OpenFuture
Almost every geek with a little bit of self respect has read Neuromancer, and probably all of the books in the sprawl trilogy. Neuromancer takes place in a future where artificial intelligence, genetic modification and jacking in to the global network (cyberspace) via brain interfaces is part of daily life. The state is outplayed by mega corporations who rule the world. Only “console cowboys” constitute resistance to the mega corporations totalitarian power in this dystopian world. These three books where all written between 1984 and 1988 by William Gibson. Most people find it very fascinating that Gibson manages to describe an advanced global network a long time before the internet we know today were even born.
It´s not just Gibson´s prophecy of a global network that connects everybody in the world that are about to become real. For a long time now I have observed society moving closer and closer to this fictional future. Large corporations tend to govern our state and technology is evolving at an even faster pace than I think William Gibson imagined. But there is one thing I think mr Gibson missed. These “console cowboys”, people we tend to call hackers or even geeks are already present. They are into politics and they are already making resistance to the mega corporations via various open projects.
Take a look at the reprap. The reprap is a machine/robot that can produce plastic parts from digital blue prints that could possibly be downloaded from the internet. You could describe it as a kind of 3D-plotter. The reprap can create a significant fraction of it´s own parts. It´s actually almost able to copy itself. And its not constructed by Sony, Matsushita, Intel or Disney. It´s open, free for everyone to modify copy and enhance. There are no patents attached to this machine, it´s designed by enthusiasts.
This is a machine for prototyping but, with a little imagination you could see where this is heading. In ten years from now you will probably be able to manufacture a whole lot of the parts you would need to build anything from a new cpu to a cogwheel for your broken lawnmower. You will be able to do this at home using free blue prints from open projects or buying blue prints from a corporation. The open source movement has been around for a long time now and that culture is obviously spreading into new areas outside the software world. All these creative people has always been there, the internet just made it possible for them to communicate and for this open culture to grow and evolve at a faster pace.
Just take a look at Pandora. Pandora is a handheld computer/gaming device specially designed to run Linux or some other free operating system of your imagination. Emulator firmware for old classics like C64, Amiga, Atari ST and Nintendo are available. There are many thousands of games already available to be executed on this enthusiast platform. Hours of geek nostalgia to be experienced.
The Pandora handheld computer is designed by enthusiasts. It´s free for everyone to modify, copy and enhance. It´s based on electronics manufactured by large corporations like Texas instrument. At this time it´s not possible to design your own chips and put them in to mass production. It would cost a fortune. But within a decade there will probably be machines like the reprap available to produce silicon chips in your home.
Today open often means free of cost. When it comes to hardware like the Pandora, open is actually a little bit more expensive than its competing commercial alternatives. But it´s open. That means that when that pice of hardware is in your hand you can do anything you want with it. You do not have to purchase applications from a specific appstore, you do not have to buy games only available on plastics discs and you do not have to pay license money to a large corporation if you designed a nice expansion for it. It´s open.
Wiz, another open gaming device, which is actually cheap.
These are all enthusiast projects without meaning for the everyday person. That´s true. For now. But as I said earlier in this post, with a little bit of imagination you could see the how this open movement; this pirate culture is evolving. In Gibsons dystopian society the mega corporations rule the world. The world is a bad place for anyone who do not wan´t to be a passive enslaved consumer governed by corporate interests. We need balance. There has to be a counterpart to corporate interests. Our capitalism has reached a state that is not in the best interest of humanity.
Corporations should not govern citizens. Corporations should not be able to create monopolies just by being big. I see these open movements as a counterpart that creates a balance between commercial interests and innovation. But just as we have to create a context where our corporations can evolve and prosper I think we need to do the same thing with the open culture.
We must abolish the idea of patents! Corporations and people must be able to make good profit and prosper. But this should not be accomplished by closing up good ideas and creating monopolies. If we give up the idea of patents I do belive that the pace of human development and innovation will speed up and we will reach a state of hyper evolution. Copying and enhancing is the essence of innovation. And after all, we want the future to be open, don´t we?
