The point of this article is "making everything ourselves." What you're describing only applies if the traditional manufacturer/sales channel/consumer paradigm

The point of this article is "making everything ourselves." What you're describing only applies if the traditional manufacturer/sales channel/consumer paradigm is maintained. I'm proposing to think further outside the box than that. For an example of what is possible: you can buy Arduino clone hardware on eBay direct from China much cheaper than anything from authorised suppliers. Any successful "making things ourselves" community (consider Pure Data as an example) is self-supporting and doesn't expect support from manufacturers/creators. Similarly, such a community spreads awareness without marketing investment.