I think this project is especially exciting given the state of the US auto industry. We are a long way from seeing anything valuable come out of this, but some innovation in this space is greatly in need. An Ubuntu flavored station wagon would be a nice change of pace in this rigid industry.
Not sure I get it. 2,000 units at $50k doesn't seem like a model "for the masses". This model should start by building a car like the cheap Tata Nano car.
Totally agree, I'm not sure how the price figures were calculated. It seems like it would take millions of dollars just to go through the testing to make a car street legal. This is one of the nice barriers to entry the major automakers have. I'm guessing this kind of stuff will end up being more for rich enthusiasts, racing and private track cars.
Haha, I want a horn, here, here, and here! It seems like one of the big issues with crowd sourced design is filtering out the garbage. Go to a site like Zazzle and look at the galleries and there is a ton of amateurish design. Car design is an interesting field cause there is such a grass roots enthusiast community that have really spectacular skills. The signal to noise ratio in this gallery is really high.
they seem to focus on the design of the shell, i.e., marketing and lifestyle.
it would be more interesting to look at manufacturing of durable parts.. like in the Volvo 240's which were engineered to last unlike today's plastic shell cars.
a durable car would benefit consumers, the environment, and local manufacturing.
the shell is all psychology, fashion, and fetish. it's boring. what would be radical is to make a car that lasts 20 years.
Dotcoma, which one? Open Source? I tend to agree, so many things get labeled OS that it starts to lost a bit of its meaning. Code is code, but when you start getting into atoms things change. Sure, I can take plans, but supplier relationships, manufacturing, logistics all change the game with physical products.
rrhyne, they are allowing people to set up accounts and requiring it for people to vote. It may not be the most polished site, but I don't think its a parody.
