Thanks so much for making this amazing list of the importance of garages - cheap space that is protected from rain and theft, and close to someone's bed. In addition to their business contribution, they have an outsized role in U.S. culture - so many bands started in garages. Cheap space to practice.
When I lived in the U.S., that is the first thing I noticed compared to Europe or Japan. This space where I could build stuff for fun. Here in Europe they try to compensate by giving some cheap rentals for start-ups - but a bureaucrat choose who gets to use it, and it's far from anybody's home, so no way to truly let your energy in like you could in a garage.
I think that's just another sign of how real estate costs slowly smother economies. If you have to have sufficient income to pay for expensive space to even start anything, well not much can get started. Americans underestimate how well cheap space has served them.
If it won't work in the garage it either won't work, or you don't understand it enough to move it out of the garage... no perfect principle, but in my experience it holds in most cases. Thanks for writing this.
That's how we got our start +40 years ago, adding leads to batteries to create a safer system that relied on two switches instead of one, and now offering our ProModeler servos to modeling enthusiasts and the defense industry.
Thanks so much for making this amazing list of the importance of garages - cheap space that is protected from rain and theft, and close to someone's bed. In addition to their business contribution, they have an outsized role in U.S. culture - so many bands started in garages. Cheap space to practice.
When I lived in the U.S., that is the first thing I noticed compared to Europe or Japan. This space where I could build stuff for fun. Here in Europe they try to compensate by giving some cheap rentals for start-ups - but a bureaucrat choose who gets to use it, and it's far from anybody's home, so no way to truly let your energy in like you could in a garage.
I think that's just another sign of how real estate costs slowly smother economies. If you have to have sufficient income to pay for expensive space to even start anything, well not much can get started. Americans underestimate how well cheap space has served them.
If it won't work in the garage it either won't work, or you don't understand it enough to move it out of the garage... no perfect principle, but in my experience it holds in most cases. Thanks for writing this.
works cited?
Several books, mostly, including:
Boeing: Higher by Russ Banham
The People's Tycoon by Steven Watts
Skunk Works by Ben R. Rich and Leo Janos
The HP Way by David Packard
Intel Trinity by Michael Malone
Walt Diensy by Neal Gabler
Much appreciated!
That's how we got our start +40 years ago, adding leads to batteries to create a safer system that relied on two switches instead of one, and now offering our ProModeler servos to modeling enthusiasts and the defense industry.
Very interesting!
Don’t forget Joe Biden converting his garage into a classified documents reading room! Plus it holds his corvette!
Common, Scott, funny but not the place.