i found peter b. meyer’s episodes of collective invention inspiring because he shows that in cases where technology has no clear application, sharing ideas is more valuable than keeping them secret. he bases this conclusion on some pretty weighty case studies: the invention of desktop computers, the spread of the bessemer steel process, and the advent of GNU/linux. in the paper he describes the process of “collective invention” as based on a process that begins with an enabling event which is spread through publications or institutions and has a low enough barrier to entry, both financially and intellectually, so that a substantial number of contributors and their readers can collectively invent new technology. i copy his case study table above.