Wow. On Sat, 23 Jun 2012, Mike Spencer wrote:
> > Less gloomy, so I've altered the subject line. > > Pete wrote: > > This led me to reflect on another recent item I'd read of in the > community paper of my suburb, involving local retirees living in > downsized digs. These guys had formed a club, and rented a > warehouse space, where they assembled a richly appointed workshop, > perhaps furnished in part with equipment donated from former home > workshops, where they could freely putter in all the sorts of > things that they would have been doing in basement workshops in > the houses they had left - woodworking, metal working, machining, > and whatnot. The group had a large and enthusiastic membership, > and if I recall it correctly, they only made the news as their > warehouse space was being sold out from under them, and they were > seeking a new home. The point I'm making with this is that these > guys are happiest when they are doing something. It doesn't have > to be art, it can be a craft that wouldn't be regarded as at all > "artsy", say using their skills just to do renovations and repairs > for friends and relatives, but being free to do whatever they > want, they will collaborate to do this sort of stuff rather than > sit around and watch tv. > > This is great stuff. Teenagers and 20-somethings (and some others) > are doing something like this with "makerspace" and "cowork". > > http://queenstreetcommons.org/ > http://www.assentworks.ca/ I love this. It seems to provide a counterexample to the scenario you describe below, in that they seem to have pulled this off in Winnipeg, and it's attracting young people. How cool is this? Man, the hardware they've got. I would just go nuts in a space like that. Have to add a bio-science annex to the chemistry section, then we've got everything you could want. A Buckaroo Bonzai Magic Factory. If they don't have it already, I propose their movement motto: Hack the world you want to see. -Pete > > Or google "makerspace" to see variety of approaches to the idea. > > There is this differnce, though, in the context. Retired guys tend to > have at least minimal support from pensions and may have substantial > savings or disposable income. They have experience in dealing with > such matters as renting a warehouse. Any particular congeries of them > is likely to have the experience and the basic skills of getting along > with coworkers. > > Great! Lets do that. > > Wait. We have to form a registered entity of some kind to rent the > warehouse. Then we have to have liability insurance lest someone gets > injured, goes ape and wants to sue everybody else, the moreso if one > guy rents the warehouse in his own name and wants to avoid liability > risk. > > What about zoning? Is our club an "industry" in a "commercial" zone? > No? Well, that milling machine that Fred lucked onto for scrap price > needs 3-phase wiring. A 3-phase entry costs a pile and maybe we'll > suddenly become "industrial" if we have 3-phase. What about fire > insurance? Maybe the landlord insures the building but what about > Fred's mill, harvey's pile of rosewood planks and Alice's > irreplaceable violin maker's tools? Do we need to get a licensed > electrician to wire the lighting and the table saw lest the building > inspector shut us down? What if the health and safety guy come > around? Will we have to intall an approved fume hood for Marvin's gun > bluing rig? Will the fire department shut us down if we don't have > pricey dust collectors on the wood working gear? The propane guys > won't deliver fuel for the little propane forge unless it's officially > approved by standards authorities in *this* jurisdiction and the > plumbing installed by a licensed gas fitter. (And they might shop us to > the fire marshall if they catch on that we're using 20# or 40# tanks > from the barecue or Winebago stored indoors.) > > > It's pretty easy to collect up some computers and printers, some > tables and chairs, knock together a heavy workbench. So computer stuff > -- robotics, Arduino projects, programming, designing, media -- can be > done pretty easily. As soon as you get ambitious about *making stuff*, > all kinds of barriers pop up, the same kind that are barriers to entry > for small business. > > So here we are, back at the Blade Runner (or cyberpunk) scenario. > There are so many barriers to doing practically anything constructive > (unless you have substantial resources -- time, money and skill in > coping with regulation) that the obvious way to implement this is to > live and work in a squat, in the black economy, in a slum where the > cops don't go for anything less that a homocide, totally ignoring > regulatory demands. > > Jeez, here I am gloomy again. Well, nevertheless, I have hopes for > the makerspace movement. I'm just projecting onto it the kinds of > problems that blacksmiths and sculptors have when they collect up some > gear, get a ton of coal and then try go about their work as if it were > still 1910. > > > > - Mike > _______________________________________________ > Futurework mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework > > _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [email protected] https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
