Comments

Episode-1587- Marcin Jakubowski on Open Source Ecology — 13 Comments

  1. Loved this episode. I’d heard about OSE’s 3D Printer, but it was just awesome to hear more background. Totally agree that it’s great to have someone with this guys obvious mental horsepower working on these issues.

  2. That was a lively session hitting on some of the key positives. The real power comes in when this stuff goes viral if the greater community recognizes that we don’t have the answers, but are creating a kernel upon which many people can build upon. The greater participation and improvements is what will make the products outstanding – and only then can new ideas gobble up the status quo.

    • What a great interview! I was practically bouncing up and down in the drivers seat listening to you and Jack talk. Have you read either of Daniel Suarez’s Daemon series books? It’s a contemporary fiction thriller that involves a lot of technology re-writing the economy into distributed, resilient, permaculture-practicing “holons” (integrated communities; I had to look it up!). Your work also reminds me of Neal Stephenson’s “The Diamond Age” wherein nano-technology allows print-on-demand sort of service as well as molecular-level recycling of almost any product. Both stories are fascinating and imaginative, but you’re doing it right now! Props to you and your team, and I hope to be involved some day.

  3. I need to connect with Marcin. My now deceased partner had created an affordable home program that could be built by 2 people without any heavy machinery or by a community program to be used by all. It was his life’s work and I have many many volumes of how to “Start to finish”. All computerized, part by part. I would like to honer his final wishes of making this an open source project for all to share.
    Thank You

  4. Another industry that could use some open source ecology. Has anybody priced appliances lately? Beside being priced through the roof, they are designed with planned obsolescence. Circuit boards that get tortured with heat. Control boards and circuit panels instead of simple mechanical controls. I had a camper with a stove and it had no circuit board, was 30 years old and will likely go another 30, sure it didn’t get heavy use, but I don’t understand the need for all these complex controls on such simple devices. I remember the stove at Permaethos, like new, but didn’t work cause circuit board took a crap and would cost 300 bucks or something to get it fixed, what a scam.

    • Hi Jeff, I completely understand. I’ve worked in Commercial HVAC & Refrigeration for almost 20 years now, when I first started I was with Sears as an warranty repair tech for appliances. This was in the mid 90’s when most of the manufacturer’s started to import most everything…was a nightmare with 1 month old units needing new compressors, electric fan motors going out in 1-2 years.

      The worst as you said are the control boards, the manufacturer’s use their own board and are required by law to make them for X many years (can’t remember if it’s 5 or 10 years) past when they last produce that model. They figured out though if they jack up the cost of replacement parts your better off buying a new unit.

      I was just out in my garage admiring my beer fridge, a 46 year old workhorse that my parents received as a wedding gift from their parents. It’s been moved more times just from when I’ve had it than I care to remember. Same compressor, same refrigerant charge, the only thing I had to do was fix a dent in it that I put in when I was a teenager and I replaced the door seal around 10 years ago. It just keeps working!

      I’ve thought often if I had the money and wherewithal I would love to create my own appliance brand and build them for a lifetime of use, with interchangeable parts, open source etc. I think you can still get high quality long lasting appliances like a Sub Zero & NXR/Wolf/Viking.

  5. Raspberry Pi and other small open source computing platforms are good tools to roll your own control system for appliances or other closed system control hardware. For now the chips and PCBs are still somewhat hard to home brew but even these barriers are falling rapidly. In the meantime $25 of external input will have to do!

  6. This episode is one of the most encouraging and amazing I have heard. I am
    a 69 year old grandma who listens to TSP and enjoys it very much. I am hoping that groups of people who are trying to change our culture by changing the way we do things will keep gaining momentum and actually cause a shift in the way we think. It will take time but is possible.

  7. Really good episode!
    Are there any plans to take any of the contents online so we-who-don’t-live-in-the-US can also learn from you?

  8. David – yes – the course materials will be published, and we are looking for video people to join the event to produce instructionals. If you know any video editors/producers, please send them our way and we can do a trade for admission to the workshop.