Hamey

When was the last time you used your DVD player, mobile phone, MP3 player, and wondered why that button was there, or why they seem to design purely to compete without any original innovation and creativity? That could all change with the TechCrunch40 finalist CrowdSpirit from France.

We’ve seen how Ponoko can use crowdsourcing to shake up the supply chain for furniture, jewelery and general industrial design. CrowdSpirit aims at the consumer electronics industry by creating a community where users can interact in the production process from concept to completion. Their website describes the process:

1. Submit an idea for a new innovative electronic product
2. Vote, define specification, or even invest money on products
3. Once finalized, test & recommend products to retailers
4. Based on your contribution, earn a share of the product revenue

Their business model is somewhat of a paradox, being both elegantly simple and devastatingly complex at the same time. The management overhead could be enormous depending on just how much responsibility they are willing to give to their community members. Consumer electronics, being inherently physical, are always going to be a lot more difficult to apply a crowdsourcing business model to than say, a crowdsourced novel.

Nevertheless, it is liberating for product designers, small investors, retailers and even end consumers that they can contribute a lot or a little to the design, development and distribution of a tangible thing. The market may be a little green for such disruption, but you have to admire the pioneers.