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Measuring the Value of Open Hardware Designs

Posted by Soulskill on from the buy-one-get-one-free dept.

An anonymous reader writes: Industry knows open source software has an immense value, but how valuable is an open hardware design? To answer that question, Dr. Joshua Pearce, an associate professor at Michigan Tech University, analyzed three methods to quantify the value of open hardware design in the latest issue of the journal Modern Economy. The methods are summarized in an article at opensource.com.

1 of 18 comments (clear)

  1. He listed three, but missed the obvious one by tlambert · · Score: 2

    He listed three, but missed the obvious one.

    His 3:

    1. downloaded substitution valuation
    2. avoided reproduction valuation
    3. market savings valuation

    While 2 & 3 could include this, his paper didn't claim they did. It's the primary value which I've seen applied to selection of Open Source Software valuation in many of the companies where I've worked:

    4. time to market reduction

    Even if you are leveraging a single part, the time savings vastly outweigh in many cases the R&D cost savings. Admittedly, this is only applicable to markets where there is a benefit to "first mover advantage" (typical software/internet startup problem), but it seems to apply equally well to hardware, if the open hardware in question is being utilized as a component of a larger system.