(2009-09-15) Igoe Shanzhai

Tom Igoe on Shan Zhai manufacturing as relates to Desktop Fab. There are some obvious parallels here to the Open Source Hardware community... A few years ago, Clay Shirky described an approach to software development that he dubbed Situated Software... What open hardware companies and the shan zhai point to is a world of Situated Manufacturing

In a recent conversation, Dale Dougherty mentioned that Detroit Mi is suffering from a lack of jobs, but not of talent. Imagine what could happen to the city’s industry, he speculated, if a bunch of businesses along the lines of the one Bunnie describes, with the owner’s home on the top floor; his manufacturing shop on the second floor; and his retail shop on the ground floor. Instead of a few monolithic car companies, you’d have a mom & pop auto manufacturing network of companies. (Network Economy)