I've been thinking about this alot...

Hugh and others have asked, what comes after the Cluetrain?

Well, how about Open Source everything.

Everything.

I'm not just talking about sharing code. I'm talking about sharing everything we've always thought was for sale, a possession or limited. Open borders. Open more public spaces. Open our homes. Share our resources. Share our art. Share our knowledge. Free WiFi. Free education. Free thought.

Of course, throwing everything open right away would result in mass chaos, but I think we are heading that direction, even if it is slowly. No, no, I'm not talking communism...we know that there are inherent problems there. Open Source still allows for capital gains, just not resting on the pocketbooks of individuals.

I see people still paying, but it would be premiums. i.e. You get A, B & C for free, but if you want D, E & F, you pay for it. D, E & F wouldn't include necessities...sort of conveniences or luxuries. Like television. We can turn on our TV for free and get some channels, but if we want cable, we have to pay for it and if we want TiVo, we have to pay a little more. Okay, so that's not a necessity, but you get what I mean.

I'd like to extend Open Source into my life altogether, too. Ideas only grow when shared. Look at what happens with code. A small group of people building something is good. A humongous group of diverse people from all over building something is amazing. The end result can blow your mind.

People carpool...how about collaborative car buying? A network that has a large group of people pitching in a wee bit of money to buy a bunch of cars and paying for insurance and repairs. Then, one key opens all of the cars. You can book the cars online. If you want to own your own car, go for it, it will just cost you lots more.

Insurance was once collaborative. Now, it's a super for-profit rip off. How about making it collaborative again?

I know, I know...it sounds so hippie commune. But you don't have to like to garden and wear hemp clothing to be an open source thinker. Nope. You can still have all of your bling, you just pay for it.

It's not a whole lot different than today's world, but the end user not only gets to have control over their purchases, they also have control over the production. That's Marxist, yes, but the concept in my utopic space of the universe would be a nice marriage between Socialism and Capitalism. Like if Marx and Smith sat down for beers, hashed it out and came to a compromise they could both be happy with.

Lifestyle 2.0, baby. That's where it's at.