Financial Times, I think you and your pink pulped paper are great. David Gelles wrote up a great piece about the DIY scene. Besides MakerBot, it mentions Instructables, Techshop, and Etsy.
Here's a few choice paragraphs from the article:
The new DIY tech culture is made up of a loose-knit group of computer geeks, arts-and-crafts fans and whimsical sculptors and is enjoying a mainstream renaissance, thanks in part to television programmes, magazines and festivals that celebrate the quirky culture of making.
The decentralised nature of the DIY tech culture makes it hard to value it, and there are no estimates of how much it is worth. Yet with hundreds of thousands of enthusiasts around the globe, it is a potentially lucrative market for those who can tap it.
Indeed, scattered among the creative spirits are would-be entrepreneurs who are trying to open up the manufacturing process to encourage innovation and lower the costs of the research and development.
Bre Pettis is the founder of MakerBot Industries, which sells affordable 3D printers. While most 3D printers cost anywhere between $25,000 and $250,000, (€18,000-€180,000, £15,000-£150,000), Mr Pettis sells his, which can create nearly any three-dimensional form of 4sq in or smaller, for a mere $750. Users of MakerBots simply create or download a 3D computer file using one of several programs, then set the machine to work. The MakerBot takes spools of spaghetti-like plastic, heats it to 2000C and squirts it out in the desired shape. Already the MakerBot has been used to make missing parts for electronics and the casing for new flashlights.
“It changes the way you live,” says Mr Pettis, “from being a mindless consumer to being a creative participant in the marketplace.”
After just two months Mr Pettis (pictured) has sold 60 printers, half of them to clients outside the US. “We originally had the idea that we were going to revolutionise American manufacturing, but it’s global,” he says.
The DIY community even has its own method of commerce. While most of the wares produced by makers never see the inside of retail stores – small volumes make wide distribution impractical – there are ways to consume a bit of the culture.
But isn’t there something incongruous in a profit-seeking marketplace for specialised goods that are supposed to be the antidote to big box shopping? Herein lies the paradox of the DIY tech ethos: much as it would like to escape the confines of the throwaway economy, it cannot exist too far outside consumer culture.
Mr Wilhelm of Instructables does not see a conflict. The DIY movement, he says, “is not anti-capitalist...It’s a backlash against mass market. It’s not like everyone who does DIY is a communist.”
This is a really cool article. David totally gets the DIY movement and summarizes it's frontier really well! Thanks!
(Sidenote: There are three founders of MakerBot, Zach Smith, Adam Mayer, and me.)
Jul 1, 2009 
