Open Source Economics 101

Ok so lets imagine the Open Source Economy Model, or OSEM

OSE 101
XYZ Computing

1. sells Laptop computers
2. units manufactured in china
3. company charges Cost plus Operating Expenses (including payroll)
4. no profit
5. no stock
6. employee's get paid
7. suppliers get paid
8. customers get laptops at lowest possible cost

Assuming the current cost of a laptop at 6 to 800 USD (lowend), and based on a standard profit model (assuming that the mfg charges normal cost) the new retail price would be 400 to 600 USD. if the mfg is at minimum cost as well the retail would then be 200 to 350. the result would be that far greater numbers of laptops would be sold providing for greater business opportunities in aftermarket, support and the activities created by the users of the units. this is not a foriegn or new concept. Give away the unit and stimulate the market activities associated with its use. Linux has pioneered this model in the software market with success. money would be made by the employee's involved in the MFG process, the suppliers, and the users (in the form of savings and new opportunities.) there would be no profit associated with the "Corporation" (an abstract entity) or "Shareholders" non-performing capital-based individual that "neither sow nor reap" Employee-Owned company models have been successfull but only rarely in a capital intensive economic environment. but it has happened. 85% of the wealth in the United States is owned by 15% of the population and 15% of the wealth is owned by the remaining 85%. Yet the real value of the US economy is base on the activities of the bottom 85%. that is upside dowm. imagine the value of the US economy if the situation where reversed. Or at least partially shifted to a 50%/%50 ratio. it would be a consumer boom time and the market would be very active. not the stock market, the supermarket. trickle-up for a change. is that really such a bizarre idea?

OET -- Rural Community Technologies

OET -- Rural Community Technologies: "Documents
Presentation
made before the World Radio Conference on Rural Wireless Broadband using wireless LAN Technologies 8/19/03 "

So, According to the information (a preciously rare commodity on the internet...) in the presentation on this FCC site there will be 20 million wireless routers installed in user sites by 2007. That's 20 million hot spots. There are an estimated 1.5 billion (Yeah, that's a "B") active cell phones in the world with over 200 million in the USA. The hottest industry segments are those that relate to anything wireless. Verizon is currently rolling out its FIOS Fiber data lines to all of its customers at a feverish pace. That's a whole lot of internet happening. The latest hot item is "Mesh Networking" while certainly not new it has been popularized by Mr. Negroponte's $99 laptop. And not to forget the latest cellular move, "wimax", Cellular broadband. Does anyone remember 10 years ago when the internet didn't exist?
Let us imagine 5 years hence: there are 50 million US homes with wireless broadband hotspots in operation (60 to 70 million is more likely). There are 300 million cellphones 50% or more capable of data communications and wireless LAN data. 50% of cell towers are WiMax capable. Oh, and at least 20 to 25% of home-based wireless routers are WiMax or extended range/speed capable. With the USA being 3.7 million Sq Miles that means that we will have 20 to 40 hot spots per Sq Mile with 100 mobile data access points per Sq Mile. That should be just enough to provide the total coverage Mesh Networking system. And that doesn't' even take into account the number of wireless laptops, PC's and other devices. By what means do the telcos think that they are going to control access? The same way the RIAA is controlling internet music? That worked out real well, no?
Hybrid cars are selling well. Increasing press coverage of, and the increasing acceptance of, Global Warming is beginning to cause a ground swell in the atrophied alternative energy market. This will not go away. The foundation of alternative energy is FREE. That means that soon (5 years?) millions of US households will be receiving free energy. What has this to do with wireless mesh networking? Why Linux of course. Linux is based on the Open Source Model. Its free to all. That doesn't mean that there's no money in it, just that if you charge for it you have to give the code away with it so that others can change it an use it themselves or give what they make away free. Open Source Software. Open Source Internet. Open Source Energy.
How about Open Source Economy? Free Internet, free energy, free software are forming the conceptual basis for the idea of an Open Source Economic Model, or OSEM. This would be the extension of the Open Source concept into the general economic system. By giving away the basic means of economic participation the economy is stimulated from the bottom up. Gee, wouldn't that be "Trickle Up" theory? Energy, Information and technology are the three biggest elements in modern society. The more people that participate, the more $$$ there is being created to fuel the growth of the general economic environment.
10 years ago the Internet didn't exist. 10 years from now we could find ourselves living in a country where Internet access, the software technology that runs it and energy itself are free to all. Or at least the means by which they are enabled. You buy the machine and run it free. You can't control the human race. That has been proven by history over and over again. Perhaps its time for the Lords of Industry to stop fighting the truth and learn to profit from it.