One of the things that inspired the prizes for this and next week's livestreams was that, as I started procuring the bits for an OpenFlexure Microscope, I realised that I'll be buying way more of certain components than I need due to minimum order numbers - so why not give some away?
I also spent a decidedly sizeable portion of Monday just finding vendors for all the bits I needed. Despite delays and customs charges, the Pioreactor procurement process was 100x easier.
Could we have pooled procurement & stock control that lets us buy in bulk, then crowd sourced manufacturing that lets (for example) people who just want to print bits, print them, people who want to assemble, assemble, etc.
Could we then sell bags of bits at relatively low markup, part-assembled units with a moderate markup and fully assembled plug-in and play units with a fairly decent markup, and perhaps premium charges for expedited manufacture and/or expert QC guarantees?
I'm concerned that procurement, construction and even software setup may be too big a barrier to entry for some & I'd like to minimise any hurdles that get in the way of people with an interest in open protein from safely starting practical research.
