Open source

From Future

Open source is a model of development where plans are available to other people.

First created for software (where it became successful with Linux) it is gradually expanding. To text (e.g. Wikipedia), but also some hardware and even soft drinks.

[edit] Manufacturing

It is being used to some extent among custom manufacturing enthusiasts.

A variation is French project CrowdSpirit. Participants submit ideas for consumer electronics and take part in every stage of the product life cycle, up to purchasing the end result. [1]

[edit] Future

It will be used in the future in biotech and nanotech development, where exact descriptions of products/technologies are available by default, because everything is done in simulations and then automatically synthesized.