Talk:Open Source Washing Machine Project

Bamboo vs. "normal" washing machine
The idea of making washing machines (wm) with components like bamboo (like this) might be interesting but we have to consider the following:
 * Not everywhere in the world you can find bamboo so you might need to make a different design for every part of the world.
 * The bamboo wm is aimed to provide a wm to the poor people while the open source (os) wm is aimed to reduce poverty. Lifting people out of poverty will allow them to buy an os wm
 * There are many poor people who have access to water and electricity but simply can't afford to buy a washing machine. They can't pay 400$ for a washing machine but they can afford to buy an 200-300$ os wm
 * There are many others who can afford to buy a 400$ washing machine but can't afford to buy another one next year just because the door broke. With an os wm they can buy the door for 10, 20 or 30$.
 * Once the market for os wm is created, the poor people around the world can easily start small businesses in order to create parts for os wm (doors, panels, covers, buttons, etc.)
 * Once the people have jobs and make money, they can buy an os wm.

My thoughts for creating an os wm:
 * It should look, interact and function very much like the regular washing machines that are already on the market. Should not require more training to use than the regular ones.
 * The key factor for making the project successful is availability. When people can buy the os wm and the parts for it in their own town, then the project will be successful.
 * Therefore, when you start making it, make sure it will be available for the clients in the city where you sell it. Make sure they can buy parts at any time.
 * Then extend your availability network to other cities, throughout the country and then to the entire planet. Sounds (very) big but otherwise won't work. The average John Doe won't download a .CAD file to start making an os wm from scratch. He might download the .CAD to create one component of the os wm, but that only after the project is popular enough.
 * It will take time to extend the network to the entire planet, but the most important thing is: at the places where you already started to supply, make sure you keep supplying the os wm and the parts for it. Only then you can extend the network.
 * Therefore, in order to make the os wm project successful, there is a need to create a big company like Electrolux. But it can start from a small company, and grow, of course.
 * The big company can also be a conglomerate of smaller companies. Either you split the big company into smaller ones, or while your company grows, you find partners to produce parts for you and they will grow at the same pace with you. You can convince others to start the same business like you, so you won't have to create a big company like Electrolux. But you can only convince them after you already reached a critical mass.
 * To reach the critical mass, you must make available the os wm to at least a big enough region or number of clients. So you have to grow the business to a certain point. After that, you can convince others to replicate your business, and you can even quit. Just make sure the others don't abandon the business, leaving the clients without the option to buy an os wm. Therefore, it's not a good idea to quit from the business until the os wm is popular around the world.

These are my thoughts for the Open Source Washing Machine, I will come back later when I'll have something interesting to add. -- Gonzo 04:49, 7 November 2011 (CET)