Abstract
The
popularization of digital fabrication tools at a domestic level and through the
proliferation of maker labs or spaces is said to put the process of manufacture
in the hands of the masses. This phenomenon has had ample repercussion in the
media; analysts are announcing that anyone interested can make instead of
buying what they need or want, indicating that the boom of participation has
arrived to the realm of material objects.
The future
of digital fabrication depends, as in any emergent technology, on both
technical developments and the utility found by its users. This ethnographic
study of digital makers (users of the FabLab Amsterdam) explores the later,
adding a feet-on-the-ground perspective to this discussion. It suggests that
these tools are empowering creative people, improving the accuracy and widening
the scope of their projects. On the other hand, it also points out that the
emergence of an alternative model of consumption based on connected production
at a domestic scale described in the media may not be aligned to the current
state of affairs.
