When did you First Discover MAKE?

Technology
When did you First Discover MAKE?


MAKE Asks: is a weekly column where we ask you, our readers, for responses to maker-related questions. We hope the column sparks interesting conversation and is a way for us to get to know more about each other.

This week’s question: It might have been a casual introduction for some, but I have a feeling some of you may distinctly remember when and how you first heard about MAKE. Please tell your story.

When I was starting on my first electronics project, I brought a guitar pedal idea to some geeky friends of mine. After some discussion and hasty sketching in a notebook, one of them slapped an issue of Make Magazine on the table and said, “Colombo, you need to start reading this.” In a way, that’s when it all changed.

Post your responses in the comments section.

26 thoughts on “When did you First Discover MAKE?

  1. loganwedwards says:

    I think I found MAKE a few years ago through Lifehacker. I’m not sure what article inspired me, but I do remember (and still have) the inspiration I got from here when looking to get into learning the Arduino platform. Since then, I’ve subscribed to the blog, purchased a few print editions and ebooks and have collected a few project ideas that I would love to try soon. Generally, this has been a wonderful resource to allow me to continue learning and making.

  2. Vinny Forgione says:

    I was sitting in a doctor’s office, and I saw a review of Vol 1. My first home delivery was Vol 2. :)

  3. Michael Colombo says:

    That’s awesome! I wouldn’t expect an issue to be in a Doc’s office.

  4. Ernesto Bareto says:

    July 3, 2011, when I was looking for a good book about electronics (Make: Electronics -Learning by Discovery). Awesome book !
    Since then, I started to check this blog/site every single day.
    = ]

  5. Kris Koenig (@2tall4myhair) says:

    I found Make with the first issue in a Barnes and Noble. I immediately signed up for a subscription because I liked it so much. Shortly after that, Hurricane Katrina destroyed my house and we lost everything. I called around to change mailing addresses for everything, and a few days after I called Make, an envelope arrived with copies of all of the magazines I had lost. It was a completely unnecessary action, but it was so appreciated for the moment of brightness in a dark time that it is the one subscription I won’t even consider dropping. I even signed up for Craft for my wife. Great magazine. Great customer service.

  6. emrikol says:

    I had read on Slashdot (I think some time in 2005) about the upcoming magazine from O’riley, and quickly put in for a pre-order.

  7. klreeve (@klreeve) says:

    I found Make volume 2 with C3PO and R2D2 on the magazine rack in a store. Been hooked ever sense.

  8. Calisto says:

    I somehow got a sign up card in the mail. After spending five hours reading over the website I bought a subscription, number 17 was the first issue to come to the house.

  9. Paul says:

    I bought the first issue, but honestly wasn’t impressed. (I think I had read a pre-announcement on Slashdot.) I looked again at issue 4 and then said “Wow, I need to subscribe!” I then (re)bought 1-3 to have the whole set. (I had lost issue 1 in the meantime)

  10. Derek says:

    I started with the 8th issue, about refurbishing the COMET pinball machine, and since I love pinball, I gathered my “junk”, and drew a sketch of what I wanted. I wanted it as simple as possible, using only gravity to play it. it doesn’t have a scoreboard.
    I completed it, checked online, and it is similar to Williams 1965 Big Chief, but is not a copy of it.

  11. William A. Larsen says:

    I read about Make in QST, official journal of ARRL the national association for amateur radio.

  12. gregory says:

    Found it 2009 somewhere online.

    Something about your RSS feed: Why does this post have a “proper” blurb in the feed, whereas most other content just has 2 lines of bland text? I’m not really reading anything on your blog anymore, because I can’t figure out if it is interesting in my feedreader.

  13. Bluemetal says:

    I believe I saw it in a Barnes and Noble and seeing the kite photography (something I had done some 20 years years) on the cover of Volume 1, immediately fell in love with it. I have been a subscriber since volume 1. I have also managed to buy volume 1 in Japanese.

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In addition to being an online editor for MAKE Magazine, Michael Colombo works in fabrication, electronics, sound design, music production and performance (Yes. All that.) In the past he has also been a childrens' educator and entertainer, and holds a Masters degree from NYU's Interactive Telecommunications Program.

View more articles by Michael Colombo

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