2006 13
R&D Projects at FON
Published by MartinVarsavsky.net in Fon with No Comments
Most businesses believe in secrecy. We don´t. Most businesses believe in patents. We don´t. We are an open source company. We are also a blogged company that has so far not done any advertising, nor currently engages a PR firm. We live off the originality of our ideas. So after presenting my latest R&D ideas internally, I have decided to blog them one by one so readers have an opportunity to comment on them.
You are welcome to read them. You are welcome to comment. You are welcome to “steal” our ideas, but what we ask in return is that if you copy them, let us know and make them “FON ready”. We are open source, so you can just download our firmware. If you are a hardware maker you are welcome to conctact me directly. Same if you are a programmer. You should also know that FON licenses its brand at no cost. We pay nothing to have products be FON ready and use our brand and we ask for no money either. We already have very large hardware makers such as Accton, who have signed licensing agreements with us.
As you read these ideas, think that FON will sell 1 million Foneras at whatever price clears the market over the next 12 months. Fortunately, we have the funds to invest in seeding the world with social routers that will create a fertile environment for all sorts of gadgets: mp3 players with WiFi, games with WiFi, WiFi phones, digital cameras with WiFi, printers with WiFi, hard drives with WiFi.
FON didn´t invent WiFi obviously, there´s tons of it. FON is simply a standard, a piece of open source code and an authentication system so WiFi donors can travel with their WiFi signal, roam the world for free, and non donors can purchase it at the price of a bus ticket for a day. So, in a world with ubiquitous WiFi, what would you like to see?
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No Comments
troyM on June 15, 2006 ·
The previous poster has a very good question.
As for patents, it makes no sense not to have them, unless you only plan on using other people’s ideas. There is no need to incur such a huge risk. The courts will not let you sell such 1M routers, and can be forced to pay dearly for every single router that is using somebody else’s ideas – and many companies have gone bankrupt because of this. Unfortunately, this is the legal way things work – and for a reason.
Better to keep everyone happy and reward the ideas. I would never use what somebody else has patented without a friendly agreement. Just my 2c.
Davis Wang on August 26, 2006 ·
Our a Multimedia ICP in Taiwan Taipei…
Roy Fang on September 3, 2006 ·
Hi, Martin,
Please allow me to introduce myself as an inventor from Taiwan. Not particularly good in any language, but I tried to explain what I have been contemplating at my website http://p2pMOU.com
Asked: In a world with ubiquitous WiFi, what would I like to see?
I’d like to see Teacher helping Learner via Skype, make his/her fair share of living via Skype and gets paid in Skype Dollars.
I’d like to see Google surfer who clicked the SkypeMe (Click-to-call) button gets paid by the Advertiser, for contributing his/her eyeballs and eardrums, and paid in Skype Dollars.
I’d like to see Click-to-Call and Pay-per-Clock work seamlessly. Is it a good idea or a bad one?
Anyone wishes to lend his helping hands? We pay Skype Dollars once project is proven business-worthy … ;o)
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Anonymous on June 14, 2006 ·
Hi Martin,
I don’t believe companies will steal your ideas (or those of the Fon community). Many ideas Fon implemented were out there and tried already.
I’m against patents also, because they prevent by law your and my right to creative expression. Why in history are many inventions being invented around the same time or reinvented after hundreds/thousends of years?
What can Fon do for me when I’ve got a good idea/solution, because in you posting I only read what I can do for Fon.
regards,
Roy