[hackerspaces] National Fab Lab Network Act of 2010 (111-HR6003)

[Far McKon]

On Thu, Sep 23, 2010 at 3:53 PM, Jesse Krembs <jfk at 893studio.com> wrote:
> I 've spent some time in the MIT fablab and difference between them and a hackerspace is pretty small. Both Neil
> and Amy Sun are easy to talk to and easy to find.

I'm all for fab-labs (gov't or Uni funded) or tech shops (for profit)
but my heart is in hackerspaces. Partially, because they are a lower
bar to entry, as a member or creator, much like Open Source software,
vs reasonably costing proprietary software.

As hackers, people tend to be hands on, and often when things get tied
to existing institutions, the ability to get involved, have a say, fix
problems you see, become harder.

IHMO, it would be both awesome and sad if there was a 'Kinkos' of
hackerpsaces (which I think Tech Shop wanted to do in the 90's).
Awesome on lowering the bar to innovation, play, and design.  Not so
awesome to opening up systems to getting into the guts, and improving
them.

hack on,
- Far McKon



http://www.Hive76.org  "Making things awesome,  making awesome things!"
http://www.FarMcKon.net "Creatively Maladjusted"



> If you'd like to know more a quick email to Neil might do the trick.
> Isn't the AS220 space a hackerspace and fablab?
> Jesse Krembs
> 802.233.7051
> Sent from MDT.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Bryan Bishop <kanzure at gmail.com>
> Sender: discuss-bounces+jfk=893studio.com at lists.hackerspaces.org
> Date: Thu, 23 Sep 2010 14:32:53
> To: Hackerspaces General Discussion List<discuss at lists.hackerspaces.org>; Open Manufacturing<openmanufacturing at googlegroups.com>; diybio<diybio at googlegroups.com>; World Transhumanist Association Discussion List<wta-talk at transhumanism.org>; Bryan Bishop<kanzure at gmail.com>
> Reply-To: Hackerspaces General Discussion List <discuss at lists.hackerspaces.org>
> Subject:  Re: [hackerspaces] National Fab Lab Network Act of 2010 (111-HR6003)
> On Thu, Sep 23, 2010 at 2:04 PM, David Powell <davepow16 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> When I think of Fab Lab I think of the commercial version of a Hackerspace.
>
> Technically, you should be thinking of a fablab as that initiative out
> of the MIT Media Lab. They are usually built under a grant from NSF or
> some other academia/grant body. An example of a commercial hackerspace
> might be TechShop. Most hackerspaces are community owned and operated,
> although they tend to be their own organizations yes (like a co-op,
> LLC, or 501c3).
>
>> Although it would be non-profit would it also be inexpensive? I'm all for
>
> The fablab initiative out of MIT is not entirely inexpensive. Last
> time I checked they bought most of their equipment from suppliers.
>
> http://fab.cba.mit.edu/about/fab/inv.html
> http://diyhpl.us/cgit/skdb/tree/doc/BOMs/comparison/fablab.yaml
>
> For comparison, techshop's equipment usually includes:
> http://diyhpl.us/cgit/skdb/tree/doc/BOMs/comparison/techshop.yaml
>
>> creating a network of Hackerspaces. But I don't feel educated enough to
>> write congressmen in support of this bill. I don't think know the people
>> behind the bill. How can I be sure they have my best interest in mind and
>
> No, you're absolutely right. I have found that the MIT Media Lab can
> be like a clique sometimes, and particularly avoiding of hackerspaces
> in general.. I could be wrong, maybe they have hit on Nick Farr before
> or something, who knows. But yeah, so far it has been primarily an
> academic pursuit for them (Neil Gershenfeld wanting to answer the
> question "what would people make?"). What would be really amazing is
> having hackerspaces brought on board to this initiative- i.e., using
> the already established hackerspaces in the United States, instead of
> building everything from scratch.
>
>> are not trying to make 7 figure living through this "non-profit" like many
>
> :-)
>
>> do in other non-profits in our country. How can I be sure this is really
>> about the science and technology and not about money? I would need to be
>> better educated before making a decision.
>
> - Bryan
> http://heybryan.org/
> 1 512 203 0507
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