The Blacksmith and the Hacker

What is the difference between a sweater and a pile of yarn? Nothing is added to the yarn to make a sweater; the yarn weighs the same before knitting as after. Yet the sweater is obviously different than the pile. The energy of knitting might seem to be the difference, but we could make make just as many random knits in the yarn -- expending the same energy -- and end up with a knotty pile of yarn. A knotty pile is definitely different than a regular pile, but it's also significantly different than a sweater. So, if it's not added matter, and it's not added energy, what's left? Answer: Information.

The Things We Make End Up Making Us.

Pick up something off of your desk. That something was manufactured -- made -- using a process or series of processes. Maybe it was carved out of wood, cast in metal, or fired in ceramic. More likely it was molded in plastic or assembled by a robot in a pick-and-place electronics assembly line. Manufacturing and manufactured objects define our cultures and resource usage strategies, and influence the constitution of our societies. Changing the fundamental assumptions about how we should make objects could change the face of our society, and the problems it faces.

SSG Prototype Phone

In order to be realistically flexible in the same way that open source software is, open hardware will need to be modular and flexible in new ways. This concept phone models a Skin-Skeleton-Guts construction method which allows it to be repaired, upgraded, or customized much more easily than existing devices. Additionally, by making the highest-wear parts (the skin and skeleton) out of the easiest to replace materials (sewn fabric and 3d-printed plastic) the device's lifespan can be greatly increased. An alternative configuration of the same guts as an E-reader is also shown. The Humblefactory is currently pursuing further investigations in this vein, using real, off the shelf, open hardware.