Open Source, why isn't it for more products?
AlterNet: The Great Open Source Giveaway
The Open Source Cola™
What a great thing; more importantly, what a leap of faith and thought. Perhaps the hyperbole around open source will permeate our entire culture. I know folks love something that is a.) cheaper, b.) more responsive to changing needs, and c.) doesn’t contribute 100% return to some multi-national corporate entity. (not intending to open discussion, nor make any point regarding the good vs. bad of corporate entities).
What if there were an open source automobile? What would it be like? I hazard a guess that more people than not would like this vehicle to run off of something other than fuel from the Wahhabi situated Middle East, which it turns out also spews more pollutants than a lot of other fuels.
Perhaps the vehicle would be modular, think plug-ins.
A comment on Thinking by Peter Davidson’s entry about the VW microbus prompted this post. Read the whole thing.
I too have similar complaints about the new VW Minibus. I am not a Minibus driver (Mini Cooper though!) but have driven many of them through the years. While stationed at the Frankfurt Hoechst Kasern in the 32nd Signal battalion I would often check a Minibus (several varieties) out of the motor pool to run my supply pickups. They were terrificly simple and hardy. Likewise the few I drove in Texas. Lovely vehicles that were hard not to like.
Unlike the poster on Davidson’s site, I love the new Microbus concept and think it’ll look great. I don’t like the high-end positioning. I am amazed how people don’t flinch to spend 30k+ on a new automobile. I had difficulty accepting the 20+ on the new Mini Cooper.
But kvetching about the price doesn’t get to the heart of my problem’s with the product. A lot like Design Within Reach now places what where meant to be everyday articles into the category of “design within reach of 2% of the population” so does Volkswagen lose entirely the concept of their namesake — Folks wagon — meant to be a strong, simple vehicle for everybody. No longer according to price forecasts on this new Microbus in the mid-30s or starting in the very high 20s.
Through my studies of the Bauhaus I felt the aim was to create items which were functional, cheap and intended for mass production. From Gropius’ manifesto: an artist must be conscious of his social responsibility to the community. Like any text that one line can be interpreted in any manner but for me the original spirit was not one of rarified form, function, or price. Design Within Reach shatters that principle, as does Volkswagen.