The Rise of Crowdsourcing
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Howe, J. (2006). The Rise of Crowdsourcing. Wired, 14(6), 176-183.
What is Crowdsourcing?
Def: An act of taking a task by a desginated agent and outsourcing it to undefined large group of people.
Advantages :
Value for your Money
Similar to outsourcing which reduces cost
Hassle free
Do not require to keep track of employees and the whole process in development
Talents
You can crowdsource the given task rather hiring a new employee
Disadvantages
Ideas are open
can be risky where others can pick your idea from your order page for free
Stolen and recycled names
submitting ideas that have been copied from other competitions
Wrong Marketing
People will simply say that the company no where takes quality seriously and rather tries to crowdsource to get the work done
4 Types of companies
1.)The Professional
Practices Profession as its main object
Rely more on intellectual effort rather than profiting business of others
2.) The Packager
Video Hosting services companies
3.) The Tinkerer
Companies that are able to invent new concepts from normal use of service
4.) The Masses
Social Media companies
1.) The Professional
Profile
Founder : Bruce Livingstone
Founded: May 2000
Genre: Microstock Photography
Summary Notes :
Example 1: Claudia needed pictures of sick people e.g sneezing ,coughing for the interactive Kiosk
Rather than hiring people she decides to stock photography
Cost ? $150 or $1..$40
Profile
Founder : Bill Gates , Paul Allen
Founded: April 1975
Genre: Computer software,Internet
Summary Notes:
Open source software movement
that geeky volunteers could write code just as well as highly paid developers
Profile
Founder: Vinod Khosla,Andy Bechtolsheim,Bill Joy Scott McNealy
Founded: 1982
Genre: Computer systems,Computer software
Profile
Founder :Jimmy Wales,Larry Sanger
Founded: January 2001
Genre: Internet Encyclopedia
Summary Notes
Model could be used to create a sprawling and comprehensive encyclopedia
Profile
Founder: Pierra Omidyar
Founded: September 1995
Genre: Internet, Online shopping
Summary Notes:
Built a profitable business that couldn't exist without the contribution of users
Profile
Founder : Chris DeWolfe,Tom Anderson
Founded: Jan 2003
Genre: Social networking service
4.) The Masses
Profile
Founder:Jeff Bezos
Founded: Feburary 1994
Genre: Internet,Online shopping,Cloud computing
Summary Notes
Innocentive specializes talents but possessing basic literacy can find something to do in mechanical Turk
e.g identifying items in a photohgraph, writing a short description of the product etc..
iConclude (company)
Run by Sunny Gupta
Product: Repair Flow
Experience: People with Java and Microsoft background
Paid: $2000 each
3.) The Tinkerer
Profile
Founder: Dwayne Spradin,Robert Kinney
Founded:January 2001
Genre: Open innovation, R&D and Product development
Summary Notes
To connect with the brainpower outside of the company
Melcarek solved a problem for Colgate Palmolive that earned him $25000
A way to inject fluoride powder into a toothpaste tube without dispersing it.
Companies that are posting their scientific problems in Innocentive web site: $10000 to $100000 per solution
Boeing
DuPont
Protector & Gamble
2.) The Packager
Subtopic
Profile
Founder: iFilm & VH1 (Collabration)
Founded: January 2006
Genre: Video Hosting service
Summary Notes:
Viral videos (democratic age of entertainment)
By the masses for the masses
Almost eveyone want to be on TV
e.g Out of 2000 clips 10 finalist have been chosen (american funniest video)