Eclipse Now Posted May 28, 2011 Report Share Posted May 28, 2011 Hi all, This is one of the most amazing presentations I have ever seen.Marcin Jakubowski: Open-sourced blueprints for civilization | Video on TED.comhttp://www.ted.com/talks/view/lang/eng//id/1122 Imagine what this could do for Africa and India? Imagine local villages getting their hands on a single DVD that has all the plans and costings for how to buy the parts to build the 50 most essential machines that define civilization, all at about 1/8th the price of buying outright, and easily serviceable? Watch this video and then pass it on — tell any aid-workers you know in poorer parts of Africa or China or India or where-ever that they can help their village in THE most practical and loving way possible by forwarding them to this talk (which explains the overall concept) or the following website. Imagine poorer villages pooling the construction resources of the local village, and farmers maybe do a supply deal with the local garage or workshop, and then building their own tractors! The basic machinery of civilization is now (or soon will be): 8 times cheaper than traditional assembly line produced tractors and brick-makers and ovens and mills and all the other top 50 inventions for village life. Available on a DVD! No paying for unnecessary branding or middle men or marketers or transport of rare parts across vast distances Once you have built it you know how to repair it! When you can build all the bits you need locally, there’s no ordering expensive stuff in from overseas. Parts are fairly interchangable. That might make for some unusual looking stuff, but at least it works! Remember, if it made financial sense for a guy in America on his own farm to do it, then it could definitely help free up much of the developing world to do this!http://opensourceecology.org/ RaghavendraBsrg 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
belovelife Posted May 29, 2011 Report Share Posted May 29, 2011 awesome, i added a tool i call the trades man to the discussion, i wish i could show them my desighn i made one but it is in san diego, but i described it anyway Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eclipse Now Posted May 29, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 29, 2011 This is what I've been trying to send to various people in the AU. Hi, Is the African Union aware of the Open Source Hardware movement? In short there is a FREE movement called "Open Source Hardware" that gives away FREE plans for CHEAP and EASY build-it-yourself Tractors, Torch table, Drill press, Earth Brick Press, Harvester, String Trimmer, Soil Pulveriser, and dozens of other farm and industrial tools that could revolutionise village life. It's just like the free software for computers, except these are plans for cheap and easy tractors! For example, if your people need a tractor, or work in a village that needs cheap tractors and farm equipment, why not build it themselves in about 6 days at a cost of about 1/8th of buying a new one? These things are built to last — without "built in obsolescence" that multinationals use to get repeat business — and once they've built it, they will know how to service it for life. But as I said above, it's not just tractors. It's tools for the farmer or baker or beekeeper or chicken farmer or workshop owner. Imagine all their equipment coming at 1/8th the cost and free of maintenance fees (other than the replacement parts they might make or buy). The plans use scrap metal which is shaped to become swappable components almost like Lego for grown-ups. So once they've built one item they might have gained the confidence to build others. Once they've build the Torch Table or Drill Press they might then tackle the Tractor or Harvester! The only catch — the *ingredients* that make up the tractor are not free but must be sourced locally. So the local villager will buy from local African villages or workshops or recycled metal scrap-yards. But that's good, because that guarantees the money goes to the local African economy, rather than overseas to some rich multinational! For example, to buy a new tractor in America can cost anywhere from $25 thousand to $120 thousand. The OpenFarmTech.org tractor was only $12 thousand. Once they've built it they will know how to maintain it forever! It's all FREE, as far as I know there are no joining fees or anything like that. It's run by permaculture greenies, so I say take it at face value and see what comes of it. Marcin spoke at TED. They aim to develop free plans for the 50 most important industrial machines that make a comfortable modern life possible. How could your people help local farmers, bakers, tool-shop owners and mechanics with FREE plans for their equipment? Send them to the following links! This is one of the most exciting and revolutionary ideas I've ever seen. Video Website:http://opensourceecology.org/ Wiki with the plans and links to other Open Source hardware websites.http://openfarmtech.org Do they need a chicken-egg incubator, earth-brick maker, bakery oven, harvesters, workshops, greenhouses, wind turbines... it's all coming to OpenFarmTech.org Cheers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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