Competitive advantage and handwritten powerpoint slides

November 20, 2011

3d printing, competitive advantage, makerbot, open source hardware, reprap

You can find other articles I’ve written about open-source 3D printing on my 3D printing topic page. Today I had the chance to talk to a few people at Makerbot about “sustainable competitive advantage” - a business jargony term that basically means protecting your business against competitors, especially those with lots of cash. Another way to think about it is capturing the value that you’re creating. (To present some of my ideas, I experimented with a hand-drawn deck instead of Powerpoint.

What motivates content creators?

November 6, 2011

content, diy, instructables, open source

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="358" caption="Two cygnets considering a piece of bread. By flickr user young_einstein (click on picture for source)"][/caption] Here’s a great post on the Instructables forums where users discuss the motivation to create an Instructable. (In case you haven’t heard of it, Instructables is basically a site full of DIY instructions, so the question that’s being asked is why people create DIY projects and then post them on the web for free).

The cloud for physical objects?

November 4, 2011

cloud, cloud computing, physical cloud

When you think about it, “cloud computing” is not that easy to define, but to me the key things are that (a) there’s a utility model involved for provisioning, as you would get with electricity or water, (b) other people deal with all the technological details, maintenance, etc., and © nothing lives at, or comes from, any particular place. If I wonder where my Dropbox data is, nobody knows offhand; if I wonder where my Windows installation is, I can point to its physical location.

Making things maker-friendly

October 17, 2011

hackers, maker-friendly, makers, ownership, public domain

[caption id="attachment_1715" align="alignleft" width="299" caption="A possible "maker-friendly" badge, public domain. A link to the .svg is at the end of this post."][/caption] In Mark Frauenfelder’s _Made by Hand_, he talks about modifying his coffee machine (among other projects). He’s able to do this because the coffee machine happens to be easy to repair as a byproduct of its commercial construction. Think about your microwave or mobile phone, on the other hand.

We are our own novels

October 16, 2011

framing, narrative, storytelling

The presidential primary process is instructive, isn’t it? There’s a grueling, multi-year game during which a few people, usually a mixture of knowns and unknowns, become serious candidates for President. They debate endlessly and their actions are constantly scrutinized by a significant percentage of the American public (and perhaps the world). Candidates unpredictably lose and gain stature based on verbal missteps, things they may have done a very long time ago, things they are accused of but may not have actually done, changes in world events over which they have no control, etc.

Organic systems

October 15, 2011

language

Latin Spanish French Infinitive esse ser être (estre) 1p. sing. sum soy suis 2p. sing. es eres es 3p. sing. est es est 1p. pl. sumus somos sommes 2p. pl. estis sois êtes (estes) 3p. pl. sunt son sont I love making this table. It’s fascinating. Three different languages, having evolved separately over thousands of years.

Are avocadoes "vegan eggs"?

October 15, 2011

apples, avocados, bananas, eggs, frosting, ice cream, lecithin, soy

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="414" caption="Blackbird eggs. By Wikimedia Commons contributor Lokilech (picture links to page)"][/caption] In this post I noted that I found some strange similarities between avocados and eggs. Avocados can be subsituted for eggs in some recipes (especially when not much egg is called for); they seize up and get rubbery just like eggs when they’re overcooked. I also note, not that it’s relevant, that they’re constructed very similarly.

The original bartender's guide, some of which is in verse

September 25, 2011

arf and arf, bartender, bartending, beer, blue blazer, cocktails, egg flip, milk punch, mixology, mulled wine, wine

[caption id="attachment_1641" align="alignleft" width="328" caption="A bartender making a "blue blazer". New York City, 1862, or Portland, 2011?"][/caption] Here’s a fun book I found - “How to Mix Drinks, or, The Bon-Vivant’s Companion”, published in 1862 (and it’s free!). This is the original bartender’s manual. It has lots of arcane and delicious-sounding recipes, charming pictures, comments (“refrigerate with all the icy power of the Arctic”) and contemporary advertisements at the front and back.

What I learned at my first Open Hardware Summit

September 17, 2011

3d printing, arduino, instructables, law, makerbot, making, open source, open source hardware, reprap

[caption id="attachment_1632" align="alignleft" width="400" caption="Swag bag! Including a copy of Make:Magazine, throwie parts, iPhone screwdrivers, lots of other awesome stuff!"][/caption] Open Source Hardware](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-source_hardware) means technology for which the plans, schematics, and other diagrams - everything you need to know to make your own copy of the hardware - is freely available. The most prominent example to me is the RepRap 3D printer project, and the Makerbot, which is based on it.

Designing a 3D printer kit: Packaging

September 15, 2011

3d printing, design, makerbot, mendel, prusa, reprap, user experience

This is the third entry in a series of four exploring the design, packaging and user experience of 3D printing kits. Each article will be published to the front page of this blog, but you can also find them, as well as other articles I’ve written about open-source 3D printing, on my 3D printing topic page. Packaging Once I collected all the parts, the next step was to start actually packaging everything.

Justin Dunham

Competitive advantage and handwritten powerpoint slides

What motivates content creators?

The cloud for physical objects?

Making things maker-friendly

We are our own novels

Organic systems

Are avocadoes "vegan eggs"?

The original bartender's guide, some of which is in verse

What I learned at my first Open Hardware Summit

Designing a 3D printer kit: Packaging