Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
In this chapter we explore the role that home fabrication technology might play
in our future by examining how fabrication technology has been imagined in popular
culture and science fi ction and by envisioning several near-future scenarios of our
own. We situate these scenarios within the emergent space of
design fi ction
: a form
of envisioning that combines design thinking with fi ctional imaginings about a
desired (or feared) future.
11.1.2
The Rise of Maker and DIY Culture:
A New Kind of Industrial Revolution
The idea that do-it-yourself (DIY) practices could be seen as a cultural movement is
relatively new. In a sense, DIY was the only option available for most of human his-
tory: in order to survive, one must be capable of some sort of “making,” whether it
be the production of food, or the creation of tools, or the construction of shelter and
clothing. The majority of humans, for the majority of the time that we have been on
the earth, survived by making. The fi rst industrial revolution changed all of this in
the late 1700s, in Great Britain. Characterized by a radical growth of manufacturing
capability, it brought with it radical changes to the quality of life of those living in
industrializing areas: infant mortality dropped, population increased, our life spans
lengthened, and, for the fi rst time in history, wealth spread beyond the confi nes of
the aristocracy. It really wasn't until the fi rst industrial revolution and the sudden
emergence of a literate, urban, educated, moneyed middle class that large portions
of the population were released from making-to-survive and afforded the affl uence
and leisure time to indulge in making-for-pleasure. In the mid-1800s, before the
dust had even settled on this new world, a
second
industrial revolution was under-
way. Advances in metallurgy, transportation, and petroleum refi nement once again
reshaped the world, leading to some of the signature industrial innovations of that
period including the assembly line, the railroad, and the automobile.
1
While the
changes wrought by industrialization resulted in sweeping social change, the fi rst
two industrial revolutions are generally considered to be the result of large-scale
technological innovation and infrastructural development, rather than the actions
and practices of a small subculture of individuals. The same cannot be said about
the revolution that is currently underway, which has its origins in a return to the
small- and mid-scale practices that had been in decline in the era of mass
production.
Chris Anderson argues that there are three characteristics of the current Maker
movement:
1. People using digital desktop tools to create designs for new products and prototype them
(“digital DIY”).
2. A cultural norm to share those designs and collaborate with others in online communities.
1
For a more detailed discussion of the history of industrial culture as it relates to Maker culture,
see (Anderson
2012
).
