I worry about technical creativity — is it alive or dead? Everything seems pre-fab. We don't build anything -- we buy it. When it craps out, we don't fix it, we buy a new one. It troubles me because making things and tinkering is part of creativity and innovation. So I wonder. Do people -- especially kids -- still labor away in their rooms, building models and erector set fantasies?
Looks like they do.
My latest discovery is Make Magazine, a polished magazine that features do it yourself projects and articles on scientific and hobbyist topics. Want to make a simple robot? A four-foot-tall water-powered rocket? Make an automatic cat feeder from an old VCR? Learn a more secure way to tie your shoes? It's all here, in this tribute to cleverness from O'Reilly (programmers all know who they are). Even if I don't build many (or any) of these projects, I sure enjoy the ingenuity embodied in every page of this cool magazine.
Recent Comments