DIY Innovation

Discussion

Mark Frauenfelder:

"Today, 3D design programs like Google SketchUp, Blender, and Alibre PE are not only much more powerful than the software I was using 25 years ago, they are much cheaper, too. (Alibre PE is $99 and Google SketchUp and Blender are free.) DIYers are using these programs to design everything from bicycles to chicken coops to model rocket components. And they are sharing their 3D designs on websites like Thingiverse.com, where other people can download the designs, modify them, and then make their own versions of products using the models.

And the tools that they are using to make these objects are getting more powerful and cheaper all the time, too. Do you remember when laser printers, which cost $100 today, used to cost $10,000? A similar thing is happening with manufacturing machines. Low-end laser cutters cost about $7000, compared to $20,000 just a couple of years ago. And 3D printers, such as MakerBot Industries‘ Thing-O-Matic (a rapid prototyping machine that prints out objects in the same kind of plastic that Lego bricks are made of) sell for about $1200. Eventually 3D printers will become as commonplace in people‘s homes and offices as laser printers are today. But in the meantime, websites like Ponoko.com and Shapeways.com are the equivalent of desktop publishing service bureaus. For a small fee you can send your 3D design to Ponoko.com and Shapeways.com and have them print out a model in plastic, metal, or other material. These service bureaus will also manufacture and sell your product to anyone around the world who wants one.

Most of the things that DIYers make are funded out-of-pocket. But for more ambitious garage entrepreneurs, websites like Kickstarter. com allow DIYers to post requests for project funding. The next phase in crowdsource funding will be small scale securities markets in which individual investors will share in the profits of financially successful project.

And finally, the Web itself has become the great enabler of do-ityourself innovation. It allows communities of interest to communicate with each other, greatly accelerating the evolution of designs of everything from amateur unmanned flying drones to cigar box guitars. The Web also serves as an indexed surplus store where almost anything anyone would want can be found with a simple search. In the 19th century people made most of the things that they used – furniture, clothing, shelter, food. We may see a return to a world where individuals make many of the things they use every day, but be connected to other innovative individuals around the world who help them realize their goals." (http://issuu.com/openp2pdesign/docs/cis.doc_open-design)