21A- Reading Reflection No. 2

Makers: The Next Industrial Revolution

1. The general theme of this book revolves around the idea that 3-D printers, CAD modeling and other technologies of design have drastically increased the potential for inventors to create. This gives a lot more power and access to individuals that may not own their own factory, but still want to bring their ideas to life. I think there is a lot of truth in this, because often times people cannot bring their ideas to life due to insufficient funds, but with an investment in software or 3-D printers they have a lot more opportunity than they did before. This has the potential to create the next innovative revolution.
2. This book enhanced what I have been learning in ENT 3003, because it just took the concepts we have been studying and made it more tangible. It created more pathways to bring ideas to live and to actually start the prototyping process. I think that’s very important for entrepreneurs because if you want intellectual property for example, it helps a lot to have a physical prototype to share. This book definitely allowed me to see opportunities that I hadn’t before and I think it really complimented what we are learning in this class.
3. I would design an activity where everyone has to come up with an idea that has the potential to be 3-D printed. After that they would work in groups using those 3-D printers and would be able to create their prototypes. They could then submit pictures and videos of their inventions and prototypes and lead discussion on the generation process.
4. The biggest surprise was learning the true magnitude of what this new industrial revolution could bring. Entrepreneurship is already gaining speed to me, but with these technologies and software I now believe it is going to spread faster than ever before. I think I really want a 3-D printer now.