From the Economist - (via Unmediated) a terrific article about how companies are embracing open-source and encouraging customers to create not just content, but products for them. Often this is companies embracing user-content rather than raging against it. Back in 1998 - i consulted to Fox as they were wrestling with the whole concept of 'fan fiction', viewers who began to draft their own story lines for their favorite characters. I counseled then - as i would now - that fan fiction is the ultimate expression of brand love, and as such should be encouraged and supported in every way possible.

How and why smart companies are harnessing the creativity of their customers
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The Economist.

LAST November, engineers in the healthcare division of General Electric (GE) unveiled something called the “LightSpeed VCT”, a scanner that can create a startlingly good three-dimensional image of a beating heart. This spring Staples, an American office-supplies retailer, will stock its shelves with a gadget called a “wordlock”, a padlock that uses words instead of numbers. In Munich, meanwhile, engineers at BMW have begun prototyping telematics (combining computing and telecoms) and online services for a new generation of luxury cars. The connection? In each case, the firm's customers have played a big part (GE, BMW) or the leading role (Staples) in designing the product.

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