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Prosumer is a portmanteau formed by contracting either the word professional or producer with the word consumer. The term has taken on multiple conflicting meanings: the business sector sees the prosumer (professional–consumer) as a market segment, whereas economists see the prosumer (producer–consumer) as having greater independence from the mainstream economy.

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Definition variations

Producer and consumer

Marshall McLuhan and Barrington Nevitt suggested in their 1972 book Take Today, (p. 4) that with electric technology, the consumer would become a producer. In the 1980 book, The Third Wave, futurologist Alvin Toffler coined the term "prosumer" when he predicted that the role of producers and consumers would begin to blur and merge (even though he described it in his book Future Shock from 1970). Year 1980 ( MCMLXXX) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar) For Samuel P Huntington 's book go to The Third Wave Democratization in the Late Twentieth Century The Third Wave Futurists, or futurologists, are those who speculate about the future Alvin Toffler (born October 3, 1928) is an American Writer and futurist, known for his works discussing Consumers refers to individuals or households that use goods and services generated within the economy. Toffler envisioned a highly saturated marketplace as mass production of standardized products began to satisfy basic consumer demands. A marketplace is the space actual or metaphorical in which a Market operates Mass production (also called flow production, repetitive flow production, series production, or serial production) is the production of Standardization (or standardisation) is the process of developing and agreeing upon technical standards. To continue growing profit, businesses would initiate a process of mass customization, that is the mass production of highly customized products. Mass customization, in Marketing, Manufacturing, and Management, is the use of flexible computer-aided manufacturing systems to produce custom output

However, to reach a high degree of customization, consumers would have to take part in the production process especially in specifying design requirements. Design is used both as a Noun and a Verb. The term is often tied to the various Applied arts and Engineering (See design disciplines In a sense, this is merely an extension or broadening of the kind of relationship that many affluent clients have had with professionals like architects for many decades. An architect is a licensed individual who leads a design team in the Planning and Design of buildings and participates in oversight of Building Construction

Toffler has extended these and many other ideas well into the 21st-century. Along with recently published works such as Revolutionary Wealth (2006), we can recognize and assess both the concept and fact of the prosumer as it is seen and felt on a worldwide scale. Revolutionary Wealth is a book written by social analysts Alvin and Heidi Toffler, first published in 2006 by Knopf (ISBN 0-375-40174-1 That these concepts are having global impact and reach, however, can be measured in part by noting in particular, Toffler's popularity in China. China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National Discussing some of these issues with Newt Gingrich on C-Span's After Words program in June 2006, Toffler mentioned that The Third Wave is the second ranked bestseller of all time in China, just behind a work by Mao Zedong. Newton "Newt" Leroy Gingrich, (born Newton Leroy McPherson on June 17, 1943) is an American politician and author who served as the Speaker C-SPAN (officially the Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network) is an American Cable television network dedicated to airing non-stop coverage Mao Zedong ( 26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976) was a Chinese Military and political leader who led

Don Tapscott more fully elaborated on the concept in his 1995 book The Digital Economy calling it "Prosumption. Don Tapscott (born 1947 is a Canadian Business executive, Author, Consultant and speaker based in Toronto, Ontario, specializing Prosumer is a Portmanteau formed by contracting either the word pro fessional or pro ducer with the word con' sumer'. "

More recently, The Cluetrain Manifesto noted that "markets are conversations" with the new economy moving from passive consumers . The Cluetrain Manifesto is a set of 95 theses organized and put forward as a Manifesto, or call to action for all businesses operating within what is suggested to Interpersonal communication is defined by communication scholars in numerous ways though most involve participants who are interdependent on one another have a shared history This article presents a Timeline of events in the history of Computing from 1990 to the present . . to active prosumers. 2 For instance, Amazon.com emerged as an ecommerce leader -- partially due to its ability to construct customer relations as conversations rather than simple, one-time sales. Amazoncom Inc ( is an American electronic commerce ( E-commerce) company in Seattle Washington. Electronic commerce, commonly known as e-commerce' or eCommerce, consists of the buying and selling of products or services over electronic Amazon supports exchange of information among customers; it provides spaces for customers to add to the site, in the form of reviews. See also Critic. A review is an evaluation of a publication such as a movie, Video game, Musical composition 2

However, mass customization has not taken place in most areas of the economy. Most consumption continues to be passive as critics of television, recorded music, and fast food would argue. Television ( TV) is a widely used Telecommunication medium for sending ( Broadcasting) and receiving moving Images, either monochromatic Fast food is the term given to food that can be prepared and served very quickly Indeed, people are generally uninterested in going to the effort of customizing the myriad products that comprise modern consumer culture. In The Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less, Barry Schwartz argues that diminishing returns from a confusing abundance of consumer choice is producing stress and dissatisfaction. Barry Schwartz (born 1946 is an American Psychologist. Schwartz is the Dorwin Cartwright Professor of Social Theory and social action at Swarthmore In Economics, diminishing returns is also called diminishing marginal returns or the law of diminishing returns. Confusion, of a Pathological degree usually refers to loss of orientation (ability to place oneself correctly in the world by time location and personal identity and 3 Still, one key area of high-customization is taking place: highly involved hobbyists.

Professional consumer

With customization focused on leisure pursuits, Toffler's initial combination has been largely supplanted by a second pair of blurring roles: that of the professional and consumer. Leisure or free time, is a period of Time spent out of work and essential domestic Activity. This article is about people called professionals For the Movie, see The Professional or Leon. In particular, hobbyists have become ever-more demanding in the pursuits of their hobbies, often rising above the level of dilettante (an amateur, someone who dabbles in a field out of casual interest rather than as a profession or serious interest) to the point of commanding skills equal to that of professionals. A hobby is a spare-time Recreational pursuit Etymology A Hobby horse is a wooden or Wickerwork toy made to be Key examples of such hobbies are:

This professional slant of the prosumer term is most common in photography which is a field that highlights prosumer trends. Access to professional-level equipment and skills is made possible by combination of factors such as:

Non-corporate producer and consumer

Yet a third meaning or usage of prosumer is springing up, especially among some activist groups. High-definition television (HDTV is a Digital television Broadcasting system with higher resolution than traditional television systems (standard-definition Activism, in a general sense can be described as intentional action to bring about social or political change That is, the producer and consumer roles are being combined so as to exclude (or at least diminish) the role of the corporate producer; thus, rather than generating higher corporate profits from value-added products, producers would, at best, be reduced to supplying lower-profit commodity inputs. A corporation is a separate legal entity usually used to conduct business Value added refers to the additional value of a commodity over the cost of commodities used to produce it from the previous stage of production A commodity is anything for which there is demand but which is supplied without qualitative differentiation across a market Indeed, the more consumer-oriented prosumer spin is irrelevant to many people with diminished disposable income caused by various economic trends such as globalization, automation, and wealth concentration. Globalization (or globalisation) in its literal sense is the process of transformation of local or regional phenomena into global ones Automation ( Ancient Greek: = self dictated) roboticization or industrial automation or Numerical control is the use of Control systems Wealth condensation is a theoretical process by which in certain conditions newly-created Wealth tends to become concentrated in the possession of already-wealthy individuals Identifiable trends and movements outside of the mainstream economy that have adopted prosumer terminology and techniques include:

These blurrings of the roles of consumer and producer have their predecessor in the cooperative self-help movements that sprang up during various economic crises e. Simple living (or voluntary simplicity) is a lifestyle individuals choose to minimize the 'more-is-better' pursuit of Wealth and consumption. The Independent Media Center (aka Indymedia or IMC) is a global participatory network of journalists that reports on political and social issues Popular culture (or pop culture) is the Culture — patterns of human activity and the symbolic structures that give such activities significance and importance — Concentration of media ownership (also known as media consolidation) is a commonly used term that refers to the majority of the media outlets being owned by a small number of Barter is a type of Trade in which goods or services are directly exchanged Developing countries are countries that haven't reached Western-style standards of democratic government free market economy industrialization social programs and human rights guaranties g. the Great Depression in the 1930s.

Influence on a company's R & D budget

A fourth view of the Prosumer is as one who can influence the R & D spend of a company towards a solution that directly benefits them. The phrase research and development (also R and D or more often R&D) according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, refers For example, say you’re a manufacturer of widgets. One of your strategic customers changes their requirements and asks that all their widgets sing. This is an important enough customer that losing them would seriously hurt your bottom line. Based on their request you direct a portion of your R & D budget to solve their specific problem. Budget (from French bougette, purse generally refers to a list of all planned expenses and revenues By using internal resources, open source initiatives and outside help you’re able to meet the requirements of your customer. While the customer didn’t directly make the changes they did influence your company with their design requirement changes. This arrangement has positive effects for both parties:

For the customer:

For the company:

As customers continue to demand more of their supplier relationships, this type of Prosumer influence will only increase. Suppliers up to the task will strengthen those existing relationships, build customer loyalty and become more profitable.

Prosumption

In their book Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything, Don Tapscott and Anthony D. Wikinomics How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything is a book by Don Tapscott and Anthony D Don Tapscott (born 1947 is a Canadian Business executive, Author, Consultant and speaker based in Toronto, Ontario, specializing Williams coined the related term of prosumption (production/consumption) to refer to the creation of products and services by the same people who will ultimately use them. Prosumer is a Portmanteau formed by contracting either the word pro fessional or pro ducer with the word con' sumer'. Companies and individuals are increasingly utilizing and involving the end-users to develop final products and services. Economics and Commerce define an end-user as the person who uses a product. In some instances, end-users are creating products on their own, without the interference or assistance of third-parties (i. e. companies, organizations, etc). For example, Lego Mindstorms allows users to download software from Lego's website so that the users can edit and update software as they wish. LEGO Mindstorms is a line of Lego sets combining programmable bricks with Electric motors Sensors Lego bricks and Lego Technic pieces

External links


References

Lui, K. M. and Chan, K. C. C. (2008) Software Development Rhythms: Harmonizing Agile Practices for Synergy, John Wiley and Sons, ISBN 978-0-470-07386-5

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