I'm still stuck. I am running node 0.10.32, I have libusb-1.0.9 and libusb-1.0-dev, and the npm module usb v0.3.11.
The git hub issue ( Binding issue on Linux · Issue #37 · nonolith/node-usb · GitHub ) indicated that recompiling on the platform might fix the problem. I've recompiled node, libusb, and the node usb package on my edison. I still get the same problem. I also don't see anything in the make steps that would cause having them compiled on the same machine to "fix" the problem.
I did not play with npm-versions yet. Are you suggesting I would use this to install the usb module? or node itself?