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โI think more and more people are learning that what they get for free is not actually free.โ
โHelm Founder Giri Sreenivas
The Joy of the Creative Process
There’s incredible pressure on hardware startups to work efficiently toward a marketable product and firm financial goals. But aย delightful new accountย by a maker pro namedย Steve Augustย (@SteveAugust) shows how taking the time to experiment and find something genuinely artisanal and magical about hardware can carve out a different path that’s rewarding in an entirely distinct way.
Writing forย Predictable Designsย (@JohnTeelEE), August describes how he took some time after he sold his startup in 2014 to hang around with makers and play with creative hardware tools. He become intrigued by whatย MITย (@MIT) lecturerย David Roseย (@davidrose) calls “enchanted objects” โ everyday items that respond to signals from the internet in subtle ways.
After a series of experiments, August arrived at a concept he calls โThe Marketโ โ a fusion between art and technology that uses an ornate seesaw, with a bear on one end and a bull on the other, to show the trajectory of the stock market. Heโs selling it under a new company he created calledย August & Wonderย (@AugustAndWonder).
Augustโs entire journey is remarkable, and it touches on every phase of the maker pro process, from prototyping to marketing. Its central message: if you periodically allow yourself some real creative leeway, thereโs a possibility that youโll dream up a product that would never come about during a more utilitarian development process.
Maker Pro Email Security
Speaking of left-field hardware concepts,ย Helmย (@HelmSecure) isย bucking the spirit of the cloudย with a consumer-oriented private email server. The project isnโt just an aesthetically pleasing product, according to CEOย Giri Sreenivas(@giri_sreenivas) โ itโs also a political statement about how big tech uses our data.
โI think more and more people are learning that what they get for free is not actually free,โ Sreenivas toldย Ars Technica. โTheyโre learning that they give up their data, and companies like Google and companies like Facebook and others are figuring out anything and everything they can do under the sun to make money with that data and the corresponding online behaviors.โ
Here’s What a Maker Pro Makes for Fun
Atย Dragon Innovationย (@dragoninnovate),ย Scott Millerย mostly focuses on helping other people turn their hardware concepts into sellable consumer products.
That doesnโt mean that Miller doesnโt enjoy making on his own. To wit, check out thisย beautifully engineered dispenser for candyย he created for Halloween this year โ whipped together with aย Glowforgeย (@glowforge) laser cutter and anย Adafruitย (@adafruit) Feather M0. Itโs a whimsical project, but Millerโs methodical work and documentation is a testament to the power of an orderly design process.
Adafruit Does Halloween
Speaking of Halloween and Adafruit,ย Make:ย contributorย Gareth Branwyn(@garethb2ย ) published aย worthwhile storyย this week about how the breakout maker pro company leaned into the spooky autumn season by creating theย HalloWing, a skull-shapedย Featherย microcontroller specially optimized to run Halloween projects.
Itโs a worthwhile post with a roundup of incredible Halloween projects โ but thereโs also a worthy business takeaway about finding niches in a crowded market even as a company grows. It worked for Adafruit: Branwyn reports that itโs been having trouble keeping the item in stock.
Elsewhere on the Maker Pro Web
Aย heartening dispatchย from Brooklyn looks at how recycling startups are using ingenious technological hacks and maker skills to increase the efficiency of the cityโs recycling system. Standouts:ย Earth Angelย (@earthangelnyc) is helping film crews lessen their environmental impacts, andย Rise Products(@RISEproductsco) is turning brewing waste into edible โsuper flour.โ
Video doorbell makerย Ringย (@ring), recently acquired byย Amazon, says its motion-sensing doorbell can reduce burglaries. But theย MIT Tech Reviewย took a closer lookย and wasnโt impressed with the evidence.
ICONย (@ICON3DTech), which wants to use 3D printing to construct entire homes,ย picked upย a modest $9 million in seed funding this week. The companyโs goals are huge: it wants to fabricate entire houses in less than 24 hours, for a cost of around $10,000.
Anย amazing roundupย byย IEEE Spectrumย features more than 200 robots, from educational and experimental, bio-inspired bots to drones and factory machines. Some, like theย baby-facedย CB2, are straight-up terrifying.
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