Open Source Autos Hit the Streets in Spain

markdowling writes "BBC News has a story about electrically powered tourist cars in Cordoba which provide tourist information in French, English and Spanish as landmarks are passed. The promoter, Alfredo Romeo, calls them Blobjects which he heard described in a speech by Bruce Sterling. The car's tourist guide software is open source - Romeo's quoted reason: 'With proprietary software, innovation comes from the people in marketing. But with open source, innovation comes from the guy who is really in the market. It comes from someone who knows the city.'"

So one tiny part of the car is open source

[blowdart]

But that apparently means slashdot can call the whole car open source.

Is there anything factual these days in topics, or is it just astroturfing for OSTG?

Slow...

[BrookHarty]

These GEM's are really niche market. Great for little towns where its 20mph or less, but if you hold up traffic then they are in the wrong place. Just as golf carts in the USA, they are a pain in the ass when given the right of way.

GEMcar.com even says "build the town/neighborhood around the car"..

+1 Insightful?

[Rurik]

'With proprietary software, innovation comes from the people in marketing. But with open source, innovation comes from the guy who is really in the market. It comes from someone who knows the city.'

Is it possible to give a quoted source in an article +1 for Insightful?

Optimism

[truckaxle]

It costs about US$50 (£28) for a two-hour rental

This sounds low and optimistic. I wish them luck but when you are dealing with the public you have to design for the lowest common denominator and that can be surprisingly low. Liability insurance will cost an arm and leg for this venture.

Also there is a certain sense of entitlement and disrespect of others or common property that is engrained in the public mind. This is why projects that attempt to altrustically provide free public bicycles often (always?) fail.

But the open source software sounds cool.

Where's the source?

[Lumpy]

The computer system is based on open source software developed by a company in Seville, Spain. As with any open source software, anyone can improve and change Blobject's code, as long as those improvements and changes are shared with others.

really? what company? where is a link to the sourcecode? I love stories devoid of information and throw around the term "open source"

Sensationalist Headline?

[Gothmolly]

"open source auto" = "a regular car with a tour guide program which is ostensibly open source".

Big difference, there, "Scuttlemonkey".

No regen brakes

[Migraineman]

I find it difficult to believe that an EV manufacturer would product a series of EV's that don't include regenerative brakes. Another reader commented that this is "a modified golf cart," and I'd have to say he's right. I'd have *some* respect for these folks if they had regen brakes as an option, or had "regen + hydraulic backup." As it stands, it really is just a golf cart with a NEV rating. Meh ...

Re:Optimism

[guaigean]

You're kidding right? I can rent a car on average in the US I can rent a full size car for a full day for ~$50. Are you telling me that $50 for two hours in a golf cart is cheap?

Re:More at Global Electric Motorcars Web Site

[Spy der Mann]

but it certainly doesn't have an "innovative design" as it's just about the same as any electric golf cart with a roof and seatbelts.

Yes, it's an insult to innovation. Look, they're stealing the all-innovative car design with 4 wheels and a motor! Unbelievable.

Re:+1 Insightful?

[Reality Master 101]

Insightful? That's the part of the quote I immediately rolled my eyes at -- it's incredibly stupid and ignorant. How does he think products get developed in the real world? Got news for him -- big companies with lots of resources produce most of computer innovation. I'm still waiting for something innovative to come out of Open Source. Most, if not all, of it is copying proprietary software.

Not to say that Open Source isn't useful, I use it every day. But innovation is not (currently) what Open Source is all about.

Re:+1 Insightful?

[dotlin]

... big companies with lots of resources produce most of computer innovation. I'm still waiting for something innovative to come out of Open Source. Most, if not all, of it is copying proprietary software.

Your statement hinges on your definition of innovation. I find that word often used as a buzzword, usually in the same breath as patents. I'm sure if you counted all the software patents that there are more owned by proprietary software companies. If however you use the word innovation to mean "a new device or process" then I would like to see some evidence to support your claim. Other factors are at play that can help/hinder innovation besides the type of software license such as:

• competion - monopolies don't need to innovate. An example is that Microsoft had stopped development on Internet Explorer (IE) 6 SP1 as the final standalone version in June, 2003(1) since it is just part of the Operating System. Then in Feb 2005(2) they announced they changed their mind and IE 7 will be out for Windows XP. (Surely just a coincidence that Firefox 1.0 was had been released in that time frame). Capabilities like RSS based live bookmarks and tabbed browsing in Firefox may or may not be innovative by your definition (I don't know - I'm not trying to troll or inflame) - however it has raised the bar for web browsing and helped prod Microsoft to produce a better product. Note that Microsoft sat back for years with no innovation for IE, or even proper bug fixes for CSS support and you can't say it's because of lack of resources...
• cooperation - in particular open formats/protocols - TCP/IP ultimately begat HTTP and Mosaic.
• market share and network effect - IRC begat Instant Messaging but that wasn't innovative until MSN Messenger came along to patent custom emoticons. (3)

Is it possible to count all the software innovations and then make a determination of whether that innovation came from an open or proprietary software license?Maybe Microsoft can fund a study?

References:

1. http://www.zone-h.org/en/news/read/id=2789/ [zone-h.org]
2. http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2005/feb0 5/02-15RSA05KeynotePR.mspx [microsoft.com]
3. http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/07/23/13 8228&tid=155&tid=109 [slashdot.org]