[p2p-research] Fwd: OpenStuff/Fairware

Sun Jul 26 20:29:15 CEST 2009

There is a new pop site getting a lot of play that sort of reminds me of
what is being discussed here.  It is called Atlas Obscura:

http://atlasobscura.com/

It's purpose is to crowdsource all the weird sites in the world into one
open(?) geobase, but it is also "edited."

I wonder if this is a commons?  There are .org and .com extensions
associated with the site and its creators.  The financial model of the
venture is less than clear but the idea of a crowdsourced map is close to
what Smari seems to be envisioning in some ways.

I wonder if the Atlas Obscura framework could be reused?  The descriptions
of the founders seem to present relatively open minded people if one can
judge from such a small description.

Ryan

On Sun, Jul 26, 2009 at 12:16 AM, Michel Bauwens <michelsub2004 at gmail.com>wrote:

> I'm sure most of you are well aware of Smari's project, but if not, it's
> absolutely worthy of support,
>
> Michel
>
>
> This fits into what I've been doing. I've been working on a system
> called "tangible bit" (www.tangiblebit.com) that's essentially a
> networked resource map. It ostensibly maps resources (think: plywood,
> transistors, bicycles, milk.. ) and manufacturing processes/capabilities
> (think: CNC mill, pick'n'place, welding rig, butter churner) in a
> geodata setting with both resources and capabilities tied into "sites".
> The idea is that if you have enough resources mapped and enough
> processes mapped you can start to do some fancy sparse matrix inversion
> in order to find the shortest path to any given product constrained on a
> number of variables such as cost, distance materials must travel,
> environmental impact, etc.
>
> I'm not very far along the line with this and desperately need somebody
> to be hacking on this with me so that design decisions become more
> rational and that the right development path is followed - I can do it
> alone, but it'll take a very long time and it might come out weird. If
> you want to take a look, clone the GIT archive from
> http://www.tangiblebit.com/tangiblebit.git
>
> What I'm thinking though is that given this database+interface it should
> be relatively easy to add a "shop" to it (perhaps Satchmo based?) that
> allows sites to take and process arbitrary orders, either from other
> sites or from individuals. In fact, this would be highly valuable.
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Smári McCarthy <smari at anarchism.is>
> Date: 2009/7/25
> Subject: Re: OpenStuff/Fairware
> To: Franz Nahrada <f.nahrada at reflex.at>
> Cc: dante.monson at gmail.com, Vinay Gupta <hexayurt at gmail.com>, Marcin
> Jakubowski <joseph.dolittle at gmail.com>, Alex Rollin <alex.rollin at gmail.com>,
> Jeff Petry <jeff at lannaconsulting.com>, james burke <lifesized at gmail.com>,
> Michel Bauwens <michelsub2004 at gmail.com>, Caroline Zeller <
> caroline.zeller at gmail.com>, Manfred Kohler <EdKohler at gmx.net>, Michael
> Franz Reinisch <e.mail at mfr.cc>, Ralf Schlatterbeck <office at runtux.com>,
> Thomas Diener <td at fairwork.com>, Thomas Diener2 <info at fairwork.com>
>
>
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>
> Hi all,
>
>  Comments inline.
>
> Franz Nahrada wrote:
> > The meeting was quite extensive the next day and we tried to link various
> > perspectives to find a sústainable pattern that might go far beyond the
> > opportunity of the moment. Of course its "up in the air" to create a
> > dealership for Open Source products, but what if such a dealership was
> > embedded in an operating system which facilitated communication between
> > all involved groups, users, developers, producers, workers, retailers and
> > so on?
>
> This fits into what I've been doing. I've been working on a system
> called "tangible bit" (www.tangiblebit.com) that's essentially a
> networked resource map. It ostensibly maps resources (think: plywood,
> transistors, bicycles, milk.. ) and manufacturing processes/capabilities
> (think: CNC mill, pick'n'place, welding rig, butter churner) in a
> geodata setting with both resources and capabilities tied into "sites".
> The idea is that if you have enough resources mapped and enough
> processes mapped you can start to do some fancy sparse matrix inversion
> in order to find the shortest path to any given product constrained on a
> number of variables such as cost, distance materials must travel,
> environmental impact, etc.
>
> I'm not very far along the line with this and desperately need somebody
> to be hacking on this with me so that design decisions become more
> rational and that the right development path is followed - I can do it
> alone, but it'll take a very long time and it might come out weird. If
> you want to take a look, clone the GIT archive from
> http://www.tangiblebit.com/tangiblebit.git
>
> What I'm thinking though is that given this database+interface it should
> be relatively easy to add a "shop" to it (perhaps Satchmo based?) that
> allows sites to take and process arbitrary orders, either from other
> sites or from individuals. In fact, this would be highly valuable.
>
> > * A foundation to guard the availability of all knowledge and design
> > against privatisation and enclosure.
> > * Platforms and online communities for user - designer - producer -
> > retailer communication
> > * A way to channel resources to developers who commit to Open Source
> design
>
> Quite!
>
> > The questions involved are manyfold, one of the aspects that so far have
> > hardly been touched is the fact that Open Stuff involves real physical
> > production. So automatically there are questions involved like quality
> > control (warranty etc), working conditions etc that you just cannot
> > "outsource" to somebody else.
>
> I know that Michael Angst andd Alan Gershenfeld have been thinking about
> the same thing in terms of the Fab Fund (http://www.fabcompany.com), but
> so far I've yet to see any idea come from them that isn't inherently
> anti-social, profiteering and plain bad. They've been proposing that
> designers license the production of their designs to the Fab Company,
> which does necessary QC and testing (e.g. for CE markings) and takes a
> substantial portion of the proceeds ... which is very un-P2P, but the
> fact that they've done the leg work of finding out what actually needs
> to be done in terms of QC and testing for "crowdsourced designs" means
> that we can probably get info from them.
>
> > It seems that "immaterial" goods like music are already well covered by
> > ventures like  http://www.opensourcemusic.com/
> > and Jamendo, while the logistic of material goods is much mored
> digfficult
> > to tackle with.
>
> Not to mention Magnatune, which is quite thoroughly awesome.
>
> > But I think this foundation should not be the P2P Foundation, because
> with
> > this commercial involvvement it would loose its primary role as a Civil
> > Society Organisation and metapolitical pressure group. There needs to be
> a
> > special foundation as Thomas describes it (see at bottom). The only type
> > of foundation that would be strong enough to carry this through would be
> a
> > democratically elected body that is based on a constitution, stable and
> > well-designed.
>
> Agreed.
>
> > I agree the market is now ready for this since the message is spread
> about
> > new stuff with a new aura, and the early adopters are waiting. Maybe we
> > have not found a Steven Jobs type yet who is able to unite the feelings
> of
> > users, developers and producers and produce a compelling message and a
> > feeling of "the sky is the limit". But that is what we will need!
>
> Who needs Steve Jobs? We've got Vinay... erm. Heh. Just kidding. :P
>
> > I do not fully understand Smaris distinction between a "peer produced
> > product" and a "simply open source based merchandise". In fact the
> > difference is at least blurring, as physical production in a p2p style
> has
> > not been seen yet (and also I think it would be very hard to make a
> > distinction). I like the idea of intentional localizing and having the
> > choice for a master and craftsperson near you.
>
> I meant the difference to be "locally produced from an open design"
> versus "mass produced based on an open design and then transported"...
> sorry I was unclear.
>
>
>  - Smári
>
>
>
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>
> --
> Working at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhurakij_Pundit_University -
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> http://www.asianforesightinstitute.org/index.php/eng/The-AFI
>
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