News By Russell Holly Jan. 17, 2014 12:56 pm
With all the tools available today to build a thing and make it smart, you begin to question where the limits of that potential really are. Spark’s recent experiment in creating a DIY Nest thermostat is a perfect example of what is possible with your hands right now.
From one perspective, the world of technology is getting smaller. Not only are the products being released getting smaller, but the space between companies is getting smaller. A fine example of that is the recent acquisition of Nest by Google. Events like these decrease the space between companies such that even someone who is only using Apple products finds themselves in a situation where Google has an almost literal foot into your home.
If that is the sort of thing that makes you uncomfortable it may also make you feel trapped, as though there’s often no alternative to these large companies if you want to enjoy cutting edge technology. Fortunately there happens to be another perspective — the Maker perspective — and companies like Spark are making sure users know that they can still roll up their sleeves and do things themselves.
Spark Core is a fantastic little chip that is designed to make it possible for you to add WiFi to anything with very little effort. The Arduino friendly chip takes away a lot of the heavy listing when it comes to taking a project and making it smarter, but that doesn’t always mean we know what to do with that power when we have it.
The sheer volume of noise generated last week when Google purchased Nest gave the Spark guys the perfect opportunity to show off what is possible if you embrace the maker culture and build something for yourself. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that Spark made something that competes with a Nest thermostat, but they nailed the form factor and managed a beautiful looking design that is quite functional. What’s even more impressive is that the project is open source, so anyone can download the software and build something.
This is the kind of foundation that leads to fantastic and explosive open source projects. Someone could quickly build support for multiple mobile devices, add smarter features, and even support connectivity with other things in your house. It’s the kind of foundation that inspires others to try something new, even if it seems like something small, and that’s the core of the maker phenomenon that has become so popular in recent years. It’s more than just a cool idea, it’s a cool idea that everyone can share and improve upon together.
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From one perspective, the world of technology is getting smaller. Not only are the products being released getting smaller, but the space between companies is getting smaller. A fine example of that is the recent acquisition of Nest by Google. Events like these decrease the space between companies such that even someone who is only using Apple products finds themselves in a situation where Google has an almost literal foot into your home.
If that is the sort of thing that makes you uncomfortable it may also make you feel trapped, as though there’s often no alternative to these large companies if you want to enjoy cutting edge technology. Fortunately there happens to be another perspective — the Maker perspective — and companies like Spark are making sure users know that they can still roll up their sleeves and do things themselves.
Spark Core is a fantastic little chip that is designed to make it possible for you to add WiFi to anything with very little effort. The Arduino friendly chip takes away a lot of the heavy listing when it comes to taking a project and making it smarter, but that doesn’t always mean we know what to do with that power when we have it.
The sheer volume of noise generated last week when Google purchased Nest gave the Spark guys the perfect opportunity to show off what is possible if you embrace the maker culture and build something for yourself. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that Spark made something that competes with a Nest thermostat, but they nailed the form factor and managed a beautiful looking design that is quite functional. What’s even more impressive is that the project is open source, so anyone can download the software and build something.
This is the kind of foundation that leads to fantastic and explosive open source projects. Someone could quickly build support for multiple mobile devices, add smarter features, and even support connectivity with other things in your house. It’s the kind of foundation that inspires others to try something new, even if it seems like something small, and that’s the core of the maker phenomenon that has become so popular in recent years. It’s more than just a cool idea, it’s a cool idea that everyone can share and improve upon together.
More...