I just accidentally found myself overhearing a short piece on BBC1 about Thomas Chippendale, the celebrated 18th century furniture designer.
Chippendale was very successful and his pieces are now worth a fortune. Intriguingly, the real cause of his success was not his skill as a cabinet maker, but his marketing nouse. And get this, his masterstroke was the publication of his Gentleman Cabinet Maker’s Director. Apparently, this included all his designs for others to freely copy. It made him rich, because all their imitations served to heighten the appeal of his originals.
Heh… and you thought open source was a new idea?