Main Page: Difference between revisions
the main page *must* give a clear *visualization* of what is going on, else we lose 99% of the audience... move anything here to the FAQ, but NOT the greenlight/redlight stuff, that's critical
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(the main page *must* give a clear *visualization* of what is going on, else we lose 99% of the audience... move anything here to the FAQ, but NOT the greenlight/redlight stuff, that's critical) |
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__NOTOC__ | __NOTOC__ | ||
[[Fair trade]], [[political consumerism]] and [[moral purchasing]] trends are coming together to create what we call '''''[[moral purchasing power]]''''': | |||
Consumerium | [[Consumerium]] is a not-for-profit project to focus that power. We are collaborating under the [[GFDL]] [[licences|license]], to design a [[healthy buying infrastructure]]. We are identifying [[hardware requirements]] for storage, transport and display of varying levels of [[features|product information]] to [[consumer]]s at the [[point of purchase]]. We hope to be part of an evolving [[healthy signal infrastructure]] that all [[essential projects]] can participate in. | ||
Q: Will every element of this be [[free software]]? | |||
:Not necessarily. Free software and open source models have problems especially when they have to work together all over the planet at once, where strong self-interest is involved, and where many entities may have incentives to skew the data. A [[Consumerium Governance Organization]] may also develop or aggregate "non-free" software to assist in the compilation and validation of information to guide purchasing. For integrity reasons and to prevent bad copies and misleading competitors, this may require a more specific [[Consumerium License]] regime. We reserve the right to use your contribution to achieve the general goals of Consumerium, and the discussions remain GFDL. | |||
Q: What exactly will this look like to me as an end user? | |||
A: here's our best current guess: | |||
:Our front end will be seen by the [[end user]] as a [[red light|red]]/[[yellow light|yellow]]/[[green light]] traffic-type signal, or as a [[score]] easily translated into a [[price premium]], or as a note in [[Simple English]] about issues with, or merits of, the product. Release of this advice is keyed to [[bar code]]s. | |||
Q: How will this data be updated to the users' device? | |||
:There are several ways to connect back to front end: we may rely on frequently updated data embedded in hand-held devices, and/or dynamic retrieval via [[short-range wireless]] to the shelf front. Where possible, reasons for making buying decisions, or refusing a certain product, will go as [[feedback]] to the [[producer]]s. | |||
Q: How will this data be kept accurate? | |||
:Our back end relies on [[opinion wiki]] comments compiled by software using a [[wikitext standard]]. [[Semantic link]] standards may be required also. To work out the conventions and issues involved, we are working through a wiki in the R&D phase. | |||
''This'' is that wiki. We invite you to participate by editing proposals and discussions below. Any page can be edited by anyone, or restored to a previous state by anyone, which is the convention we assume will also apply in operation: | |||
<center> | <center> | ||
===Selected articles=== | ===Selected articles=== | ||
''' | '''[[Links|Looking for info on companies and products now?]]''' - '''[[Features|Planned Features to The Consumer]]''' - '''[[Consumerium Services]]'''<br>'''[[Opinion Wiki]]''' - '''[[Content Wiki]]''' - '''[[The Consumerium Exchange]]''' - '''[[Design paradigm|Current Design Paradigm]]''' - '''[[Essential projects]]'''<br> | ||
'''[[Fairtrade On Demand]]''', '''[[Consumerium User Stories]]''' | |||
</center> | </center> | ||
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===New to Consumerium or Wiki?=== | ===New to Consumerium or Wiki?=== | ||
* [[Consumerium:Welcome, newcomers|Welcome, newcomers]] | * [[Consumerium:Welcome, newcomers|Welcome, newcomers]] | ||
* [[Motivation]] | * [[Motivation]] | ||