I think that we are heading for the democratisation of manufacturing, and it will be an amazing time when it gets into full swing. The current manufacturing pow

I think that we are heading for the democratisation of manufacturing, and it will be an amazing time when it gets into full swing. The current manufacturing powerhouses (e.g. China) will fade out and give way to on-demand local production and this will have a truly revolutionary effect on society. Exciting times; I hope I live to see it come to fruition. I agree that Open Source will ultimately play a pivotal role in this revolution and it will eat away at the status quo of 'things' much as it has been doing with software for last 20 years. This will inevitably clash with the old established businesses with the same predictable results, but this too shall pass. As the saying goes, science makes progress one funeral at a time and so does society. With any luck the next generations will look back on our current attitudes to IP and regard them as archaic and curious.