Hacking the Physical World
If you can "mod software," you can mod the real world.
That thinking lead O'Reilly Media vice president Dale Dougherty to found Make magazine. He calls it "a Popular Mechanics for the digital age, rather than the mechanical age." Within its pages, you can find a way to teach yourself how to build your own solar-powered torch, or a ukulele out of a cake tin. For Dougherty, it's about reminding people that they can do it themselves. If they don't know how, they can learn. Dougherty himself came from an IT background. Part of the team behind Global Network Navigator, the world's first commercial website, he's commonly credited with creating the term "Web 2.0." Now he has co-founded the Maker Education Initiative. The concept is simple: to get kids interested in the same kind of hands-on projects that have spurred the entire "maker movement." Most importantly for Dougherty, it's about instilling a lifetime love of learning and giving people the passion to tinker. He said, "I've heard some people refer to the term 'creative confidence,' and I think that's what we're trying to do." – Richard Whittaker
