PSFK » John Gerzema: The Rise Of Citizen Engineers

The shift from consumption toward production has powered the rise of an entire movement of makers, people who trade ideas for creating their own tools, machines, and technologies, attend giant “Maker Faires” in cities across the country, and devour magazines like Popular Science and the new magazine called Make. Phil Torrone is Make’s online editor-at-large. He works out of an office in New York that also houses Adafruit Industries, which sells a catalog full of DIY kits that help people make useful stuff like an iPad charger for pennies. Torrone and his partner Limor Fried promote what they call a “citizen engineer” approach to life that has attracted 100,000 subscribers for the magazine and even more visitors to their Web sites. Their open-source approach means that every design and invention created in their community is made available free and participants help each other in the way that neighbors once offered advice to their fellow backyard mechanics as they leaned over an engine.

John’s book is out now!