Column: If you can't open it, you don't own it

I'm starting to write for the local newspaper again. Here's my first article for a column my editor has named "The Maker". It went to print in the Feb 24, 2010 issue of The New Hamburg Independent (which actually gets delivered on the 23rd)...

I grew up surrounded by people who made stuff. My father built things large and small. Things like greenhouses, and ornamental windmills and flower pot holders. My mom sewed and crocheted and was always knitting something. My grandfather built his own table-saw and was an avid carpenter. My grandmother made the most delicate tablecloths and doilies you can imagine. My uncle even built a trailer from the back end of a van that had been through a front end collision, and he just had to paint it the same overly vibrant orange to match the van that would tow it.

All of this designing and building and knitting together of things happened under my childhood nose without my ever thinking twice about it. Perhaps because I had not known any different? Perhaps because I was just a kid? For the most part, I think my family made things out of necessity. The greenhouse saved us the cost of buying seedlings every year for our large garden (which in turn saved money on the grocery bills). The quilts and pyjamas kept us boys warm on winter nights and handmade barbie and cabbage patch doll cloths were sold, no doubt to raise money for our own coats and shoes. All of this seemed “normal” to me, and for some crazy reason I'm just realizing now that it all might have been something special.

That do-it-yourself (DIY) spirit, born out of need and thrift on my parent's part, has been seeing a resurgence in today's generation in the form of a “maker movement.” Makers are people that would rather build than buy something. When they do buy something, they want to know how it works. They might want to tweak it to make it work better or do something it was never intended to do, just for fun! When they work on a project, the lines between art and technology are blurred. The maker's motto is “If you can't open it, you don't own it.”

What makes today's movement different from yesterday's DIY necessity is that for the most part, today's makers are willing to share. They share their designs, their techniques and processes. They give away their knitting and chainmaille patterns. They improve each others computer software. They teach and collaborate. All of this sharing builds a sense of community among makers, and in today's Internet age, the community isn't restricted to your own town or city. Your maker neighbour could just as easily be in another country as down the street, it doesn't really matter.

One reflection of the popularity of this maker mentality is the publications and events managed by O'Reilly Media under the “Make:” banner. The print publication Make: Magazine is loaded with how-to articles and designs. Topics in past issues have covered water bottle rockets, costumes, backyard biology, robotics, instruments and alternative vehicles to name a few. If the magazines are too packed with information for you, their blog might be more to your liking. With daily pointers to projects created by makers across the world, it provides inspiration and ideas to get your own creativity flowing. Read the blog at http://makezine.com/blog and prepare to be amazed. And, if you've found yourself caught up in the movement, then a trip to a Maker Faire might be in order. These events bring makers and vendors together for family-friendly science, craft, and engineering fun. What more could you want?