Open-Source and Consumer Electronics—The Back Door to World Domination: Why Reinvent the Wheel (Especially When Nice People Are Giving Wheels Away for Free)?

The development work that used to be seen as a tedious but necessary part of any embedded computing product is increasingly found and released as open-source software. Perhaps the ultimate example of this is in the provision of an entire market-ready user experience in the Android operating system (OS). This article demonstrates some of the immediate consequences such as accelerating the time to market, leveling the user interface playing field, and lowering the bar to product entry and goes on to consider a longer-term impact. Is this truly a free lunch?