Assignment 21A: Reading Reflection No.2
1) What is the general theme or argument of the book?
The book MAKERS - The New Industrial Revolution written by Chris Anderson is about the revolution of Entrepreneurship. The internet affected entrepreneurial thinking in a way that the tools of production like 3D printers and prototyping tools have been made available for everyone now. This makes it easier to implement an idea and found a start-up. There are several internet communities that share their knowledge and offer help. The path from 'inventor to entrepreneur' has been shortened.
2) How did the book in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning ENT 3003?
I learned in the ENT 3003 lectures that it is important to exploit opportunities and those opportunities exist because of the needs that people have. In the past time it was harder to implement an idea because after the invention it was difficult for the inventor to find a company to sign a licensing contract with. Often people lost most of the decision power over the contract. The book taught me that this has changed. Nowadays it is easier to put your ideas into practice and exploit opportunities due to the internet. Prototyping tools and 3D printers are available for everyone. Today there are thousands of entrepreneurs emerging from the Maker Movement who are industrializing the do-it-yourself spirit and encourage other people to do so as well. Customer needs can be satisfied and opportunities can be exploited easier.
3) If you had to design an exercise for this class, based on the book you read, what would that exercise involve?
In general I would suggest students to read this book. It is an eye opener and I think it would encourage students to believe in a certain idea they have and try to implement it. The book told me kind of that it is not too hard to exploit an opportunity due to the help of the internet community. It is also easier to enhance a certain idea or product because a lot of people share their thoughts and give suggestions of improvements. If I should design a more specific exercise I would let the students look for an invention that was implemented in the past time without the internet, 3D printers or prototyping tools. Then they should imagine to be the person who invents this product, not in the past time but nowadays. I would asked them how the way from the invention to the implementation would have changed, what would have been easier and what could have been enhanced from the beginning.
4) What was your biggest surprise or ‘aha’ moment when reading the book? In other words, what did you learn that differed most from your expectations?
The biggest surprise was that the books really encouraged me to believe in my ideas and kind of convinced me to work on the implementation of these ideas. I never thought about that there is a big and useful community due to the internet. I always thought that it would be too hard to implement an idea and become an entrepreneur. But compared to the difficulties inventors had in the past time, nowadays we have a lot more and easier possibilities to implement an idea and exploit an opportunity.
2) How did the book in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning ENT 3003?
I learned in the ENT 3003 lectures that it is important to exploit opportunities and those opportunities exist because of the needs that people have. In the past time it was harder to implement an idea because after the invention it was difficult for the inventor to find a company to sign a licensing contract with. Often people lost most of the decision power over the contract. The book taught me that this has changed. Nowadays it is easier to put your ideas into practice and exploit opportunities due to the internet. Prototyping tools and 3D printers are available for everyone. Today there are thousands of entrepreneurs emerging from the Maker Movement who are industrializing the do-it-yourself spirit and encourage other people to do so as well. Customer needs can be satisfied and opportunities can be exploited easier.
3) If you had to design an exercise for this class, based on the book you read, what would that exercise involve?
In general I would suggest students to read this book. It is an eye opener and I think it would encourage students to believe in a certain idea they have and try to implement it. The book told me kind of that it is not too hard to exploit an opportunity due to the help of the internet community. It is also easier to enhance a certain idea or product because a lot of people share their thoughts and give suggestions of improvements. If I should design a more specific exercise I would let the students look for an invention that was implemented in the past time without the internet, 3D printers or prototyping tools. Then they should imagine to be the person who invents this product, not in the past time but nowadays. I would asked them how the way from the invention to the implementation would have changed, what would have been easier and what could have been enhanced from the beginning.
4) What was your biggest surprise or ‘aha’ moment when reading the book? In other words, what did you learn that differed most from your expectations?
The biggest surprise was that the books really encouraged me to believe in my ideas and kind of convinced me to work on the implementation of these ideas. I never thought about that there is a big and useful community due to the internet. I always thought that it would be too hard to implement an idea and become an entrepreneur. But compared to the difficulties inventors had in the past time, nowadays we have a lot more and easier possibilities to implement an idea and exploit an opportunity.
Laura,
ReplyDeletealthough we didn't read the same books, I think it is very interesting how the books are so different yet still show what an entrepreneur should be, could be, or has to be. I agree with you that today it is easier to put our idea into plans and into actions. Thanks to the internet and technology, the potential number of ideas keeps growing.
Hey Laura,
ReplyDeleteAlthough your book is different I thought our books shared similarities in the different types of Entrepreneurs. Both the 3D printer as well as the airplane were revolutionary in their time and our time respectively. We are currently experiencing that right now with the discontinuous innovations. I thought your reflection was well put together because I feel as though I got a true understanding of your reading.
Hi Laura, it seems like this book provided a lot of insight to you. You mentioned a lot of great takeaways. With a background in business education, I am very interested in your idea for an activity based on the book. I agree that it is always helpful to have students put themselves in the entrepreneur's shoes and ask themselves what they would do or change in the entrepreneurs' situation.
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