Rebirth of industry in the US will be fuelled by the internet


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Makers: The New Industrial Revolution
Chris Anderson
Random House

As editor-in-chief of the award- winning tech magazine Wired and author of the New York Times bestseller The Long Tail (about how the internet is changing business), Chris Anderson is keenly aware of the most cutting-edge trends in e-commerce, computers, social media, web-surfing and related topics. That is both the strength and weakness of his latest book, Makers: The New Industrial Revolution.

The book describes a future where do-it-yourself (DIY) technology, cooked up by amateurs and solo entrepreneurs on their home computers, will radically alter research, design, manufacturing, finance, marketing, employment, global trade and even the human body - a future "where western countries like the United States regain their lost manufacturing might".

Indeed, in Anderson's view, the world is well on its way to that arrangement. Small fabrication machines can already create what he calls "Real Stuff" - from plastic toy blocks to dental fillings - directly from relatively simple software instructions, almost as easily as a printer can whip out a document.

Aficionados send their computer codes, ideas and designs across the web via open-source communities, freely available to all. As Anderson defines the "Makers" of his title: "By simply bringing the web's culture and collaboration to the process of making, they're combining to build something on a scale we've never seen from DIY before."

Anderson's knowledge of technology - both the broad sweep of potential applications and the intricate mechanical details - is impressive. Yet his glowing vision seems to be based in part on the questionable assumption that the rest of humanity lives in a rarefied culture similar to his own neighbourhood just north of Silicon Valley in California. In this tech-enabled world, everyone apparently uses Adobe Illustrator's drawing programme and a Ning platform, sharing their designs with each other in the Cadsoft Eagle format and then uploading the files to a company like Ponoko or Pololu to manufacture, if they don't have their own CNC router such as ShopBot.

"That is just the first wave of what is quickly becoming a mainstream phenomenon," the author claims. "We are all designers now."

Mainstream? All? Well, no doubt that's true of Anderson, who started two tech companies in his spare time. But he might want to step outside the confines of California to take in a more balanced view of the world.

To be fair, the second half of Makers ignores those assumptions and delves into a much more wide-ranging analysis of the implications of the technology.

Anderson goes back into history to find the roots of the electronic DIY movement in the mass production of the Industrial Revolution, as well as the workbench tinkering of his own grandfather, who patented an automatic garden sprinkler system in 1943. In the bad old days, he writes, "My grandfather could invent the automatic sprinkler system in his workshop, but he couldn't build a factory there. To get to market, he had to interest a manufacturer in licensing his invention. And that is not only hard, but requires the inventor to lose control of his or her invention." It is also a rigid system, because the only way the manufacturer can make a decent profit is to churn out huge quantities of identical products.

Modern electronic technology is changing this mentality by giving companies more flexibility, according to Anderson. Merely by rejiggering software codes, manufacturers can profitably make - and constantly readjust - small batches of customised niche products. More important, the shrunken scale opens the door to individual inventor- entrepreneurs.

A key turning point was the introduction of Apple's powerful desktop laser printer, the LaserWriter, in 1985. Now anyone could write, design, and roll out multiple copies of a "newspaper", without the need for massive paper mills or printing presses.

That simple concept of printing from your home keyboard has branched out into multiple ramifications. On the hardware side, more elaborate versions of the printer now allow "printing" in 3D - in other words, fabricating a three-dimensional object. Where a traditional laser printer follows computer instructions to squirt ink onto paper, a 3D printer "just does the same thing with more motors and squirts more than just ink," as Makers puts it. For instance, the 3D version may squirt melted plastic in layers to gradually build up a shape.

Meanwhile, in the area of communication, the desktop printer led to Twitter, blogs, eBay and Facebook. "Once people were given the power of the press, they wanted to do more than print out newsletters," the book says. "So when the web arrived, 'publishing' became 'posting' and they could reach the world."

Inevitably, as Anderson sees it, some people moved beyond posting gossip and chitchat online, and started sharing business concepts. As inventors post their drafts and concepts through various open-source communities, and suggestions bounce back and forth among whoever happens to log onto that conversation, the inventors "get feedback as well as help in promotion, marketing, and fixing bugs".

One example of such crowdsourced creativity is the "Pivot Power" flexible power strip, an upgrade of the standard block of multiple outlets. Each outlet in this new version can pivot, thus allowing a couple of small plugs to squeeze in between one bulky adapter. A programmer from Wisconsin tossed the idea into the virtual suggestion box of a website called Quirky, and after enough people expressed interest, the Quirky staff refined it and found a factory to make the gadget.

But all that is so 20th century. "You think the last two decades were amazing?" Anderson asks rhetorically. "Just wait."

For instance, he sees a need for better group-financing tools. Right now there are websites like Quirky and Kickstarter, where creators post their ideas and seek contributions. A new US law, the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act, allows small companies to raise a maximum US$1 million (Dh3.6m) from crowdsourcing websites without going through the elaborate financial disclosure usually required for stock market listings. However, these existing methods have size limitations.

And the concept of planned obsolescence will disappear, now that it's so easy to rewrite software to make improvements, with the open-source community constantly feeding ideas, the book predicts. "As products like cars become more about their software than their hardware, … they can get better after you buy them, not worse."

Many commentators have noted that manufacturing is inching back to the US, for a variety of reasons, including rising wages in China; increased automation, which makes labour costs less important anyway; and a growing realisation of the advantages of locating factories near the end-user. To that, Anderson adds another explanation - the nimbleness and creativity of the US crowdsourcing movement and bootstrap inventors like his grandfather.

Makers is a surprisingly easy read despite its technical basis, because Anderson is very good at explaining the concepts in lay terms. To illustrate his points, he brings in not only his grandfather, but also his daughters and his attempt to build them an auto-piloted airplane out of Lego blocks.

However, the author's blithe optimism seriously weakens his case. His assumption that "we are all designers" who noodle around with 3D printers and CNC routers, making customised Lego M1 infantry rifles for our kids (yes, that's in the book), is only part of the problem.

It's rather surprising that someone who earns his living through traditional media - his magazine and books - seems so unaware of the downside of online self-publishing, including the uncontrollable spread of misinformation, embarrassing photos and content theft. Actually, Anderson sometimes seems unaware of the need to earn a living at all. "Such entrepreneurs often state that their first obligation is to serve their community, and to make money second," he writes, without any apparent scepticism.

He also evinces no queasiness as he describes the potential for genetic engineering, casually predicting that as the technological tools get more powerful and inexpensive "people will start hacking life".

Another serious problem, mainly in the first part of the book, is repetition. Indeed, this already short volume could probably be cut by about one-third, making it a perfect candidate for a technological innovation that Makers doesn't discuss: short e-books such as Amazon Singles.

In the latter sections, Anderson finally seems to acknowledge that his DIY marketplace is a small one and that "99.9 per cent of users would rather pay someone to do it for them". But that doesn't negate his predictions. His vision of a world of small-batch, personalised, home-based manufacturing could come true even if only a small percentage of laypeople did the initial tinkering, another small percentage chimed in with suggestions, another small percentage provided seed money, another small percentage spread the word, and a slightly larger customer base simply bought the stuff.

Such an outcome would be good for the world in many ways.

It would revitalise manufacturing, inspire creativity, save resources, and democratise business. For all this book's flaws, Anderson makes a persuasive case.

Fran Hawthorne is an award- winning US-based author and journalist who specialises in covering the intersection of business, finance and social policy.

Sarfira

Director: Sudha Kongara Prasad

Starring: Akshay Kumar, Radhika Madan, Paresh Rawal 

Rating: 2/5

New schools in Dubai
The stats

Ship name: MSC Bellissima

Ship class: Meraviglia Class

Delivery date: February 27, 2019

Gross tonnage: 171,598 GT

Passenger capacity: 5,686

Crew members: 1,536

Number of cabins: 2,217

Length: 315.3 metres

Maximum speed: 22.7 knots (42kph)

Remaining fixtures
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  • September 5 – Iraq v UAE, Amman, Jordan (venue TBC)
Winners

Best Men's Player of the Year: Kylian Mbappe (PSG)

Maradona Award for Best Goal Scorer of the Year: Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)

TikTok Fans’ Player of the Year: Robert Lewandowski

Top Goal Scorer of All Time: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)

Best Women's Player of the Year: Alexia Putellas (Barcelona)

Best Men's Club of the Year: Chelsea

Best Women's Club of the Year: Barcelona

Best Defender of the Year: Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus/Italy)

Best Goalkeeper of the Year: Gianluigi Donnarumma (PSG/Italy)

Best Coach of the Year: Roberto Mancini (Italy)

Best National Team of the Year: Italy 

Best Agent of the Year: Federico Pastorello

Best Sporting Director of the Year: Txiki Begiristain (Manchester City)

Player Career Award: Ronaldinho

Anghami
Started: December 2011
Co-founders: Elie Habib, Eddy Maroun
Based: Beirut and Dubai
Sector: Entertainment
Size: 85 employees
Stage: Series C
Investors: MEVP, du, Mobily, MBC, Samena Capital

The Kingfisher Secret
Anonymous, Penguin Books

Company%20profile
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STAR%20WARS%20JEDI%3A%20SURVIVOR
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ONCE UPON A TIME IN GAZA

Starring: Nader Abd Alhay, Majd Eid, Ramzi Maqdisi

Directors: Tarzan and Arab Nasser

Rating: 4.5/5

Real estate tokenisation project

Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.

The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.

Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.

The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE. 

Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on

Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins

Read part two: how climate change drove the race for an alternative 

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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
 
Started: 2020
 
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
 
Based: Dubai, UAE
 
Sector: Entertainment 
 
Number of staff: 210 
 
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW

Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman

Director: Jesse Armstrong

Rating: 3.5/5

UPI facts

More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions

The specs: 2017 Maserati Quattroporte

Price, base / as tested Dh389,000 / Dh559,000

Engine 3.0L twin-turbo V8

Transmission Eight-speed automatic

Power 530hp @ 6,800rpm

Torque 650Nm @ 2,000 rpm

Fuel economy, combined 10.7L / 100km

The specS: 2018 Toyota Camry

Price: base / as tested: Dh91,000 / Dh114,000

Engine: 3.5-litre V6

Gearbox: Eight-speed automatic

Power: 298hp @ 6,600rpm

Torque: 356Nm @ 4,700rpm

Fuel economy, combined: 7.0L / 100km

It Was Just an Accident

Director: Jafar Panahi

Stars: Vahid Mobasseri, Mariam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi, Hadis Pakbaten, Majid Panahi, Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr

Rating: 4/5

Fixtures

Opening day Premier League fixtures for August 9-11

August 9

Liverpool v Norwich 11pm

August 10

West Ham v Man City 3.30pm

Bournemouth v Sheffield Utd 6pm

Burnley v Southampton 6pm

C Palace v Everton 6pm

Leicester v Wolves 6pm

Watford v Brighton 6pm

Tottenham v Aston Villa 8.30pm

August 11

Newcastle v Arsenal 5pm

Man United v Chelsea 7.30pm

 

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
House-hunting

Top 10 locations for inquiries from US house hunters, according to Rightmove

  1. Edinburgh, Scotland 
  2. Westminster, London 
  3. Camden, London 
  4. Glasgow, Scotland 
  5. Islington, London 
  6. Kensington and Chelsea, London 
  7. Highlands, Scotland 
  8. Argyll and Bute, Scotland 
  9. Fife, Scotland 
  10. Tower Hamlets, London 

 

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
 
Started: 2021
 
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
 
Based: Tunisia 
 
Sector: Water technology 
 
Number of staff: 22 
 
Investment raised: $4 million 
Profile of Tamatem

Date started: March 2013

Founder: Hussam Hammo

Based: Amman, Jordan

Employees: 55

Funding: $6m

Funders: Wamda Capital, Modern Electronics (part of Al Falaisah Group) and North Base Media

The specs: 2018 Chevrolet Trailblazer

Price, base / as tested Dh99,000 / Dh132,000

Engine 3.6L V6

Transmission: Six-speed automatic

Power 275hp @ 6,000rpm

Torque 350Nm @ 3,700rpm

Fuel economy combined 12.2L / 100km

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%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirectors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Amit%20Joshi%20and%20Aradhana%20Sah%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECast%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Shahid%20Kapoor%2C%20Kriti%20Sanon%2C%20Dharmendra%2C%20Dimple%20Kapadia%2C%20Rakesh%20Bedi%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A

Name: Peter Dicce

Title: Assistant dean of students and director of athletics

Favourite sport: soccer

Favourite team: Bayern Munich

Favourite player: Franz Beckenbauer

Favourite activity in Abu Dhabi: scuba diving in the Northern Emirates 

 

Primera Liga fixtures (all times UAE: 4 GMT)

Friday
Real Sociedad v Villarreal (10.15pm)
Real Betis v Celta Vigo (midnight)
Saturday
Alaves v Barcelona (8.15pm)
Levante v Deportivo La Coruna (10.15pm)
Girona v Malaga (10.15pm)
Las Palmas v Atletico Madrid (12.15am)
Sunday
Espanyol v Leganes (8.15pm)
Eibar v Athletic Bilbao (8.15pm)
Getafe v Sevilla (10.15pm)
Real Madrid v Valencia (10.15pm)

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The bio

Who inspires you?

I am in awe of the remarkable women in the Arab region, both big and small, pushing boundaries and becoming role models for generations. Emily Nasrallah was a writer, journalist, teacher and women’s rights activist

How do you relax?

Yoga relaxes me and helps me relieve tension, especially now when we’re practically chained to laptops and desks. I enjoy learning more about music and the history of famous music bands and genres.

What is favourite book?

The Perks of Being a Wallflower - I think I've read it more than 7 times

What is your favourite Arabic film?

Hala2 Lawen (Translation: Where Do We Go Now?) by Nadine Labaki

What is favourite English film?

Mamma Mia

Best piece of advice to someone looking for a career at Google?

If you’re interested in a career at Google, deep dive into the different career paths and pinpoint the space you want to join. When you know your space, you’re likely to identify the skills you need to develop.  

 

if you go

The flights

Air Astana flies direct from Dubai to Almaty from Dh2,440 per person return, and to Astana (via Almaty) from Dh2,930 return, both including taxes. 

The hotels

Rooms at the Ritz-Carlton Almaty cost from Dh1,944 per night including taxes; and in Astana the new Ritz-Carlton Astana (www.marriott) costs from Dh1,325; alternatively, the new St Regis Astana costs from Dh1,458 per night including taxes. 

When to visit

March-May and September-November

Visas

Citizens of many countries, including the UAE do not need a visa to enter Kazakhstan for up to 30 days. Contact the nearest Kazakhstan embassy or consulate.

Tips for job-seekers
  • Do not submit your application through the Easy Apply button on LinkedIn. Employers receive between 600 and 800 replies for each job advert on the platform. If you are the right fit for a job, connect to a relevant person in the company on LinkedIn and send them a direct message.
  • Make sure you are an exact fit for the job advertised. If you are an HR manager with five years’ experience in retail and the job requires a similar candidate with five years’ experience in consumer, you should apply. But if you have no experience in HR, do not apply for the job.

David Mackenzie, founder of recruitment agency Mackenzie Jones Middle East

RESULTS

5pm: Handicap (TB) Dh100,000, 2,400m
Winner: Recordman, Richard Mullen (jockey), Satish Seemar (trainer)

5.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh 70,000, 2,200m​​​​​​​
Winner: AF Taraha, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel

6pm: Abu Dhabi Fillies Classic Prestige (PA) Dh110,000, 1,400m​​​​​​​
Winner: Dhafra, Fabrice Veron, Eric Lemartinel

6.30pm: Abu Dhabi Colts Classic Prestige (PA) Dh110,000, 1,400m​​​​​​​
Winner: Maqam, Fabrice Veron, Eric Lemartinel

7pm: Handicap (PA) Dh85,000, 1,600m​​​​​​​
Winner: AF Momtaz, Fernando Jara, Musabah Al Muhairi

7.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000, 1,600m​​​​​​​
Winner: Optimizm, Patrick Cosgrave, Abdallah Al Hammadi