GE wants you to come up with its next big appliance idea
FirstBuild's workspace, still under construction in Louisville,
Ky. Colin West McDonald/CNET  Back in March, we wrote about GE
and small-batch carmaker Local Motors' plan to establish an
open-source cocreation community called FirstBuild. At a press
conference this morning here in Louisville, Ky., GE and Local
Motors unveiled the University of Louisville building that will
serve as FirstBuild's design lab, microfactory, and retail
storefront.  Local Motors is best known for its $99,900
microfactory-made Rally Fighter luxury racer, while GE's
operation here in Louisville is primarily focused on large-scale
appliance manufacturing. A shared initiative between the two may
seem counterintuitive, but GE is making a clear effort to move
toward a new brand of R&D; one that emphasizes open
collaboration and that lets it develop and release new products
like a smaller, more nimble company.  GE's partnership with
open-source invention engine Quirky operates in