[hackerspaces] [wiki] TechShop

[Greg McGuire]

Overall, I think some of you guys are really out if your minds. 

Who cares if they're for-profit or not-for-profit? Do they do things that people at hackerspaces do? If yes, than they  deserve to be on the wiki. If not, than they shouldn't be on the wiki.

If you don't like them because they're refer to themselves as a makerspace, than you probably don't like a lot of the spaces on the wiki who refer themselves as makers.

Every day since I subscribed to this list I've read the emails on this list. Some days I learn about good things going on at spaces across the globe. Some days I read a lot of bickering about things that don't even matter but someone, or a few, takes issue with. This, in what is solely my opinion, is one of those things. 

On Jan 2, 2013, at 12:30, Jarkko Moilanen <jarkko.moilanen at uta.fi> wrote:

> Hi, 
> 
> ke, 2013-01-02 kello 16:45 +0000, Lisha Sterling kirjoitti:
>> This is a question that I've faced a few times when discussing
>> hackerspaces in and outside of the community. I would personally
>> classify them as a "makerspace" rather than a "hackerspace" because of
>> 1) the fact that they are for-profit and 2) the fact that they refer
>> to themselves that way. 
>> 
>> 
>> On the whole, I have pretty warm feelings towards TechShop despite the
>> fact that their prices for everything puts them out of my financial
>> reach. The main reason for my warm feelings is because of their
>> willingness to support hackathons like the International Space Apps
>> Challenge last April. 
>> 
>> 
>> I don't see TechShop as "just a tool-gym" because they do have a more
>> robust community than that. I don't see them as "just a co-working
>> space" because they encourage newbies, non-professionals, and lifelong
>> amateurs to come and build things. Their focus is on making AND
>> learning. They tie themselves to the "Maker Community" through both
>> their marketing messages and their direct interactions with O'Reilly
>> MAKE (Maker Faire, selling MakeShop stuff in their shop, etc). So
>> again, I'd call them a "makerspace".
>> 
>> 
>> For me, the main distinction between a "makerspace" and a
>> "hackerspace" beyond the "for profit" or "non-profit" status of a
>> space has to do with a sort of political or philosophical underpinning
>> to the space and its community. Hackers are about overcoming obstacles
>> and re-wiring existing systems whether those systems relate to
>> hardware, software, the kitchen, knitting, education or social
>> systems. Makers aren't necessarily looking to break down walls and
>> barriers or subvert existing systems, they just want to build stuff.
> In LinkedIn group labelled as FabLab Interest Group, Techshop people
> have participated in dicussion about the techshop relation to
> maker/hackerspace and fablabs. That discussion might offer some
> additional information to this discussion. But be warned, the viewpoints
> might be somewhat biased :)
> 
> TinyURL: http://tinyurl.com/bfbuw8o
> 
> /Jarkko
>> 
>> - Lisha
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> -- 
>> http://www.alwayssababa.com/
>> 
>> 
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> 
> -- 
> 
> Jarkko Moilanen, M.Soc.Sc
> PhD Candidate
> School of Information Sciences
> http://www.uta.fi/sis/en/index.html
> Blog: http://blog.ossoil.com
> 
> 
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