One of the most challenging aspects of being an inventor
living on the fringes of civilization is the difficulty in obtaining materials.
One thing that has been weighing heavily on me these last couple of weeks is
finding out that someone beat me to the patent office on an idea that, innocently
enough, we were apparently developing at the same time. The sad part is, this
person is selling the item for nearly $100 more than I was intending to go to
market with, and making a killing doing so. Where I'm not certain that so
excessive a price tag is necessary, I have to applaud him. He is a fellow
inventor.
On a side note, don't get me wrong; I do not regret being here. As my fellow Sci-Fi buffs know well, self-described space bum, David Lister said, 'you have to have a plan'. Though mine isn't to get a sheep and a cow and raise horses, it was to make a life on these fringes and maybe awaken the inventive fire that lies dormant in so many of these small communities. Hence the vision of the Makerspace.
But I digress.
It wasn't very long ago, I was talking with one of the best friends I've ever had in this life about how society has had all of its creativity choked from us. Enormous corporations force disposable technology down our throats on a daily basis. We have become used to throwing things out because nothing is 'user serviceable'; nothing is repairable. As a steampunk I find this frustrating, because the mantra 'Don't pitch it, wrench it' doesn't apply. I have repaired computers until they were as technologically relevant as a boat anchor with a keyboard, but try to do that with your television or tablet. It's not quite as easy as going after your old transistor radio with a soldering iron. It might be different if the technology were more durable nowadays, but in that respect we've gone backwards. One of my hobbies is repairing old video game systems. I have soldered and desoldered ATARI consoles, modified them for stereo sound, even miniaturized them into odd cases (because I was bored). I once experimented with an ATARI game cartridge, which included taking out the chip, dropping it from varying heights, boiling it, running over it with the truck. . . The only thing that finally stopped it from working was a hammer. With that in mind, how tight do you clench your backside when you think of your game console maybe getting knocked off the entertainment center?
I am beginning another grand experiment this year in personal sustainability, which I will well document in the hopes of sparking an idea or two among you, my friends and contemporaries. I hear a lot of people complaining nowadays that this country, nay, the world, is 'going to hell in a hand basket'. It's not the fault of any government and it's not the fault of any corporate entities; the blame lies solely and squarely upon us. We LET the government start calling the shots, instead of the other way around, and we LET the corporate world dictate to us what we need and what we should buy.
I'm tired of it. Aren't you?
This is a calling, not a simple rant. This nation was built on ingenuity and the desire to be free, not only from religious and governmental persecution, but from any shackling of ideas and ideals. We are constantly saying things like 'if only I could. . .' or 'I wish I could. . .' What's stopping us? We haven't lost our ingenuity, we've just been taught not to use it. The answers are simple: If you have an idea, build it. If you can't, ask for help from someone who can. Statistics show that the average American produces approximately 1600 pounds of garbage in a year. That averages out to about 4.4 pounds a day and, out of that, 42% is paper textile (toilet tissue, paper towels, etc.). According to WM Recycle America, the United States alone throws out enough recyclable aluminum in a year to "duplicate the full commercial air fleet of the U.S." Now let's think about this in another direction. . . How much additional spending on our part to the producers of those products does that waste represent? How many replaced items that should have lived longer, could have been replaced, or just flat out could have been made by the consumers, themselves? I don't know about you, but with four kids in the house, I save a bundle each year just by making my own laundry detergent.
What am I tired of? I am tire of 'experts' telling me how to live a better life and make the world a better place when we already know how to do it. Who's with me?
On a side note, don't get me wrong; I do not regret being here. As my fellow Sci-Fi buffs know well, self-described space bum, David Lister said, 'you have to have a plan'. Though mine isn't to get a sheep and a cow and raise horses, it was to make a life on these fringes and maybe awaken the inventive fire that lies dormant in so many of these small communities. Hence the vision of the Makerspace.
But I digress.
It wasn't very long ago, I was talking with one of the best friends I've ever had in this life about how society has had all of its creativity choked from us. Enormous corporations force disposable technology down our throats on a daily basis. We have become used to throwing things out because nothing is 'user serviceable'; nothing is repairable. As a steampunk I find this frustrating, because the mantra 'Don't pitch it, wrench it' doesn't apply. I have repaired computers until they were as technologically relevant as a boat anchor with a keyboard, but try to do that with your television or tablet. It's not quite as easy as going after your old transistor radio with a soldering iron. It might be different if the technology were more durable nowadays, but in that respect we've gone backwards. One of my hobbies is repairing old video game systems. I have soldered and desoldered ATARI consoles, modified them for stereo sound, even miniaturized them into odd cases (because I was bored). I once experimented with an ATARI game cartridge, which included taking out the chip, dropping it from varying heights, boiling it, running over it with the truck. . . The only thing that finally stopped it from working was a hammer. With that in mind, how tight do you clench your backside when you think of your game console maybe getting knocked off the entertainment center?
I am beginning another grand experiment this year in personal sustainability, which I will well document in the hopes of sparking an idea or two among you, my friends and contemporaries. I hear a lot of people complaining nowadays that this country, nay, the world, is 'going to hell in a hand basket'. It's not the fault of any government and it's not the fault of any corporate entities; the blame lies solely and squarely upon us. We LET the government start calling the shots, instead of the other way around, and we LET the corporate world dictate to us what we need and what we should buy.
I'm tired of it. Aren't you?
This is a calling, not a simple rant. This nation was built on ingenuity and the desire to be free, not only from religious and governmental persecution, but from any shackling of ideas and ideals. We are constantly saying things like 'if only I could. . .' or 'I wish I could. . .' What's stopping us? We haven't lost our ingenuity, we've just been taught not to use it. The answers are simple: If you have an idea, build it. If you can't, ask for help from someone who can. Statistics show that the average American produces approximately 1600 pounds of garbage in a year. That averages out to about 4.4 pounds a day and, out of that, 42% is paper textile (toilet tissue, paper towels, etc.). According to WM Recycle America, the United States alone throws out enough recyclable aluminum in a year to "duplicate the full commercial air fleet of the U.S." Now let's think about this in another direction. . . How much additional spending on our part to the producers of those products does that waste represent? How many replaced items that should have lived longer, could have been replaced, or just flat out could have been made by the consumers, themselves? I don't know about you, but with four kids in the house, I save a bundle each year just by making my own laundry detergent.
What am I tired of? I am tire of 'experts' telling me how to live a better life and make the world a better place when we already know how to do it. Who's with me?
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