Where's the 'Open Source Car'?

Where's the open source phone?

The open source washing machine?

We used to have them. Devices so simple anyone with a hammer could fix. Maybe not open source as we understand it today, but rather - trivially reverse engineerable, often with schematics included. Most complex would be rewiring the motor on a washing machine. Did their job fine, but you can't sell them forever, so more complex devices were introduced. Nowadays motorcycles would probably be the closest equivalent, they're often very simple to work on.

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consp 3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

> often with schematics included

That was even the norm for complex electronics for decades. But since it makes it easy to reverse engineer it, it's no longer being done due to fear of cheap clones (often inferior, and still doesn't stop anyone these days).

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mcosta 5 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

> more complex devices were introduced

And people buys them because they don't care

	▲	Finnucane 3 hours ago \| parent [-]
		And have been convinced there is no alternative. And if you suggest investing in public transit or building mixed-use neighborhoods that don't require car access they'll pop their suburbanite heads.

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driverdan 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

There are freely available plans for all of those things. They are just more primitive than what you have in mind.

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4 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

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