Remixing Sand across the Strait: Shared Hardware in Taiwan and China Christopher Adams ======

Summary ======

The industry is no stranger to the so-called '' development model more commonly associated with collaborative efforts in (such as the GNU/Linux operating system) or culture (such as Wikipedia). Until now the most visible 'open hardware' projects have been relatively limited 3D printers and microcontrollers that are aimed at weekend hobbyists rather than the barons of industry. However, new technologies and collaborative business models are developing in the Pacific Rim (centered specifically in Taiwan and China) that no longer fit into the legal and cultural framework of open hardware. These range from entrepreneurial phenomena such as so-called 'shanzhai' products from scrappy Pearl River Delta tech outfits, to more cognizant '' hardware collectives such as Qi Hardware. I suggest that we think of these various technological strands in terms of 'shared' hardware, and will discuss and demonstrate some of the products of this movement.

Outline ======

1. Open versus Closed

Comparsion of Open Licenses

2. Hardware versus Software

HARDWARE "If it's not manufacturable, it's not hardware"

Source Schematics/Layout Editor EDA System Conversion EDA System Testing Prototype(s) Debugging Lab instruments Duplication Manufacturing/Testing Distribution Shipping, Customs

SOFTWARE "Software is what can *really* can be updated." - Wolfgang Spraul

"What we’re going to do is get rid of all these buttons and just make a giant screen." - Steve Jobs

Source Program Text Editor Text editor Conversion Compiler Testing Run Debugging Debugger Duplication Download (copy) Distribution Internet

“People who are really serious about software should make their own hardware.” - Alan Kay

MANUFACTURING Raw material extraction Manufacturing / Production Transportation Utilization / Reuse Disposal / Recyling

OPEN HARDWARE MANUFACTURING IS AN ATTEMPT AT LOWERING THE COST OF INNOVATION AND ENTRY TO MARKET

3. China and Taiwan

山寨 - Shanzhai

"One of the motivations for going 'Shanzhai' is the difficult regulations the Chinese government has established to become an official cell phone manufacturer." - Wikipedia

"[T]he Taiwanese company Mediatek has developed a complete chain of core technology support for cell phones to sell at a much lower cost than the traditional suppliers..." - Wikipedia

4. Qi Hardware

Qi's mission is to promote and encourage the development of sharing hardware.

Qi Hardware is copyleft hardware, which makes it possible for anybody, small or large companies as well as individuals, to build hardware out of standard high-performance components. Their products include the MilkyMist video synthesizer and Ben Nanonote.

"Our devices are open source hardware and software. In fact, we go great lengths to apply the open source principles at every level possible, and is best known for the Milkymist system-on-chip (SoC) which is among the first commercialized system-on-chip designs with free HDL source code. As a result, several Milkymist technologies have even been reused in applications unrelated to video synthesis." - milkymist.org