[-empyre-] seeing yourself a prototype - the limits of open source

[adrian at cnmat.berkeley.edu]

> always giving away our ideas, our sense of how art works, what it can
> do, or what it might be in a certain situation. The very act of
> engaging in a critique session is an "Open Source" exchange of ideas.
> When students leave the room after a crit, they have no obligation to
> cite their professors as the source of their ideas, they simply take
> them and go.
>
A more nuanced analysis of the whole cycle might help. You seem to be
talking about
ideation. Most meaningful works of art, prototypes and societal
contributions involve, ideation, implementation and cultural resonance. I
am rather impatient of these discussions
revolveing around just the ideation part. It is the source of the rather
common critique of the MIT media
lab's demo/charismatica focus. Similarly you see many dreamy, inspiring
examples of Arduino and Lilypad demos. that simply can't be implemented
reliably or usefully or legally (e.g. FCC regulations)
and for which cultural resonance is often low.

You can see the real challenges  involved when you look at the history of
the OLPC project as they attempted  to rationalize the initial charismatic
idea and implement and sell something.