The one proven technology for treating cholera was far too expensive to deploy against a large outbreak. Other systems cost as little as 35 cents, but were too complicated for unskilled caregivers. So people died. Enter the Open-Source approach... bq. "But the team needed more medical expertise. So Prestero turned to ThinkCycle, a Web-based industrial-design project that brings together engineers, designers, academics, and professionals from a variety of disciplines. Soon, some physicians and engineers were pitching in - vetting designs and recommending new paths. Within a few months, Prestero's team had turned the suggestions into an ingenious solution. Taking inspiration from a tool called a rotameter used in chemical engineering, the group crafted a new I.V.(Intravenous) system that's intuitive to use, even for untrained workers. Remarkably, it costs about $1.25 to manufacture, making it ideal for mass deployment. Prestero is now in talks with a medical devices company; the new IV could be in the field a year from now." That, and many other innovations besides. If you want more background on the open source method itself, Eric Raymond is your man. While the article's hype about "replacing the corporation" is over the top, I firmly believe that open source and its variants are in the process of going mainstream. The success of that process matters. To you, me, them... everybody. Everybody. In an age of scorched-earth copyright wars and increasingly desperate efforts to fetter and balkanize the Internet, reminding people of the open source ethos and the promise it offers will be an important task for dynamists of all political stripes. I firmly believe that as long as we don't sabotage the support structures on which it rests, open source and its variants will become an increasingly important force driving global wealth and innovation in the 21st century.