[LINK] Open Source PC Design

[stephen at melbpc.org.au]

Richard writes,

>> I'd buy an open source design house too, maybe with modules from
>> different companies according to whim. 
>
> What bit of civil engineering isn't at least as open as anything in the 
> computer industry?.. my question is simple: what would "open source home
> building" do that we can't already do? RC

Haha .. that you can already do, not me. I've looked at the regs just for
radiata-pine building specs, and they're endless as are rsj building codes.

Maybe you could build a house extension that passes all laws, but I'd like
to just buy one. And if my iron-framed house was open source, it'd be easy
to plug n play with additional rooms.. like the way any Ford A Deuce Coupe 
hot rod is built, though with much greener components. Open source houses.

Cheers Richard
Stephen Loosley


> > Great post Bernard
> >
> >  "The idea of open source manufacture is taking shape, and we're going
> >   to see more .. 'open source' hardware .."
> >
> >
> > Yes .. open source engineering .. a few peak designs, and made 
everywhere.
> >
> > For example, efficient small urban vehicles, hybrid solar/ultra-
capacitor?
> >
> > Sure, slow & basic by open source design, but ultra-reliable and mega-
green
> >
> > Both self owned, and hired by the hour/day from community re-charge 
centres
> >
> > Open source car designs may finally transcend commercial car design 
idiocy.
> >
> > I'd buy an open source design house too, maybe with modules from 
different
> > companies according to whim. Very satisfactory to live, and drive, so 
green
> >
> > Just like in computer software, and now computer hardware, I think 
open 
> > source design of common items will indeed become common. Seems a 
better, 
> > non-commercial-fad, wider-community rather than individual-buyer, 
based 
> > design philosophy. May seem communistic, I don't know, or care, but 
open
> > source engineering design is already happening because people want it 
to.
> >
> > And I'd like to buy a car that everyone made simply because they 
wanted to.
> >
> > Cheers people
> > Stephen Loosley
> > Victoria, Australia
> >
> >
> >   
> >> Chip Company Unveils Open Source PC Design
> >> By Dylan Tweney
> >> 05.27.08, 6:00 AM
> >> Wired
> >> http://www.wired.com/gadgets/pcs/news/2008/05/via_design
> >>
> >> Call it the Tom Sawyer approach to selling CPUs.
> >>
> >> VIA Technologies, the self-proclaimed No. 3 maker of Intel-compatible 
> >> processors, has unveiled a new "reference design" for ultra-portable 
> >> computers based on the company's own low-power chips.
> >>
> >> Making a reference design is common fare in the high-tech industry. 
> >> Chipmakers like Intel have been doing it for years as a way of 
proving 
> >> the technical viability of a product concept. What sets VIA's 
approach 
> >> apart is that the company is posting the computer-aided design (CAD) 
> >> files for its OpenBook PC under a Creative Commons license. Anyone 
with 
> >> design skills and a burning desire to get into the PC business can 
> >> download the files, modify the design and go into business selling 
ultra 
> >> portables.
> >>
> >> Taiwan-based VIA will even help aspiring Michael Dells find Asian 
> >> manufacturers to do the hard work of turning those CAD files into 
real, 
> >> plastic-and-silicon products.
> >>
> >> VIA's design is on the commercial end of a growing spectrum of "open 
> >> source" hardware. On the other, more noncommercial end are hackable 
> >> hardware kits like the Arduino platform, which was used by many 
> >> exhibitors at the recent Maker Faire in San Mateo, California. Open 
> >> source aficionados were also buzzing last week about the release of 
the 
> >> OGD1, a development kit that could be used to create open-source 
> >> graphics cards.
> >>
> >> If VIA's idea takes off, it could help add more juice to the 
> >> already-humming market for ultra portables. That market, which had 
long 
> >> foundered on the impractical aspirations of a tiny minority of 
> >> mobility-obsessed hardware geeks, took off in earnest last year with 
the 
> >> success of the Eee PC, Asus' $400, Linux-based ultra portable.
> >>
> >> For industrial designer Scott Summit, VIA's move is part of a gradual 
> >> shift toward more highly-customized manufacturing, in which small 
> >> companies and even individuals are able to design and build their own 
> >> products, thanks to the decreasing costs of fabrication.
> >>
> >> "The idea of open source manufacture is taking shape, and we're going 
to 
> >> see more of it because the barriers (to highly customized production) 
> >> are really starting to evaporate," says Summit.
> >>
> >> VIA's design calls for a 2.2-pound PC with an 8.9-inch screen, a 
webcam, 
> >> up to 2GB of RAM, an 80GB or larger hard drive, and built-in Wi-Fi 
and 
> >> Bluetooth (or, optionally, WiMax or 3G cellular data). It's not 
wanting 
> >> for ports, either, with an Ethernet jack, three USB ports and an SD 
card 
> >> slot.
> >>
> >> The design is aimed at smaller design-manufacturers and upstart PC 
> >> companies rather than big PC manufacturers like HP or Dell, who 
create 
> >> their own designs (like HP's new MiniNote) from scratch.
> >>
> >> "When we look at reference designs, they're helpful, they're 
insightful, 
> >> they give us an optimal layout from an engineering perspective -- but 
> >> they don't target what we're aiming for," says Stacy Wolff, a 
notebook 
> >> design director for HP.
> >>
> >> VIA's hope is that its design will encourage new designers to make 
ultra 
> >> portables that are a little less ugly than the usual fare. It's a bet 
> >> that the PC market will soon follow in the footsteps of the cellphone 
> >> market, where what's under the hood is less important than how it 
looks.
> >>
> >> "It's not really about the components inside at all," says VIA vice 
> >> president Richard Brown. "It's personal jewelry."
> >>
> >> Almost makes the idea of starting your own computer brand sound a 
little 
> >> sexy, doesn't it? And for the chipmaker, it's not far from the notion 
> >> that if you want to get a fence painted, start painting it yourself 
and 
> >> try to make it look fun
> >>
> >> -- 
> >>  
> >> Regards
> >> brd
> >>
> >> Bernard Robertson-Dunn
> >> Sydney Australia
> >> brd at iimetro.com.au
> >>
> >>
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