[Discuss] Economics Re: Free Hardware

Mon Mar 30 17:18:07 UTC 2015

Love these resources - thanks Nancy!! :)

On Fri, Mar 27, 2015 at 8:12 PM, Nancy Ouyang <nancy.ouyang at gmail.com>
wrote:

> On this topic, thought you all might like these
>
> (very well-put together! not dry at all)
> http://www.npr.org/podcasts/510298/ted-radio-hour
>
>> MARCH 20, 2015
>> What Is Original? (R)
>> Even the most original ideas are essentially remixes. When is copying
>> flattery, when is it thievery, and when is it sheer genius? In this hour,
>> TED speakers explore how sampling, borrowing, and riffing make all of us
>> innovators. Sampling music isn't about "hijacking nostalgia wholesale,"
>> says DJ Mark Ronson. It's about inserting yourself into the narrative of a
>> song while also pushing that story forward. Filmmaker Kirby Ferguson says
>> nothing is original and that our most celebrated creators steal ideas — and
>> transform them into something new. Clothing designs aren't protected by
>> copyright --and the industry benefits by being more innovative, says
>> Johanna Blakley. People often credit their ideas to individual "Eureka!"
>> moments. But writer Steven Johnson shows how history tells a different
>> story.
>
>
>
> (a bit dry, but more technical)
> http://techtv.mit.edu/genres/19-engineering/videos/31109-how-to-open-source-the-creative-process-democratizing-innovation-product-design-and-development-and-t
>
> The creative process is a combination of engineering and design decisions,
>> experimentation, iteration, integration, informed decisions, and luck—all
>> of which hopefully culminate in a marketable artifact. The creator, with
>> all the tools and knowledge available to him or her, is often presumed to
>> know best. But, that's not always the case. In this webinar, SDM alumnus
>> Ali Almossawi will discuss the benefits of expanding the creative process
>> through open-sourcing on the Internet, where there are more creators, fewer
>> industry gatekeepers, and endless opportunities to engage directly with
>> users. He will: describe a model for open-sourcing the creative process and
>> how it can be used to build a self-sustaining product or business; outline
>> the key players—often a combination of professionals with expertise in
>> technology, business, and/or design; discuss what is needed for team
>> members to work together effectively—and the pitfalls to avoid; provide
>> examples of failure, success, and failure leading to success; and offer
>> next steps that can be adapted and applied across all industries.
>
>
> Thanks,
> --Nancy
>
> ~~~
> narwhaledu.com, educational robots
> <http://gfycat.com/ExcitableLeanAkitainu> [[<(._.)>]] my personal blog
> <http://www.orangenarwhals.com>, orangenarwhals
> Researcher, Postmodern Robotics Group, MIT Electronics Research Society
>
> On Sun, Mar 22, 2015 at 5:35 AM, Adriano Zianna <
> adriano.zianna86 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Nancy thank you very very much
>> Adriano
>>
>> 2015-03-21 18:58 GMT+01:00 Nancy Ouyang <nancy.ouyang at gmail.com>:
>>
>>> Replying under a new thread title -- with respect to
>>>
>>>  the benefits that it can bring to companies, even at levels of strategy.
>>>
>>>
>>> You may find these links interesting, the general keyword being
>>> "shanzhai" 山寨文化
>>>
>>> http://www.hackedmatter.com/materials/
>>>
>>>
>>> http://interactions.acm.org/archive/view/november-december-2012/created-in-china
>>>
>>>> many Shenzhen factories have adopted a model of open source sharing in
>>>> order to lower production costs. They have informally organized a
>>>> peer-to-peer database for sharing hardware design schematics and the bill
>>>> of materials (BOM), a list of materials used in manufacturing a particular
>>>> product. The open sharing of these resources allowed the factories to lower
>>>> production costs to stay competitive in a global market.
>>>>
>>>> This form of open source manufacturing has co-evolved with the
>>>> formation of new production sites, including, for example,
>>>> counterfeit/copycat design houses. Over the years, these copycat
>>>> productions have adopted these open source processes and moved beyond
>>>> simply copying popular brands such as Nokia or Apple. Today they often
>>>> produce new, consumer-specific products, such as *mobile phones with
>>>> additional features tailored to particular customer segments or
>>>> location-specific demands.* Examples include dual-SIM-card mobile
>>>> phones that support two operator networks on one device—such as the G5
>>>> phone, a made-in-Shenzhen brand for the Indian market—and phones with
>>>> built-in compasses that are shipped to consumers in the Middle East, who
>>>> may need to know the direction of Mecca during prayers [11
>>>> <http://interactions.acm.org/archive/view/november-december-2012/created-in-china#R11>
>>>> ,12
>>>> <http://interactions.acm.org/archive/view/november-december-2012/created-in-china#R12>
>>>> ].* Many of these innovations were later reappropriated by mainstream
>>>> mobile manufacturers; for example, in 2010 Nokia launched two dual-SIM
>>>> mobile phones.*
>>>>
>>>> Copycat productions from Shenzhen are often described with the term
>>>> *shanzhai* ([image: intr1906_c.gif]). However, in the hackerspace
>>>> community,* shanzhai now speaks to a new form of innovation based on
>>>> the principle of open source manufacturing and continuous remaking*
>>>>
>>>
>>> http://www.bunniestudios.com/blog/?p=284, which links to
>>> http://www.bunniestudios.com/blog/images/shanzai.pdf
>>> "香烟？手机？还是香烟手机？" (yep, that's a cellphone-box-of-cigarettes and a
>>> model-RC-car-cellphone)
>>>
>>>
>>> To give a flavor of how this is viewed in China, I heard a local comment
>>>> about how great it was that the shanzhai could not only make an iPhone
>>>> clone, *they could improve it by giving the clone a user-replaceable
>>>> battery. US law would come down on the side of this activity being illegal
>>>> and infringing,* but given the fecundity of mashup on the web, I can’t
>>>> help but wonder out loud if mashup in hardware is all that bad. I feel
>>>> there is definitely a bias in the US that “if it’s strange and it happens
>>>> in China it must be bad”, which casts a long shadow over objective
>>>> evaluation of new cultural phenomenon that could eventually be very
>>>> relevant to the US.
>>>
>>>
>>> My personal favorite shanzhai story is of the chap who owns a house that
>>>> I’m extraordinarily envious of. His house has three floors: on the top, is
>>>> his bedroom; on the middle floor is a complete SMT manufacturing line; on
>>>> the bottom floor is a retail outlet, selling the products produced a floor
>>>> above and designed two floors above. H*ow cool would it be to have
>>>> your very own SMT line right in your home! It would certainly be a
>>>> disruptive change to the way I innovate to own infrastructure like that *
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> http://www.silvialindtner.com/
>>>
>>> and linked articles therein, such as
>>> http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/05/chinas-mass-production-system/370898/
>>>
>>>
>>> You may also find perusing the archives of this list interesting:
>>> http://lists.oshwa.org/pipermail/discuss/
>>>
>>> And well, you did ask for our personal thoughts...
>>> http://www.orangenarwhals.com/2015/03/crazy-ideas-crackpottery-open-source-hardware-and-economics/
>>>
>>> Oh --- another thought ---
>>> What my friends and I who have visited China agree on is that people
>>> here (in the US) seem to be completely underestimating
>>>
>>>    - [the number and sheer determination of poorly paid
>>>    academic/technical expertise in China]
>>>
>>> combined with
>>>
>>>    - [the co-location of manufacturing expertise, equipment, and supply
>>>    chains].
>>>
>>>
>>> Aka, in China, all the poorly paid STEM folks (that we have in the US as
>>> well, see academia), are starting to find themselves in an environment
>>> where they can translate their innovations and creativity into $$$.
>>>
>>> *This is a fundamental difference in the software and hardware worlds *that
>>> I doubt some people (cough rms cough) have any idea about.
>>>
>>> If, in the Western English-speaking world, we just focus on *competing *and
>>> lawyering our competitors, eventually other countries, because they're
>>> working on more fun / exciting things and collaborating just as much as
>>> they are competing, *are going to eat our lunch.*
>>>
>>> so let's join them instead! :)
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>> --Nancy
>>> ~~~
>>> narwhaledu.com, educational robots
>>> <http://gfycat.com/ExcitableLeanAkitainu> [[<(._.)>]] my personal blog
>>> <http://www.orangenarwhals.com>, orangenarwhals
>>> Researcher, Postmodern Robotics Group, MIT Electronics Research Society
>>>
>>> On Sat, Mar 21, 2015 at 8:31 AM, Adriano Zianna <
>>> adriano.zianna86 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Hi guys,
>>>> My name is Adriano and I'm studyind economincs.
>>>> Actually I'm finishing my studies and I'm writing the thesis. Topic of
>>>> my thesis is the open source and his experiences, including the open
>>>> hardware. So I wanted to ask yousome questions:
>>>> What do you believe about the development of open hardware in the
>>>> present and in the future, and the benefits that it can bring to companies,
>>>> even at levels of strategy.
>>>> Thank you so much your precious attention
>>>> With Best Regards
>>>>
>>>
>>>
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>>>
>>>
>>
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