Von Hippel questions

Questions for Prof. von Hippel, Apr. 17 class:

• In some instances, manufacturers produce a product with the expectation a user will modify parts of it. For example, Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) software packages such as UG NX and TeamCenter Engineering are built with a suite of tools available that all (or almost all) users find necessary. These programs also allow a high degree of user customization to tailor the product to the particular application. Individual users can re-work sections of code to customize the application. While this is similar in some aspects to open source development, it differs in that the UG kernel is still proprietary and a particular user’s innovations are not generally shared with others (partially because they are so user specific). Additionally, the manufacturer provides some level of support to aid users in customizing portions of the code.
  • To what extent are the positive aspects of user innovation realized in this model and to what extent are they limited?
  • Are there other (existing or potential) applications of user/manufacturer cooperation on innovation?

• Prof. von Hippel discusses the tendency of some users to reveal their innovations freely to the public. Although there are numerous examples of free revealing, I wonder how significant, on average, these innovations are. It seems that some of the innovations that are most significant to the market at large are often created and protected by large companies--I'm thinking here about medications, major software applications, etc. There seems to be a big difference between marginal modifications of library software and the new Windows platform. Chapter 6 offers some possible motivations to reveal innovations, but to what extent can we really expect innovators to reveal fundamental innovations that might enjoy large market share? As an empirical matter, how often does a freely revealed user innovation actually capture a larger market share than more protected innovations? Aren't user innovations more significant at making improvements at the margins?

• One aspect of Microsoft's response to the open source movement is Shared Source, which is essentially a hybrid (or, more accurately, a set of hybrids) of proprietary and open-source models. Does Shared Source allow Microsoft to utilize user innovation without relinquishing ultimate control over its intellectual property? Do the limits in the Shared Source licenses weaken the incentives to create that Professor von Hippel identifies?