Monday, May 23, 2016

The interesting thing about maker fair this year.



Every year maker fair is a little different. The maker movement catches on with certain groups and they form kind of a yearly theme. Steam punk had a year for example. You get the idea.

This years theme? Corporate. I noticed it almost as soon as I walked in. Every player in the Valley had at least a tiny booth. There were tons of booths that will "help you take your product to market".

When I saw someone with a Raytheon shirt walking around you could tell this place was full of scouts. You could see Intel scouts walking around. I kept asking Mr S. if it seemed super corporate to him. It's kinda the opposite of what Maker Fair started as.

When we got to this booth though - I knew my instincts were right. The whole show this year felt a little like Intels' shark tank show. Which honestly makes me feel a little depressed for the Valley. It makes me feel like we are out of ideas for right now. Understand I see a ton of vapor ware, so I think Intel is using a lot of resources for one or two possible unicorns. They are trying to buy themselves out of death. It's great kids are being exposed to this - but this might not pay off for a decade. The harsh reality is there are only a few Steve Jobs in the world. I mean, it seems like there are a million incubators in the Valley right now. Incubating a product is not the problem. Finding something people will truely buy is something more of a unicorn.

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