Reading Reflection No. 3

Makers: The New Industrial Revolution by Chris Anderson

1) What was the general theme or argument of the book?

The central argument in Makers, published in 2012, is that anyone will now have access to exploit new opportunities without experiencing manufacturing obstacles “normal” entrepreneurs traditionally encountered. Specifically, people can learn how to design new products using universal software (through the web), eventually build practically anything through 3D printers (representing more control in production), and create unique “communities” for innovation. Anderson continues by describing how open the field for innovation will become when any person can enter a market and design an effective product, perhaps by simply emailing your idea to a firm that manufactures 3D printed objects. Overall, these communities of makers (as opposed to two or three massive manufacturers) can work together in incredible ways to exchange ideas, make corrections, and potentially disrupt certain industries. The concept is extremely interesting, especially because I have personally witnessed the impact of 3D printers as far back to when I was in high school.  

2) How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT 3003?

This book connected to our class because Anderson not only discovered an opportunity but also described how he believes the opportunity will be exposed. Instead of one entrepreneur using this unique, he mentions how thousands of entrepreneurs can venture into this idea, and furthermore create communities that will advance innovation to help meet customer needs. Very similar to what we have been learning in ENT3003, Anderson exhibited his entrepreneurial mindset – going into specifics of the opportunity and how it will most likely be exploited.

3) If you had to design an exercise for this class, based on the book you read, what would that exercise involve?

A great exercise would be creating a group project where ENT students work alongside a team of UF engineering students to create a new product through 3D printing, as to meet an unmet customer need. This correlates to one of the core arguments within the book; where entrepreneurs lack the technical aspect required to manufacture new products, engineers can easily manufacture their concept into reality.

4) What was your biggest surprise or 'aha' moment when reading the book? In other words, what did you learn that differed most from your expectations?

Perhaps the most influential concept I learned from the book was the value of 3D printing technology being used to disrupt manufacturing firms. Prior to reading Makers, I understood that 3D printing enables innovation, though I did not think further into the possibilities of this technology. Anderson proved that even though I may lack the skills necessary for 3D printing, the opportunity is still there. In theory, all you have to do is present a product that would be worth manufacturing for customers, and therefore avoid all the technical components of producing it.