Foul Is Fair

After lunch on Saturday, I mosied over to The Wychwood Barn for the Toronto Mini Maker Faire. I was hoping to see some cool projects as I have always been a bit clumsy with my hands. But it was a disappointing experience and didn't justify the $12.50 ticket.

I supposed I should have expected a more commercial atmosphere instead of the DIY aesthetic promoted in the pages of Make. Whether small or large, it was mostly companies selling their product or services. One of the larger booths had sponsor Autodesk demonstrating a 3D modelling software running on an iPad. A few had boards or accelerometers hooked up haphazardly to some underwhelming demo. But the bulk of the booths had some variation of a 3D printer set-up. After the 6th or perhaps 10th such, I had enough of another bunny or geometric model done up in cheap extruded plastic. There might be a challenge in building one (though the main mechanism would have to be purchased), but once available, I don't see the skill in loading a model to print out.

There were a few more ambitious projects. Tellingly, they were non-functional: more sculptural art than working machines (not that there's anything wrong with that). There were a few interesting leads, such as the Tool Library which promises members access to wide variety of tools. The small kids had fun at the Toy Hack, although it mostly consisted of tearing apart donated toys and putting together a Franken-toy from the pieces.