Makers

The New Industrial Revolution

By: Chris Anderson

Narrated by: René Ruiz

Length: 8 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

Wired magazine editor and best-selling author Chris Anderson takes you to the front lines of a new industrial revolution as today’s entrepreneurs, using open source design and 3-D printing, bring manufacturing to the desktop. In an age of custom-fabricated, do-it-yourself product design and creation, the collective potential of a million garage tinkerers and enthusiasts is about to be unleashed, driving a resurgence of American manufacturing. A generation of "Makers" using the Web’s innovation model will help drive the next big wave in the global economy, as the new technologies of digital design and rapid prototyping gives everyone the power to invent - creating "the long tail of things".

©2012 Chris Anderson (P)2012 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"Chris understands that the owners of the means of production get to decide what is produced. And now you're the owner. This book will change your life, whether you read it or not, so I suggest you get in early." (Seth Godin, best-selling author of Tribes and Purple Cow)

"A visionary preview of the next technological revolution. If you want to know where the future is headed, start here." (Tom Rath, author of StrengthsFinder 2.0)

"Makers is must read for understanding the transformative changes that are shaping, and will shape, the future of inventing." (Dan Ariely, author of Predictably Irrational and The Upside of Irrationality)

Didn't realize I am a 'Maker' until I read this.

Would you listen to Makers again? Why?

Yes, this was an excellent and inspiring book for people who like to design, create, and invent.

What did you like best about this story?

I didn't realize there were so many people like me. This book opened my eyes to the world of 'Makers' and also provided a guide to making my ideas reality. I have been using the concepts in this book to bring my ideas and inventions to life.

Another idea generating audio by Chris Anderson

Excellent introduction into the Maker movement. He thinks there will be a new industrial revolution caused by personal manufacturing which will be similar to what happened with the computer revolution. We are at the very beginning. His prediction that this new technology will bring jobs back from overseas is an encouraging one. He also applies his insights from his previous works Free and The Long Tail (both are must reads) to this topic.
Some great reviews are online.

A little repetitive and one sided

Good book and interesting. No balance. Just his vision of this possible future.

"Tea. Earl Grey. Hot." It's on its way.

Chris Anderson of Wired Magazine and "The Long Tail" has written another insightful book about and emerging technological and societal phenomenon.

Three-D printing,small-batch internet based manufacturing, and the culture of shared creativity are changing the face of manufacturing and erasing the advantage of outsourcing jobs.

When Captain Picard of the Enterprise ordered a cup of hot tea from the replicator, it was fiction. Today, we can make the tea cup. It is not unimaginable that soon, we can fill the cup with tea, too.

Very well read, I enjoyed the cadence and timber of the narrator's voice. Some of the material gets a little dry and geeky, but the narration helped keep it from being boring.

Invention in a new perspective

What did you like best about this story?

I find the whole idea of the book fascinating and have a huge respect for the people and communities that drives the maker revolution. The book is well written and the narration is good - so an easy listening. I can recommend the book to anyone who has an interest in "userdriven" invention and community driven innovation.

Not entirely accurate.

I work in a machine shop, and couldn't help but notice some of the terminology was incorrect. Overall a great listen though.

Good basic information, but not a lot of good info

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

If I had a friend that knew nothing of CNC technology or rapid prototyping and they simply wanted to understand the industry at a surface deep level, I would surely recommend this book. The problem is that the author really did not offer up any new information outside of what one might read in a couple news articles. There are surely more efficient ways to get this information outside of sitting through this book.

Would you ever listen to anything by Chris Anderson again?

Probably not. Maybe good news articles, but he should lay off from writing books.

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

Good narration.

Could you see Makers being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

haha, really? no. This is a technical/business book, not really something tv worthy. Ok, I will play along... Charlie Sheen can play narrator/womanizer, Nicholas Cage can run around being over dramatic about 3d printers.

Any additional comments?

This book was not entirely bad, it just lacked solid information and really just skimmed the surface. More what I would expect from an article in the paper than from a full book. At times the author seems to be talking simply to use up space and meet the publishers word count. I have quite a bit of experience with cnc tools and a little background (3 college credits) on rapid prototyping (essentially what the author calls 3d printing). I found a lot of the information to be factually wrong and over simplified. Clearly the author is writing as if he is an expert on the subject, but really only has a textbook (or Google) understanding of the subject. Once again, if you are coming at this subject with no background and very little interest, you will learn a little. But you are probably better off reading up on the subject elsewhere if you want a working knowledge of the subject. This book may serve as a good superficial primer to the subject. Also remember, the author makes everything out to be easier than it really is. This technology was developed by Engineers for engineers, not to say that anyone can not take it on. Just remember, it is not going to be as easy as imagining a pretty object and then hitting print. Likewise, there is still quite a bit of post processing that needs to happen before you will ever have a reasonable final product (with certain exceptions).

Awesome book! Current, addicting and req. reading

I loved this book! I have been buying MAKER magazine and getting to know more and more about the DIY community. Firstly, the narration is probably the best I have heard on Audible. Clear, easy to listen to and almost addicting. The examples, the stories and the common sense that the author dishes out is pretty cool. Its very easy to "Get" what he is saying and its one of those books that makes you want to read/listen the next chapter and not put it down. I listened to this book in 3 days and I put it at the top of the list of books i have purchased from Audible.

Great content, narrator not so much.

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes I would. The content in the book, which basically covers the influences of the start to the maker movement and it's comparison to manufacturing during the industrial revolution, is great. The author has a lot of insight into the ideology and operations of a maker/open movement. A must for anyone starting a makerspace.

What other book might you compare Makers to and why?

iWoz is similar in that Steve Wozniak was a huge influence in the early homebrew movement which parallels the maker movement of today.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

Try some inflection. The narrator is very monotonous and doesn't seem to be as excited about the content as the author reflects in his writing.

Any additional comments?

Get the author or someone in the maker movement to narrate this book.

Read it for your kids...

Great book, describing great possibilities. The best argument out there for STEM education. It should be on every high schooler's summer reading list.