For software development this concept isn’t new. The most successful example is the Firefox browser. Of open source hardware, however, there are no great successes known yet. A few exceptions exist, though, like the Arduino.
Future Vision by Erwin Van Lun on this article
Slowly all products will become open source. It’s about adding value to people’s live by others; it’s the next step in cooperation between people. The closed concept of companies in an office building was needed in the mass-production and mass-communication era, but this phase is coming to an end. Brands that survive are experiencing a brand coming out. This is a nice example.