Official Designs and Open Source

     The current model of multiple companies manufacturing different versions of the same product is inefficient, and when something breaks, getting it repaired is not easy. (Many people decide it isn't even worth it and just buy another one.)
     With a new economy in place meant to conserve resources, it makes sense to streamline the design and production of common consumer goods such as microwaves, washer machines, refrigerators, ovens, etc... An open source, modular approach would be an effective way to produce the machines that make modern life possible, while also facilitating repairs and giving consumers a simpler view of the options available to them.
     The process of modifying and manufacturing the designs could be overseen by professors and students at public universities as they learn engineering and other skills required to build and maintain the machines. Consumer purchases of the machines would then directly fund the government, which in turn funds the school.

Here are some examples of modular open source technologies already in development:

On the more mechanical side of things is Open Source Ecology:

And then there is Phonebloks on the more digital side of things: