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about 7 percent of the number of people that responded. Makers are highly
educated; nearly 60 percent of the respondents had at least a bachelor's degree.
The survey asked a key question: Why do you like to make things? More
than 80 percent of the people who answered said because they enjoyed 3D
printing, and it introduced them to other people who also like to build things.
98 percent of respondents said that creating things with electronics, software,
and 3D printers was just good old-fashioned fun.
One of the great things about the Maker movement is the fact that proit
is not a core incentive. Makers can be playful and take creative risks since
they aren't beholden to massive supply chains, thousands of employees, angry
shareholders and other sobering responsibilities that professional designers
and manufacturers must grapple with. The core ethos of the Maker movement
is community, creativity, social change, and problem solving.
The Maker movement itself may not yet embody the irst stirrings of a full-
blown, industrial revolution. However, Makers play a critical role in propel-
ling 3D printing technologies into mainstream awareness. Makers, like other
early adopters of disruptive technologies, demonstrate what may be someday
possible on a larger scale.
It's tempting to compare 3D printing to the early personal computing move-
ment of the 1970s or a new industrial revolution. I've made both of these
comparisons at least a few times. These analogies are seductive because it's
dificult to concisely describe the sweeping social effects that will be wrought
by 3D printing technologies.
Consider the parallels. 3D printing technologies, like mainframe computers,
got their start in industry. The irst personal computing kits were primitive,
low-cost and involved home assembly. The people who irst embraced personal
computers were similar demographically to the people who have embraced
home-scale 3D printers.
There's another complicating factor that increases the allure of personal
computing and industrial revolution metaphors: 3D printing is more than a
single technology. It's a broad platform technology that will drag along other
technologies in its wake. Similarly transformative technologies like the steam
engine or telegraph also sent shock waves in every which direction.
