3 ms·

“Maker movement” is a hard commercialization angle of DIY, or really, doing anything. Not sure who came up with the label “Maker” but I’m personally not a fan.

“Maker movement” is a hard commercialization angle of DIY, or really, doing anything. Not sure who came up with the label “Maker” but I’m personally not a fan. Maybe reading Christopher Tolkien has rubbed off on me. As someone who works hands on with a lot of things, I can’t help but feel like a cultural shift is taking place. I’m all for DIY so this is great, but you don’t have to be a “Maker” to get shit done.

VyseofArcadia 2y ago
To me it's less about DIY [0] and more about a production vs consumption attitude. The label "maker" is meant to distinguish someone who makes stuff, as opposed to consuming stuff (e.g. watch a TV show) or doing stuff (e.g. rock climbing). Sure, the word had been coopted to sell things. But so has DIY. And basically any label. If something is big enough to have a label that enough people use, someone else is going to use it to sell to that group. Our society commercializes the hell out of everything. [0] but of course there's overlap
sandworm101 2y ago
I have always understood "maker" to mean someone creating something new: Art, a new product, a bespoke bit of sports equipment. I do not believe that going whitewater rafting or reading an e-book qualifies as anything. Pouring cement or wiring a new light switch is more handyman than "maker" imho.
gspencley 2y ago
As with anything, the word starts to get applied to things that the originators didn't necessarily intend. My working definition of "maker" is someone who fabricates physical things. It's less DIY'er and more crafts & hobbies on steroids. The classic example is people who work in prop departments in movies and theatre. In that arena, you need to be a jack of all trades when it comes to fabricating physical anything. The skills include everything from woodworking and metalworking to mold making, model making, painting etc. The more you specialize the less the word "maker" applies as I conceive of it. A guitar luthier could certainly be considered a maker by some, I mean it is "making guitars" but the term is intentionally broader than someone who specializes in making something very specific. But consider the term "furniture maker." We have used the word "maker" in the past to describe someone who makes something specific. You just take off the qualifier and you have someone who makes all sorts of things. My wife and I are part time magicians and what I often say drives me to magic is that it is the ultimate "maker" hobby. It is extremely multi-disciplined. There's the strict "magic domain" (misdirection, sleight of hand) but depending on what you want to do you end up getting into all sorts of tangential skill development from costume and wardrobe fabrication to building illusions out of a variety of materials (woodworking & metal working) to making smaller hidden devices ("gimmicks" as magicians call them) to practical VFX (makeup, prosthetics etc.) All that being said, I completely agree that the term has become so overused as to start to border on meaningless.
- JohnFen 2y ago
  > It's less DIY'er and more crafts & hobbies on steroids. This is how I view it as well. DIY is something entirely different from making. But the term has been misused for so long that it has, at least in the larger population, lost a whole lot of meaning.
deleted 2y ago
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lif 2y ago
you mention Christopher Tolkien: which of his writings are you alluding to? as a fan, I'd love to learn more!
nescioquid 2y ago
My impression is that the term came from Make magazine marketing/PR/branding. I think that we say "maker spaces" rather than "hacker spaces" probably has a lot to do with the success of Make's branding efforts.

VyseofArcadia 2y ago

To me it's less about DIY [0] and more about a production vs consumption attitude. The label "maker" is meant to distinguish someone who makes stuff, as opposed to consuming stuff (e.g. watch a TV show) or doing stuff (e.g. rock climbing). Sure, the word had been coopted to sell things. But so has DIY. And basically any label. If something is big enough to have a label that enough people use, someone else is going to use it to sell to that group. Our society commercializes the hell out of everything. [0] but of course there's overlap

sandworm101 2y ago

I have always understood "maker" to mean someone creating something new: Art, a new product, a bespoke bit of sports equipment. I do not believe that going whitewater rafting or reading an e-book qualifies as anything. Pouring cement or wiring a new light switch is more handyman than "maker" imho.

gspencley 2y ago

As with anything, the word starts to get applied to things that the originators didn't necessarily intend. My working definition of "maker" is someone who fabricates physical things. It's less DIY'er and more crafts & hobbies on steroids. The classic example is people who work in prop departments in movies and theatre. In that arena, you need to be a jack of all trades when it comes to fabricating physical anything. The skills include everything from woodworking and metalworking to mold making, model making, painting etc. The more you specialize the less the word "maker" applies as I conceive of it. A guitar luthier could certainly be considered a maker by some, I mean it is "making guitars" but the term is intentionally broader than someone who specializes in making something very specific. But consider the term "furniture maker." We have used the word "maker" in the past to describe someone who makes something specific. You just take off the qualifier and you have someone who makes all sorts of things. My wife and I are part time magicians and what I often say drives me to magic is that it is the ultimate "maker" hobby. It is extremely multi-disciplined. There's the strict "magic domain" (misdirection, sleight of hand) but depending on what you want to do you end up getting into all sorts of tangential skill development from costume and wardrobe fabrication to building illusions out of a variety of materials (woodworking & metal working) to making smaller hidden devices ("gimmicks" as magicians call them) to practical VFX (makeup, prosthetics etc.) All that being said, I completely agree that the term has become so overused as to start to border on meaningless.

JohnFen 2y ago
> It's less DIY'er and more crafts & hobbies on steroids. This is how I view it as well. DIY is something entirely different from making. But the term has been misused for so long that it has, at least in the larger population, lost a whole lot of meaning.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

lif 2y ago

you mention Christopher Tolkien: which of his writings are you alluding to? as a fan, I'd love to learn more!

nescioquid 2y ago

My impression is that the term came from Make magazine marketing/PR/branding. I think that we say "maker spaces" rather than "hacker spaces" probably has a lot to do with the success of Make's branding efforts.