Re: <nettime> The Maker Movement is abandoned by its corporate sponsors;

Interesting times indeed. I am not shedding tears over the demise of PrintrBot or Radio Shack (which reappeared as a “brand”), and certainly not of Toys “R” Us (Dutch Intertoys met the same fate) — and neither does the demise of TechShop or Maker Media really make me cry.

It is intriguing to see that Moore’s law [1] apparently did not hold for either the “tool-up” welding gyms (TechShop) [2] nor for the mediatisator of the “maker movement” (O’Reilly through Maker Media) [3].

So indeed, now what …

Anything “Make(r)” is licensed by Maker Media — and I guess that administrators will hardly be able to project enough revenue from these licenses to sustain the brand. Is there anyone on the horizon who would want to monetise “Make”?

Maybe it is finally farewell to that optimistic vision of the future where technology and craftsmanship merge, dreaming of becoming the next paradigm of industry. Making as a consumer pastime has peaked. It never made it from the early enthousiasts to the mass market. Probably, making is too hard, to time consuming, to demanding on the average consumer’s attention span. Making, too, never made it from the imagined breeding ground for even more tech start-ups to "the revolution that can help us create new jobs and industries for decades to come” [4] — Chris Anderson knows of "five companies that have managed the "Maker -> Pro" path successfully, becoming good businesses without losing their Maker cred” [5].

As we say in Dutch, van een kale kip kun je niet plukken (you can’t get blood from a stone) — a business model that is partly based on licensing the brand to an industry of makers and maker spaces who in general struggle to survive themselves is not exactly a promising prospect. Subjecting those who — by the gospel — are supposed to be independent thinkers to strict franchising regulations when they want to throw their party (aka Maker Faire) is unlikely to create a loyal base of business partners. Many Mini Maker Faires defected Maker Media to become “independent” festivals — citing “red tape” (the franchising agreement), license fees, insurance issues as reasons, and some found it easier to attract local government subsidies acting independently from a US-American company.

Maybe this time it is the children eating their own revolution?

Or maybe “making” as we knew it has just had its days? Black Mirror has mainstreamed an antagonistic view of technology since its appearance on Netflix. School strikes highlight other issues on the minds of (some) pupils than drones and robots made from plastic and running on Lithium batteries.

Time will tell.

Peter Troxler

[1] http://www.worldaffairs.org/events/event/1812#.XP0MltMza5M

[2] https://www.boerneneshovedstad.dk/media/1332/maker-movement-manifesto-sample-chapter.pdf

[3] http://www.lse.ac.uk/media-and-communications/assets/documents/research/working-paper-series/EWP40.pdf

[4] https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2014/06/18/remarks-president-white-house-maker-faire

[5] https://twitter.com/chr1sa/status/1137453284204007425

On 8 Jun 2019, at 16:21, Bruce Sterling <bruces@well.com> wrote:

*Well, so much for the O’Reilly Web 2.0 version of popular mechanics. Fifteen years is not too bad a run by the standards of an increasingly jittery California Ideology. Now what? — Bruce S

Maker Media goes broke
https://hackaday.com/2019/06/07/maker-media-ceases-operations/

Over the years we’ve had the dubious honor of bidding farewell to numerous companies that held a special place in the hearts of hackers and makers. We’ve borne witness to the demise of Radio Shack, TechShop, and PrintrBot, and even shed a tear or two when Toys “R” Us shut their doors. But as much as it hurt to see those companies go, nothing quite compares to this. Today we’ve learned that Maker Media has ceased operations.

Between the first issue of Make magazine in 2005 and the inaugural Maker Faire a year later, Maker Media deftly cultured the public face of the “maker movement” for over a decade. They didn’t create maker culture, but there’s no question that they put a spotlight on this part of the larger tech world. In fact, it’s not an exaggeration to say that the shuttering of Maker Media could have far reaching consequences that we won’t fully understand for years.

While this news will surely come as a crushing blow to many in the community, Maker Media founder and CEO Dale Dougherty says they’re still trying to put the pieces together. “I started the magazine and I’m committed to keeping that going because it means something to a lot of people and means something to me.” At this point, Dale tells us that Maker Media is officially in a state of insolvency. This is an important distinction, and means that the company still has a chance to right the ship before being forced to declare outright bankruptcy.

In layman’s terms, the fate of Make magazine and Maker Faire is currently uncertain…

***

https://techcrunch.com/2019/06/07/make-magazine-maker-media-layoffs/

Financial troubles have forced Maker Media, the company behind crafting publication MAKE: magazine as well as the science and art festival Maker Faire, to lay off its entire staff of 22 and pause all operations. TechCrunch was tipped off to Maker Media’s unfortunate situation which was then confirmed by the company’s founder and CEO Dale Dougherty.

For 15 years, MAKE: guided adults and children through step-by-step do-it-yourself crafting and science projects, and it was central to the maker movement. Since 2006, Maker Faire’s 200 owned and licensed events per year in over 40 countries let attendees wander amidst giant, inspiring art and engineering installations….

“Maker Media Inc ceased operations this week and let go of all of its employees — about 22 employees” Dougherty tells TechCrunch. “I started this 15 years ago and it’s always been a struggle as a business to make this work. Print publishing is not a great business for anybody, but it works…barely. Events are hard … there was a drop off in corporate sponsorship.” Microsoft and Autodesk failed to sponsor this year’s flagship Bay Area Maker Faire….

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