Making the web of things 
EURO OSCON 
Sept. 2006
Kent
Winston 
Churchill 
Charles Dickens
Pond 
Ducks
Worth Based 
Inkjets Electronics 
Commoditisation 
Printing Ducks 
Open Source 
Freedom 
Javascript 
Football 
Maths 
Politics 
Genetics 
People Fotango 
Archery XP 
Programming 
Patents
Worth Based 
Inkjets Electronics 
Commoditisation 
Printing Ducks 
Open Source 
Freedom 
Javascript 
Football 
Maths 
Politics 
Genetics 
People Fotango 
Archery XP 
Programming 
Patents
courtesy of Katrien Janin, Creative Commons License.
Image courtesy of Rob Wilson, LaserLines
Image courtesy of Inition
6’ Kouros Statue, Image courtesy of Materialise
Image courtesy of Thin Film Electronics
B.J. Norris et al, J. Phys. D. 36, L105 (2003) . 
56 TTFT’s
e = mc 2
0.0002 3dp = mc
0.0002 3dp = mc
0.0002 3dp = mc
0.0002 3dp = mc
0.0002 3dp = mc
“The empires of 
the future are the 
empires of the 
mind.”
"Bah! Humbug!"
Snowboarding 
Pepsi Electronics 
Commoditisation 
Programming 
Judo 
Databases 
Patents 
Microsoft 
Business theory Acting 
Trading 
Freedom 
C++ 
Football 
Maths 
Politics 
Genetics 
People Security 
Bridge 
Cars 
Archery XP
No Pond
Snowboarding 
Pepsi Electronics 
Commoditisation 
Programming 
Judo 
Databases 
Patents 
Microsoft 
Business theory Acting 
Trading 
Freedom 
C++ 
Football 
Maths 
Politics 
Genetics 
People Security 
Bridge 
Cars 
Archery XP
Wikipedia : change from 
monopolistic to perfect 
competition
today’s 
hot stuff 
tomorrow’s 
boredom
1890’s 1930’s 
National 
Electricity Grid
Ubiquitous 
Rare thing Distributed
= 6 x
New Thing Standard 
Products 
Utility 
Service 
Leading 
thing Edge
New Thing Standard 
Products 
Utility 
Service 
Leading 
thing Edge 
CRM
New Thing Standard 
Products 
Utility 
Service 
Leading 
thing Edge 
Consultants
New Thing Standard 
Products 
Utility 
Service 
Leading 
thing Edge 
ABC System
New Thing Standard 
Products 
Utility 
Service 
Leading 
thing Edge 
Salesforce
New Thing Standard 
Products 
Utility 
Service 
Leading 
thing Edge 
ABC System
New Thing Standard 
Products 
Utility 
Service 
Leading 
thing Edge 
Consultants
New Thing Standard 
Products 
Utility 
Service 
Leading 
thing Edge 
CRM
New Thing Standard 
Products 
Utility 
Service 
Leading 
thing Edge 
Competitive 
Advantage
New Thing Standard 
Products 
Utility 
Service 
Leading 
thing Edge
New Thing Standard 
Products 
Utility 
Service 
Leading 
Edge
New Thing Standard 
Products 
Utility 
Service 
Leading 
Edge 
Cost of doing 
business
New Thing Standard 
Products 
Utility 
Service 
Leading 
Edge
New Thing Standard 
Products 
Utility 
Service 
Leading 
Edge 
open source
Factory
Factory ≡ One thing
Digital Physical
Factory ≡ Many things
Factory 
Ubiquitous 
Distributed 
Manufacture
Central Lab Home 
Printers 
Retail 
Printing 
Local 
Labs
Images courtesy of Dr Nick Stone, Novalia
Images courtesy of Dr Nick Stone, Novalia
Substrate 
Add metal 
Add Light sensitive film 
Expose through mask 
Photo finishing 
Etching 
Extraction
Substrate 
Print
Factory 
Ubiquitous 
Distributed 
Manufacture
open source hardware
Image controlled 
application of a material 
to a substrate
courtesy of Katrien Janin, Creative Commons License.
Image courtesy of Rob Wilson, LaserLines
Image courtesy of Elumin8
Image courtesy of Pelikon
Deposition 
Flexographic 
Gravure 
Screen 
Offset Litho. 
Stamp.
Flexographic 
Impression 
cylinder 
Plate cylinder 
(image) 
Ink supply anilox roll 
Substrate
Bruce Kahn, RIT, 2005
Image courtesy of Jie Zhang, Motorola Printed Electronics Group, 
Printed Electronics Conference
Image courtesy of Dr Nick Stone, Novalia
< 10 Micron 
Track width 
Images courtesy of Dr Nick Stone, Novalia.
Deposition 
3DPtm 
SLS 
SLA 
Digital 
DLP 
SLM 
HSS 
Flexographic 
Gravure 
Screen 
Offset Litho. 
Stamp.
SLA 
laser 
Printed object 
Vat of photopolymer 
Mirror or Scanning 
system 
Moveable 
platform
Image from TurkCadCam.net
6’ Kouros Statue, Image courtesy of Materialise
3DPtm 
Roller 
Powder 
Ink well (glue) 
Inkjet head 
Printed object 
Unused Powder
Deposition 
3DPtm 
SLS 
SLA 
Digital 
DLP 
SLM 
HSS 
Flexographic 
Gravure 
Screen 
Offset Litho. 
Stamp. 
FDM 
MJM 
Inkjet 
LOM 
LENS
Inkjet Ink wells (material) 
Inkjet head 
UV curing 
Printed object 
Platform
Image courtesy of Inition.
Image courtesy of Thin Film Electronics.
Inkjet + Metalisation 
0.5 m/s 
< 100 um 
MetalJet 6000, Image courtesy of Conductive Inkjet 
Technology. 
R2R
Image courtesy of Conductive Inkjet Technology.
Ceramics 
Carbon nanotubes 
Metallorganics 
Quantum Dots 
Metal nano-particles 
UV curable polymers 
Silica 
Adhesives 
Printed using inkjets
The Spime
Digital Physical
RFID home help
Second Life 
Sex Aids
Greg’s Train Time 
Alarm Clock
hardware > software
≡ silicon 1980s
hardware ≡ software
Change 
Hardware? Software?
CAD 
Instruction 
set 
Language 
Instruction 
set 
Function
Function 
Instructions Instructions 
Hardware Software
Function 
Instructions 
Compiler 
Instructions 
Hardware Software
Spime Script 
Instructions 
Compiler 
Instructions 
Hardware Software
Building objects and electronics 
Distributed manufacturing 
Open source hardware 
Spime script
"Bah! Humbug!"
“The empires of 
the future are the 
empires of the 
mind.”
Thank you

Making the web of things