Open Source Electronics Pioneer Limor Fried on the DIY Revolution

“Limor Fried: One of the things about doing projects is that
documenting them and sharing them with people used to be really
difficult. Now we see so many people putting up videos, and it’s so
easy. I can make a five-minute video in an hour, with a preface and
edits and nice audio and everything. And I think that makes a
difference, because when people are exposed to this stuff and they
actually get to see it, they get inspired.

“There are also so many really great websites where people can
share their projects. We have Instructables and iFixit and Etsy and
Make and Hack a Day and our own Adafruit. So people who used to do
this stuff alone now have even more community. It used to be just
freaks in garages; now it’s freaks in garages working together.

“And finally, I think we’re actually in a sweet spot where we’ve
kind of captured what Phillip Torrone likes to call ‘skateboarding
culture.’ Where skateboarding used to be just skateboarding, now
skateboarding has turned into a video-sharing competition hobby. It
seriously raises the bar.”

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