From Open Source to Open Hardware

This column mainly talks about open source software, for the simple reason that code dominates the world of openness. But open source hardware does exist, albeit in a very early, rudimentary form. Last Friday, I went along to NESTA for what was billed as an “Open Hardware Camp”. Fortunately, I didn't see any tents, since that's not really my kind of thing; what I did see was a huge amount of enthusiasm, and some interesting hints of things to come...

On Open Enterprise blog.

C,mm,n? C'mon...

I've written about one open source car, OSCar, before, and now here's another, with a rather stranger name: C,mm,n. The idea, of course, is intriguing, though the Flash-infested Web site - literally the most sickening I have ever seen in terms of all the whooshing and sloshing of images - is rather thin on info:

Soon to be found here: detailed information on everything that is c,mm,n. Background stories, links to in-depth articles, blueprints, design schematics and much more. All you'll need to participate in the c,mm,n community and help develop the first real open source car in the world.

It will be interesting to see how exactly all those blueprints and design schematics actually feed into the open design process: applying openness to this kind of project is a real challenge, and it's not clear yet how easily complex objects of this kind can, in fact, be designed in this way. (Via Techmeme.)

Open Source Trains

Well, we've got the open source car, so I suppose it's only fair that there should be open source trains. Sounds like a brilliant solution to the near-total breakdown of rail transport infrastructure in Cambodia. And I'm sure there's a great PhD in there somewhere, tracing the evolution of design as ideas are passed around. (Via Boing Boing.)