SDForum Emerging Tech SIG: 'Bug Labs - Hardware Mashups and Community Electronics' February 13, 2008

Speaker: Jeremy Toeman, Bug Labs

Bug Labs won the 2008 CNET Best of CES award in the Emerging Technologies category.
Come join us to learn how Bug Labs is disrupting consumer electronics.

Description:
By tapping into the creative and collaborative environment of online communities and harnessing the vast universe of user-generated content on the web, consumers are now fully empowered to create and configure products to fit their personal needs, from apparel (e.g. Threadless) to automobiles (e.g. Mini Cooper). Now as open source hardware begins to take off, it poses a disruptive force to the consumer electronics industry, in such that any individual with basic technical skills can add to a growing universe of specialized and niche devices.

In this discussion, Jeremy Toeman of Bug Labs will provide an overview of the emerging open source hardware movement, and how it will impact the $10bn consumer electronics industry. By combining real-world examples of the open source business model and promoting the success of other industries promoting customizability, Jeremy will also discuss how the "long tail" of hardware devices can finally be actualized by providing the user with the means and support to develop the device they really want.

Free to SDForum Member; $15.00 for non-members.

Official Website: http://www.sdforum.org/ETSIG