[p2p-research] Fwd: OpenStuff/Fairware

Mon Jul 27 10:57:37 CEST 2009

Definitely not a commons, see the ToS:

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On Mon, Jul 27, 2009 at 1:29 AM, Ryan Lanham <rlanham1963 at gmail.com> wrote:

> 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>
>>
>>
>> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
>> Hash: SHA1
>>
>> 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 -
>> http://www.dpu.ac.th/dpuic/info/Research.html -
>> http://www.asianforesightinstitute.org/index.php/eng/The-AFI
>>
>> Volunteering at the P2P Foundation:
>> http://p2pfoundation.net  - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net -
>> http://p2pfoundation.ning.com
>>
>> Monitor updates at http://del.icio.us/mbauwens
>>
>> The work of the P2P Foundation is supported by SHIFTN,
>> http://www.shiftn.com/
>>
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>>
>

-- 
Working at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhurakij_Pundit_University -
http://www.dpu.ac.th/dpuic/info/Research.html -
http://www.asianforesightinstitute.org/index.php/eng/The-AFI

Volunteering at the P2P Foundation:
http://p2pfoundation.net  - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net -
http://p2pfoundation.ning.com

Monitor updates at http://del.icio.us/mbauwens

The work of the P2P Foundation is supported by SHIFTN,
http://www.shiftn.com/
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