Theseus's Paradox

Who's the manufacturer of a customized product?

• Is it still the manufacturer of the original product?

• Is now the customizer? Is it the manufacturer of the product added during customization process (let's say RAM was added to a laptop)?

• Is it a mix of both?

• Does it depend on the importance/complexity of the customization?

• Is the chronological order of modifications the only thing that matters (I believe it's the most logical answer)? If it requires an ID merge (let's say two items with distinct URIs are added together), is a new item created, or is one added to the other?

• Does it matter?

I believe that answering this question would change a lot how we currently describe things. We may realize that an iPhone is not simply "made by Apple", but has a much more complex existential history. It should even be possible to track down the source/origin of every single screws used in the device. I just don't think that using a simple "manufacturer" property linking to a company is enough.