CrowdSpirit wants the masses to design, build and buy new gadgets

Crowdsourcing is one of those internet buzzwords that many of you have heard floating these days, and it was only a matter of time before someone took that idea and merged it with consumer electronics. Enter CrowdSprit, a new online community that aims to improve upon the consumer electronics market by tapping the wisdom of the masses. Some of the proposed devices include an MP3 player, GPS device, and radar detector (huh?), all for under €150 or $190. The idea is that a group of online consumers discuss ideas for a new gadget, then investors will throw some money down and build a prototype. Once that's done, the community comes back to test the device, and then will ostensibly buy that product. (No word on what happens if the product is a flop, or if it needs to go back to the drawing board.) We've got loads of suggestions on some of our favorite gadgets, and while we're not entirely convinced that this whole idealistic plan will work, we're definitely intrigued. Once CrowdSpirit actually makes its first prototype, we'll let you know.

[Phicon @ Dec 15th 2006 6:53AM]

I wrote about crowdspirit here:
http://www.phicons.com/
Its a rehash of a long standing japanese system called cuusoo by elephant design. I beleive they have the business model patented, probably in the USA only, so perhaps crowdspirit had better check their legal staus before proclaiming they are 'the first'.

[alex @ Dec 15th 2006 7:18AM]

Isn't design-by-committee generally considered a bad thing?

[Michael @ Dec 15th 2006 7:33AM]

Sounds like a great idea to me. I mean I don't know how products begin their life right now but it seems likes some company just comes up with an idea and then builds it and hopes consumers like it. Obviously they do a little research but how many products do you see that don't get things just quite right. I'd like to point to all the various personal media players out there.

I think keeping the consumers in loop during the whole development cycle would also be a cool thing. And constantly asking "how is this and what can we change to make it better?"
Obviously there needs to be some strong moderation because there will always be people who will expect the impossible people who have such a niche interest that their feature or design request wouldn't be suitable for the product as a whole.

Basically this is what Jim Jannard has been doing with the RED at red.com. He came to a bunch of filmmaking messageboards last years and started asking "What does everyone want out of a new camera" and has kept everyone in the loop the whole time, even during body design revisions. He's going to have the best camera on the market because of it.

Personally I believe that the 20th century was for mass production and the 21st century is going to mass producing personal products for individuals. You won't just go to the store and buy the same things as everyone else, instead you'll be able to customize things the way you want them. This is kind of a start but on more of a mass scale. Eventually we'll all look back and say "I can't believe we used to let someone design our products for us."

[James @ Dec 15th 2006 9:07AM]

I refer you to the wisdom of Tommy Lee Jones: "A *person* is smart. *People* are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals and you know it."