Interesting book, video trailer, and Wired feature on Crowd-Sourcing

"Crowdsourcing is the act of taking a job traditionally performed by a designated agent (usually an employee) and outsourcing it to an undefined, generally large group of people in the form of an open call. Look for the book by Jeff Howe, the man responsible for identifying the term, this August...."   I just ordered the book; review to follow.  Check out the blog here - a fantastic resource! Wired covers it here.

Highlights:In just the last few years the influx of talented amateurs armed with inexpensive, high-resolution digital cameras has upended the economics of stock photography. Five years ago, a professional-quality image was still a scarce resource. No more. This isn't to say the market for high-end photographs has disappeared...he company [istockphoto] is in the midst of transforming its business, from one reliant exclusively on professionals to one that is at least equally reliant on amateurs...And photography may well be just the beginning. iStock itself is doing a burgeoning business in the sale of stock video footage, and the crowd is also making commercials, collaborating on TV scripts, and recording and distributing their own music...."

Comments

[Jim Hopkinson]

Hi there

Thanks for giving a shoutout for the book and Wired's website. I work for Wired and actually interviewed Jeff about the topic, so if you enjoyed reading the book and watching the video, you can hear a Wired podcast interview on the subject here as well:

http://thehopkinsonreport.com/2008/08/27/episode-19-interview-with-wireds-jeff-howe-author-of-crowdsourcing/

Cheers