I met Dale Dougherty back in 2008 when I put the “Do It Yourself” trend on the cover of Forbes magazine. Back then, I called him and his long-time business partner, Tim O’Reilly, the “Tom Paines” of this new trend because they had started the quarterly publication, Make Magazine in 2005. Now, a decade into the Maker movement, Dougherty is earned an upgrade: He’s become the George Washington of the Maker movement, the leading figure in evangelizing a world in which we learn by doing. Recently, I caught up with Dale to get his reflections on makers, the movement and yes, cutting in line.
edSurge: Pete Seeger had a hammer; Douglas Adams recommended traveling with a towel. What’s the one piece of gear that every maker should have?
Dougherty: A pencil to sketch an idea or take a note, ideally one with an eraser.
edSurge: Does the typical “maker” in 2015 look the same or different…