Continued from Everybody's a Manufacturer: Era of User-Generated Devices (1)
In general-purpose equipment such as personal computers (PC), there is an increasing amount of handmade content, software and other items. These user-centric Internet services are generally referred to as user-generated content (UGC), consumer-generated media (CGM), etc (Fig 2).
Some good examples are blogs, social network services (SNS), and photo/video content sharing sites. The number of users these services boast has been soaring steadily for years.
YouTube, for example, the arm of Google Inc of the US that provides a video sharing service, has over 300 million users worldwide. In the field of SNSs as well, there are more than a few services with users counted in the hundreds of millions. In Japan, the number of MIXI users has surpassed 16 million. User-centric services are said to have wielded a massive effect in the 2008 US presidential election as well; they have rapidly grown to the point where they can even change social systems.
There are two major reasons for the sudden surge in involved users: the creating and publishing of new content has been dramatically simplified; and frameworks for smooth communication between users with similar interests, hobbies, etc, have been developed.
It used to be that the technologies, expertise, etc, needed to create and distribute content was held only by a few media firms in fields like films, broadcasting, newspapers and publishing. The spread of the Internet has changed all that.
Digital AppliancesDeveloping trends in "homemade" content, software, etc, are beginning to spread into the realm of electronics, such as digital appliances. In fact, making some software, hardware functions and other resources available to users has already produced digital appliances with enhanced freedom in specifications and function - the first UGDs (Fig 3).
One excellent example is the development environment represented by widgets, now enjoying increasing use in PCs and becoming available to digital appliance users as well. In Sept 2008, Sony Corp of Japan began supplying the widget development tools for the AppliCast content download function packaged with its liquid crystal display (LCD) TVs to individual users. Although the tool had formerly been available only to professional developers, Sony released it to the general public. Widgets created by individuals run on the TVs. Similar tools are also provided by a host of newly emerged manufacturers in Internet appliances such as chumby industries inc of the US, in the form of "Web gadgets".
The movement toward providing an environment supporting unrestricted Internet service to users, by mounting browsers, is spreading from flatscreen TVs into digital cameras. A variety of miniature detachable modules are available for digital appliances now, making it possible for users to modify shape, function and other characteristics with plug-ins.
In the second quarter of 2009, modu Ltd of Israel will release a mobile phone that can change its appearance, function, etc to match specific usage. The ultra-compact mobile phone is inserted into a "jacket" module for use, and a variety of different jackets offer various designs, functions, etc, as needed.
All of these activities, however, are likely to create new ways to enjoy digital appliances, thanks to unique user ideas.
Equipment manufacturers provide the platforms, but users are thinking up ways to use them that the manufacturers never imagined. If these new uses appeal to a large number of users, all of a sudden a best-selling product is born.
Users no longer merely passively receive information from manufacturers, mass media and other sources, because now the environment makes it easy for them to obtain specialized information such as manufacturer technology. This simplified access is not limited to merely end products, but is rapidly spreading to the R&D field, almost in the realm of constituent technology, where specialized knowledge is crucial.
An engineer at a major household appliance manufacturer admitted, "Lately it seems that users are a heck of a lot more imaginative than the manufacturers." It is possible this is one of the reasons behind the disconnect seen in many household appliance manufacturers when it comes to new product development.
Users with vision exceeding the reach of manufacturers are no longer satisfied with off-the-shelf products, because they often can't make the functions they need to use those products in their own way, for their own enjoyment. This trend is especially strong in the young generations who have grown up with Internet services. According to Sir Howard Stringer, chief executive officer (CEO) of Sony, "Young consumers today are very different from what they were 20 years ago. They are not passive, but rather speak out about how products should be used. Thanks to the pervasive Internet, more and more of them are innovating new uses."
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