So don't think mass market. I was approached to build a product. Part of that product is some hardware I can either buy off the shelf and design around, or I can design my own to do exactly what I need for this project and for future projects. I've been seriously thinking about open sourcing the design since it's just one module in the entire product and I know others would find it useful.

If anyone here has similar ideas, let me know. It would be great to start a SourceForge like site for hardware.

So far, I've only seen this brilliant "business model" applied to electronic toys for geeks...

I just don't think it would work for a mass-market product. If ASUSTeK can take your design and start cranking it out at a lower price, you won't stay in business long enough to design version 2.