What made the experience of listening to Makers the most enjoyable?
This book helped me get out of some of my stagnant thinking. I have been a small manufacturer for 7 years, making my sole living this way. It was helpful to take a break and listen to some variations of someone’s experience. There are no real earth shattering concepts presented, but it covers many useful concepts that can be forgotten by those that have been “makers” for a while. I was happy to get more than a giddy overview of how a 3D printer can make anyone an inventor – it covers the thinking and resources needed to make something that is real. 3D printing is .001% of product development and this book appropriately only spends a little time on that topic and explaining its limits as well.
Any additional comments?
I will say that the author tends to gloss over the gritty and detailed reality of designing, making, and marketing products on a small to modest scale. It is indeed easier than ever before, but it is a mind numbing, back breaking, and financially risky career path. The book emphasizes the glamorous victories without much said about the hard core challenge of building a multi-discipline super skill set to create something and form a business around it based largely on “Google” knowledge. Victories are hard to come by and failures can be financial disasters that take years to recover from.