There’s an entry on the Mass Customization blog (Link) that got my attention a week or so ago. I was going to post something here (well, I am actually doing that now), but I decided to post a long comment there which I’ll simply copy here… without the blockquote tags. There’s really not too much in it that’s new since unlike Mass Custom, I’m focused on “user manufacturing” and not on customization.

Anyway, here’s the comment:

I expect that either Amazon or eBay will be the one’s to really get “desktop manufacturing” under way (my preferred term atm). With eBay there’s already most everything in place; including a Reputation system. With Amazon, there’s the recent push to provide something like what eBay offers (along with the perception that they sell *new* goods whereas eBay is still thought of as the place for secondhand stuff). Both, however, appear to be leading the way.
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A couple of years ago, just in time for the holidays and cold days stuck inside, there was a neat thread on the Core design forum where we submitted our favorite “designer” flicks. I was thinking about that recently while in the midst of some mindnumbing work, and as it happened I managed to stumble across some interesting bits of moving images this week. And while they’re not all related to product design or virtual worlds, there is a quality to them that I find interesting and relevant – if not in practicality, then in sensibility.
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There’s a thought-provoking entry over on Clive Thompson’s collision detection blog titled, “Why interactive websites can create false memories” (Link), which points to some research by Ann Schlosser (Link) that apparently contains an interesting twist for the marketing community. I’ve not yet read the paper, but Thompson has culled a clip that’s worth repeating here:

These findings suggest that marketing managers should test their campaigns for both true and false memories. Although it may seem advantageous for consumers to believe that a product has features that it actually does not have (e.g., by increasing store visits and purchases), it may ultimately lead to customer dissatisfaction. Continue reading →

There are reviews and demo videos popping up discussing the SpaceNavigator interface device I mentioned earlier (reLink), and they’re worth checking out. I’m increasingly impressed. Next up will be looking for a video showing it used with a 3D application other than GoogleEarth. If/when I find one, I’ll post something. In the meantime, the above video was created by Frank Taylor and found on his blog (Link). Worth a surf.

Interesting to read that Multiverse will be announcing the development of a fan favorite media property, Firefly, into a MMORPG (Link). Considering that Multiverse isn’t a developer, one has to wonder how they’ll organize this effort; and from where the developer they hire will get the content.

The show does, however, seem to be a good candidate for this conversion, considering the variety of possibilities the show brings to the table. I could see where that might be a distinct advantage in sourcing the content. This one is worth watching imo.

via Raph Koster’s blog