I've also noticed that the average age of attendees at hacker conventions and similar events in the U.S. has gone up considerably. There used to be a lot of punk kids at these, and now I see a lot more 20 and 30s aged people. I'm not sure if this is because everyone is at home glued to IM/gaming/Myspace, or if parents are more risk averse and don't let their kids get out any more.<br>
<br>Arclight<br><br><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, Jan 18, 2010 at 10:32 AM, Hank The Curmudgeon <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:hkrishman@gmail.com">hkrishman@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
The machines pictured in the slide show are truly amazing! Notice the<br>
size and construction details.<br>
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/22103061@N00/sets/72157623211731766/show/with/4275473316/" target="_blank">http://www.flickr.com/photos/22103061@N00/sets/72157623211731766/show/with/4275473316/</a><br>
Be sure to check out the gasoline powered pogo stick towards the end<br>
of the presentation!<br>
<br>
Keep in mind that all of this stuff was built, typically in a garage<br>
or basement, with tools and equipment that would be found in a<br>
hackerspace with a well appointed metal working shop. And I seriously<br>
doubt there was any CNC to be found in these models.<br>
<br>
Cabin Fever Expo: <a href="http://www.cabinfeverexpo.com/" target="_blank">http://www.cabinfeverexpo.com/</a><br>
<br>
I feel a bit of social commentary is in order: Did you take any notice<br>
of the people manning the display tables and of the crowd in general?<br>
All of retirement age or better. Where were was the 15-49 age group?<br>
Can I assume that the skills and interest in spending 100+ hours to<br>
build from scratch, to operate and maintain such machines, fully<br>
functional in every detail, is going to disappear with that<br>
generation? What does this indicate of the skill sets to produce<br>
machines at full scale? Perhaps it is true what the pundits are saying<br>
about America: We, as a country, no longer produce anything<br>
[physical]. Your typical urban high school, where the machinist was<br>
historically groomed to start their apprenticeship, no longer has in-<br>
house shops of any type. I am deeply concerned and saddened by this<br>
trend.<br>
_______________________________________________<br>
Discuss mailing list<br>
<a href="mailto:Discuss@lists.hackerspaces.org">Discuss@lists.hackerspaces.org</a><br>
<a href="http://lists.hackerspaces.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss" target="_blank">http://lists.hackerspaces.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss</a><br>
</blockquote></div><br>