Open source is about more than code: it’s about unlocking all possibilities. Here are four unusual projects made possible by open source.
Prosthetics
Years ago I hung out with a friend who had a prosthetic hand. It was a stiff plastic hand, like a store mannequin hand, that could open and close in a simple grip. It didn’t have much functionality, but it had a bit of fun factor — my friend liked to remove it to scratch his back. In public, of course, with a freaked-out audience. Americans seem to have a hard time looking at these sorts of things.
Prosthetics have advanced since those days, especially in cost. It’s amazing how labeling an item as medical equipment makes it cost 10 to 100 times more, even ordinary parts like nuts, bolts, batteries, and power supplies. A prosthetic limb starts at five figures, and in these here kindly times good luck getting insurance to pay, because it’s become a one-way flow — we’re supposed to pay our premiums without desiring to collect any benefits.
And so, once again, open source has made it possible for one person to step up and try to change an unsatisfactory state of affairs, and that person is Jon Kuniholm. Mr. Kuniholm is a war veteran who lost part of his right arm in Iraq.
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