I’m hoping they fix the battery life issue with the next ‘version’ of the EVO.

What is the cost of licensing plans for licensed parts? I would suggest that the costs are not only artificially high due to the licensing but also conditional to the extra costs of shipping the parts from the factories where they are manufactured across state lines or internationally.

There could be an opportunity for small, local car part manufacturers to develop short-runs of popular parts, Mostly considering things like car panels of cars -older and new. -If the licensing costs were affordable and allowed for a reasonable return. This idea is more about borrowing from the short and single run manufacturing systems incorporated so well into clothing and smaller manufactured items such as Corporate gifts etc.

What are some other possibilities for ways that car manufacturers can operate in a more dynamic and modular way?

This is a legally gray area though. You can buy non-genuine parts, but the companies can refuse the right to warranty cars with these parts under some conditions. The reproduction plans can actually be licensed, but they are expensive, hence the overhead costs on “genuine” (read: licensed) parts.

I’m not sure I understand the difference between current to open-sourcing parts if they still need to be licensed. Licensing parts is what already happens… companies could likely buy the plans for most parts as long as they agree to a large number of conditions and sign some heavy NDAs.

Are you proposing companies give away their plans and allow anyone to implement them without licensing?

So what is unreasonable behaviour? These are not global absolutes… so what does your definition contain. Your links are good for quantifying, but your definitions are interpretations of quantity, that is, you are interpreting the numbers, rather than just reporting the numbers. It’s like taking a blood alcohol reading, and then referring to someone as a drunk. What BAC defines a “drunk”?

Is still interesting to discuss though

Regarding your last statements, “cultural development” is once again, an individual point of view. Some people would see society including and condoning gay marriage as development… others would see it as society dying… which are you?

At the end of the day, we can’t use absolutes, because humans don’t understand them. So all we can do is attempt to reach a majority concensus, and then accept that as a “shared” value (though how shared is never known until someone starts trying to split hairs on the topic).

What am I getting at in these rambling comments? Merely harping on the fact that you are your own individual point of view… and though you have every right to work towards what you see as the best you/them/us can be as an individual/society/world… no-one else can be forced to subscribe to this unfortunately/fortunately.

Your view, as you said, dies with you… all you can leave behind is influences made on others (what they learnt from you, and how you changed them). Why would you strive for it if it is so temporary and disposable? Because you believe in it don’t you? It is “right” in your view of things… it makes some part of you feel good… honestly,, it’s because you care about your life and others lives and want to help them improve as well.

Response to your final question: improve yourself in every way you can. That question is easy lol… the hard part is figuring out what an “improvement” is

In some ways it allows greater specialization, and could also help prevent situations like the one that hit Toyota in your link. If the quality of the parts is great enough then they can resell the parts back into the manufacturing process.