Open Source Laser Business Opens In New York

ptorrone writes "If you can't stand the idea of a cookie-cutter laptop and you live in New York City, you have a new option: laser-etching. Phil Torrone, an editor at Make magazine, and Limor Fried, a former fellow at the tech-focused art studio Eyebeam R&D, are working together on Adafruit Laser Services, a new, by-appointment-only business in Manhattan that etches custom artwork onto customers' laptops, iPods, cell phones, and other gadgets." The entire business will be open source. From the Adafruit Laser Services site: "We are publishing how to use the high powered laser system, set up, techniques, business practices and templates. You could start your own laser business, we'll even help you."

Are the lasers frickin'?

And are they attached to the heads of sharks?

That should be.

Re:Are the lasers frickin'?

On Slashdot, if you want to find the articles about lasers, remember that the tag you should use is "sharks", not "laser" or "lasers".

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Maybe the lasers are attached to Penguins instead. Sharks are evil, right?

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It's frickin' open source. If you want it to do anything beyond the original features, you get the frickin' source code and change it. Sometimes a frickin' plugin will do!

Re:Are the lasers frickin'?

shark = new Shark();
laser = new Laser();
laser.setType( TypeFactory.createType( "Fricken" ) );
shark.mount( laser );


I think that will do...

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correction: shark.getHead().mount( laser );

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correction:shark.getHead().mount( laser );

This is Slashdot. Any function called getHead() has no place here.

How open source is the business?

Bank account numbers and passwords please !

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Yea, I'd like my free open source etching laser please.

wait for it.

mod points to the first person to get a goatse etched powerbook and post it.

you know it's going to happen.

Well, the site's farked, but check out flickr

wow [flickr.com], laser-etched nori!

Oh! Oh! Can I Be First?

"Do not look at laser with remaining eye."

Open Source?

I thought open source referred to simply making the source code available for public viewing. How can a business "open source" something which is not code? I have noticed an increase in the improper usage of the term "open source" as of late; I've even heard people say that pirating software is "open sourcing" that piece of software.

Re:Open Source?

From TFS:

"We are publishing how to use the high powered laser system, set up, techniques, business practices and templates. You could start your own laser business, we'll even help you."

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Can you not even spend the slight moment to RTFS?

We are publishing how to use the high powered laser system, set up, techniques, business practices and templates. You could start your own laser business, we'll even help you

Re:Open Source?

well - all the templates, files, schematics, software we make, jigs, tools - anything that we can open source will be. we didn't construct the laser cutter (maybe we will make a new one) but we'll do our best to put everything out there.

Language does that

See, the issue here is that the 'source' in 'open source' refers to source code - jigs, templates etc are not source code. However, this is a regular enough linguistic phenomenon - see "Irangate" "workaholic" etc. There's no Irangate hotel, nor is there a

Not, you nailed it...

However, this is a regular enough linguistic phenomenon - see "Irangate" "workaholic" etc. There's no Irangate hotel, nor is there a lot of workahol going around, but we get it.

No, you hit the nail on the head with your first sentence. It's not Open Sourc

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You're not really thinking like a computer scientist. Schematics, templates, jigs (presumably the instructions on building them), etc. can all be source code if you define the language and target system correctly. For example, the template is presumably

Re:Open Source?

I've even heard people say that pirating software is "open sourcing" that piece of software.

Wow, we need to stamp THAT out quick. Look what happened to "hacker".

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How can a business "open source" something which is not code?

It's a pretty intriguing question actually. Maybe not open source, but businesses can certainly be a lot more open. At Slim Devices we pushed that envelope quite a bit by inviting customers to p

Re:Open Source?

It's like an Open Source business model.

Compare Microsoft's software with Wal-Mart's business model: we see the output of it, but we don't quite know what techniques they used to get there (like upper-level management techniques, how they decide where to locate their stores, etc.) Try to track down the manufacturers for Wal-Mart products. Try to get a tour of the factory to see the working conditions. Hell, try to take a look at Enron's accounting practises (oops. Too late for that one).

There are many companies in many sectors who go to great lengths to protect their "source": what it is they're doing that will eventually be their output. An "open" company (okay, I admit that the "source" part is unnecessary, but it does add context to what is meant by "open") will let you see the practises of the company, so that company can show it has nothing to hide.

With business as with software, openness builds trust.

- RG>

Did someone say

Laser cookie cutter? If yes, that is freaking cool!

Is this new?

Just remember, most pyramid scheme businesses are open source too.... they depend on it.

My god...

I've ordered commercial laundry equipment.

trust me, equipping a landromat takes resources.. immense resources....