Geek builders tweak Lego · 2 March 06
Those familiar with the classic Lego® building sets may not realize that the Danish company’s best-selling product is actually a robotics kit called Mindstorms. Launched in 1998, Mindstorms has gained an enormous following (it sells 40,000 units each years at $200 each) without advertising.
Wired writes that a bit over a year ago, Lego contacted top Mindstorms builders from around the world to tap into their expertise—not as beta-testers, but as de facto Lego employees who would eventually help develop the update to Mindstorms (called Mindstorms NXT) down to the smallest detail.
Seeking consumer input on a redesign or a new product launch isn’t new, but Lego’s wholesale outsourcing of innovation to unpaid fans is daring. Inspired by the geeks who hacked and reverse-engineered the original Mindstorms system for fun, Lego came to realize that its users’ creativity isn’t just a useful knowledge base, it’s a key aspect of the company’s purpose and mission.
Posted by Jake |
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