January 24, 2015 at 21:1613 questions to Bre Pettis
Thirteen questions from TechCrunch were answered by Bre Pettis, founder and former CEO of MakerBot , who launched the Bold Machines startup last September. TechCrunch in this section asks questions to significant figures from the world of technology, startups and iron.
1) A few simple questions: Android or iOS?
No comments.
2) Super Nintendo or Sega?
Games on MSDOS.
3) What is your first car?
Jeep Commando 1973
4) Who was your hero in childhood?
My parents had a company developing software for computers Apple II +, Commodore 64 and Acorn. They hired teenagers who programmed software and these guys were real hackers who squeezed out more colors, animation and sound from these computers. They were my heroes, and they helped me hack Wizardry and get unlimited gold.
5) What are the earliest memories of technology?
My father was a desperate radio amateur, and I remember the sparkle of the vacuum tubes of the Hammarlund receiver. I remember when I watched Star Wars when I was five, and I thought that R2-D2 was talking like interference in that receiver.
6) Which of the teachers influenced you the most?
When I was studying at Evergreen State College I met Dorein Crabble, and she was so dynamic and interesting that I immediately decided: I will teach everything that she does not teach. For several years I studied Butoh dance and worked with the Kagami dance troupe. Buto is a post-apocalyptic form of Japanese art, for which you need to shave all your hair, color your body in white and drool in public.
7) What smartphone application can you live without?
I have a passion for old cars, so I constantly read Bringtrailer.com . But I'm smart enough not to own old cars.
8) What company is moving the DIY community forward?
I don’t think that only one company does this, so I’ll name Adafruit, Evil Mad Scientist and MakerBot, because each of them, including the one I founded, is designed to provide customers with tools for innovation.
In addition, I will mention Make: Magazine, because they actually help people find new ideas and because it was thanks to them that my passion for production arose.
9) What mistakes would you like to fix?
All my life I have made mistakes, learned from them and struggled to make mistakes only once. Looking back, I regret only one thing: while MakerBot “took off”, I found too little time for my friends.
10) Who has influenced your life the most?
It was not a man, it was a community. When I was a teenager, I didn’t feel at home very well and realized that I could spend the whole summer at Bar 41 Dude Ranch and Summer Camp working there. I left there as soon as the school was over. I undertook all kinds of work - from washing dishes to digging in the ground. All the people in the camp gave me the desire to explore who I am and build friendships. I used to ride horses a lot, mostly bareback - as a special kind of freedom. This experience, which sometimes allowed me to be alone or to be with other people who believed in a bright future, gave me more than all 12 years at school.
11) What would you like to do before you die?
I hope to relax in an unmanned vehicle.
12) Which gadget will you buy next?
This spring I am going to take care of my own small garden. Now I’m thinking how to automate it.
13) If you did not live in New York, where would you live?
There are several places that I would like to visit and live from six months to a year in order to feel life there and to better know friends. Kobe, Japan. Berlin, Germany. Reykjavik, Iceland, and Tallinn, Estonia.
My favorite place in the world is the Orkney Islands in the North Sea of Scotland because I love megalithic monuments. But this is too far a place to think about life there.
1) A few simple questions: Android or iOS?
No comments.
2) Super Nintendo or Sega?
Games on MSDOS.
3) What is your first car?
Jeep Commando 1973
4) Who was your hero in childhood?
My parents had a company developing software for computers Apple II +, Commodore 64 and Acorn. They hired teenagers who programmed software and these guys were real hackers who squeezed out more colors, animation and sound from these computers. They were my heroes, and they helped me hack Wizardry and get unlimited gold.
5) What are the earliest memories of technology?
My father was a desperate radio amateur, and I remember the sparkle of the vacuum tubes of the Hammarlund receiver. I remember when I watched Star Wars when I was five, and I thought that R2-D2 was talking like interference in that receiver.
6) Which of the teachers influenced you the most?
When I was studying at Evergreen State College I met Dorein Crabble, and she was so dynamic and interesting that I immediately decided: I will teach everything that she does not teach. For several years I studied Butoh dance and worked with the Kagami dance troupe. Buto is a post-apocalyptic form of Japanese art, for which you need to shave all your hair, color your body in white and drool in public.
7) What smartphone application can you live without?
I have a passion for old cars, so I constantly read Bringtrailer.com . But I'm smart enough not to own old cars.
8) What company is moving the DIY community forward?
I don’t think that only one company does this, so I’ll name Adafruit, Evil Mad Scientist and MakerBot, because each of them, including the one I founded, is designed to provide customers with tools for innovation.
In addition, I will mention Make: Magazine, because they actually help people find new ideas and because it was thanks to them that my passion for production arose.
9) What mistakes would you like to fix?
All my life I have made mistakes, learned from them and struggled to make mistakes only once. Looking back, I regret only one thing: while MakerBot “took off”, I found too little time for my friends.
10) Who has influenced your life the most?
It was not a man, it was a community. When I was a teenager, I didn’t feel at home very well and realized that I could spend the whole summer at Bar 41 Dude Ranch and Summer Camp working there. I left there as soon as the school was over. I undertook all kinds of work - from washing dishes to digging in the ground. All the people in the camp gave me the desire to explore who I am and build friendships. I used to ride horses a lot, mostly bareback - as a special kind of freedom. This experience, which sometimes allowed me to be alone or to be with other people who believed in a bright future, gave me more than all 12 years at school.
11) What would you like to do before you die?
I hope to relax in an unmanned vehicle.
12) Which gadget will you buy next?
This spring I am going to take care of my own small garden. Now I’m thinking how to automate it.
13) If you did not live in New York, where would you live?
There are several places that I would like to visit and live from six months to a year in order to feel life there and to better know friends. Kobe, Japan. Berlin, Germany. Reykjavik, Iceland, and Tallinn, Estonia.
My favorite place in the world is the Orkney Islands in the North Sea of Scotland because I love megalithic monuments. But this is too far a place to think about life there.