Title
Open Source Shows the Way: Innovation by and for Users – No Manufacturer Required!
Author
Eric von Hippel, Professor, MIT Sloan School of Management
Date
2/24/2008
(Original Publish Date: 3/10/2001)
(Original Publish Date: 3/10/2001)
Abstract
Open source software projects, much in the news lately, are exciting examples of complete innovation development and consumption communities run by and for users, no manufacturer required. User innovation communities have a great advantage over the manufacturer-centered innovation development systems that have been the mainstay of commerce for hundreds of years: they enable each using entity, whether an individual or a corporation, to develop exactly what it wants rather than relying on a manufacturer to act as its (often very imperfect) agent. Moreover, individual users do not have to develop everything they need on their own: they can benefit from innovations developed by others and freely shared within the user community.
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