And let's not forget 3-D printing, is is surely going to be a big thing. I am guessing it won't trigger as many concerns as the heavy workshop environment you describe, Mike. Any thoughts on 3-D printing?
Cheers, Lawry On Jun 23, 2012, at 1:25 AM, 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/ > > 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
