[Discuss] Open Source Lab, with forward by Alicia Gibb

LoadTest prodigyresources at gmail.com
Mon Nov 18 00:44:12 UTC 2013


Thanks Matt. FYI If you try downloading it from Scribd it will say its not 
available for download. But if you click print, a popup will come up that 
says "scribd documents don't print well, try downloading and then 
printing"" and provides a link that downloads successfully. 

On Sunday, November 17, 2013 9:10:06 AM UTC-7, Matt Maier wrote:
>
> Dr. Pearce is putting out a book about how to create a science lab with 
> open source hardware. 
> http://www.mtu.edu/news/stories/2013/november/story99310.html
>
> This is the forward by Alicia Gibb:
>
> "At the heart of open-source hardware is the freedom of information. We 
> are inherently free to open our devices as we wish and poke around. There 
> are no laws inhibiting a consumer to unscrew their household items and take 
> the lid off—though it most likely voids the warranty. But the freedom to 
> repair, freedom to study, and freedom to understand needs to be accompanied 
> with a freedom of accessible information: schematics, diagrams, code, and 
> in short source files. Open-source hardware includes the previous freedoms 
> and also grants the freedom to remix, remanufacture and resell an item, 
> provided that the hardware remains open source. History points to a 
> multitude of repair manuals from cars to washing machines; patterns to 
> follow from model airplanes to dresses; and recipes shared through friends 
> and families for generations. Historically DIY (Do-It-Yourself) was not a 
> fad but a way of life. Access to information coupled with a basic knowledge 
> of tinkering has given consumers the power to fix more, waste less, and 
> understand the physical world around them. But technologies are becoming 
> more opaque, as their size gets smaller, making them more difficult to open 
> and tinker. Historically, an important factor for understanding the 
> physical world was that items were built on a human scale.Human scale is 
> the one that humans can relate to and can visibly see with the naked eye. 
> The scale of most objects previous to computing has been on the human 
> scale. Items in our daily lives now include minuscule chip sets and tiny 
> form factors that require schematics and code to diagnose, repair,or even 
> understand. Perhaps no one understands this better than researchers 
> themselves. With closed source and patented devices, there is no 
> requirement to include source files so that people may understand the 
> hardware. In many cases, steps are taken to obfuscate information from the 
> consumer. In addition to documentation, many new inventions require special 
> equipment and tools, such as laser cutters, PCR machines for DNA 
> sequencing, environmental chambers and other lab equipment described in 
> Pearce’s work. These tools are beginning to see open source versions so 
> that consumers may build their own, often at a lower cost. Even more 
> standard tools, such as tractors and CNC machines are being open sourced so 
> that others may have the benefit of access to these basic tools. If history 
> has favored open source, why are we entering a new movement of open-source 
> hardware? Patents have become problematic to innovation. Basic building 
> blocks of new technologies are being closed off with patents, causing 
> further innovation to become increasingly expensive or halt altogether. 
> While patenting the building blocks of technology may benefit one company, 
> it fails to advance society. Today Intellectual Property can be sold as a 
> good. The idea  is the commodity rather than the physical object itself. 
> Selling ideas rather than goods does not create a sustainable market for 
> the common consumer. Patents were created to incentivize inventors and spur 
> innovation in exchange for 20 years of exclusive rights in the form of a 
> monopoly. The patentee had to submit a prototype and disclose how their 
> innovation was created to the public. But the rules on patents have changed 
> over time and there are many schools of thought that the patent system is 
> broken and no longer reflects the reasons why the patent system was created 
> in the first place. In today’s patent system, prototypes are no longer 
> required, money made from patents is going to lawyers rather than the 
> inventor, and a 20 years monopoly is not a rational time frame for the pace 
> of technology in the digital era. Inventors are finding different 
> incentives to innovate. The barriers and frustrations the patent system, 
> has created are turning inventors toward a new alternative to patents: 
> open-source hardware. Open-source hardware creates products driven by 
> capitalism rather than monopolies, an open environment for sharing 
> information, and a powerful opportunity for companies and individuals to 
> learn from each other. Open-source hardware is a growing movement with a 
> lucrative business model. It has spread into many areas of innovation, as 
> Pearce has done with his work in scientific hardware, others do in 
> electronics, mechanical designs, space programs, farm equipment, fashion, 
> and materials science to name a few. We are at a crucial point in the 
> history of technology which will determine if we hoard information or share 
> it with others; sell information or sell goods; educate with open 
> documentation or let everyone reinvent the wheel for themselves."
>  
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