US $250/month for access.