Hidden among the flashy launches of “revolutionary” new smartphones, tablets and other shiny stuff, a far greater revolution is brewing – the maker revolution. It’s been called the Third Industrial Revolution: the high-tech DIY culture of the maker movement has expanded from the realms of crafters, hobbyists, tinkerers, geeks and gearheads to offer a real alternative to consumer electronics giants. Proud makers are rejecting ready-made products to build their own new gadgets, from mobility solutions and kitchen tools to music players, robotics, jewellery and games.

With the omnipotence and omnipresence of technology in our lives, DIY gadgets are one way to liberate ourselves,making people feel less like mere consumers and more like creators.“Making is an antidote to feeling that society is owned by tech, rather than the other way around,” says Patrick Hussey, chief communications officer of maker crowdfunding site Crowdrooster.

The first major survey of maker culture, recently conducted in the US by Intel, found that 15 million adults, or 5% of the population, describe themselves as makers, a figure the brand expects to rise.Over half of those makers create something with electronic tools twice a week. “People have an innate desire to play, problem-solve, mess about. When they are given the right tools, they can do amazing things,” says Clive Beale, director of educational development at the Raspberry Pi Foundation.

Making technology is not exactly new – Steve Jobs was involved with early maker experiments in the 1970s – but a combination of accessible tech, like the €20 Arduino and £25 Raspberry Picomputers, and a growing dissatisfaction with pricey must-have gadgets, are pushing making into the mainstream. “At the moment, most of the people making technology have one perspective, and traditional business models,” says Massimo Banzi, Arduino’s chief executive officer and co-founder. He points to mainstream tablet devices that are tied to stores, such as iTunes or Amazon, and keep consumers locked in to a brand that decides what they can do.

“These shiny aluminium and glass things are just delivery devices,” says Beale, who believes that “people are coming back to the idea that computing is a tool for creativity.”