With almost every new piece of technology or software released to the public, there will always be someone to hack it. While most of these hacks can be detrimental to a company’s business, there are also others that can provide the company with new ways to put value into their products. A friend of mine hacked his IPhone. However, the hack is not so that he can pirate apps that require money for free. Rather, he hacked his IPhone so that he can download “tweaks” to his phone. These tweaks can range from changing the look of each icon on the phone to completely changing the look of the IPhone. Some of the trickier tweaks even require people to pay for them. The reason that such a market would even exist is because there are demand for these tweaks on the IPhone and Apple has been unwilling to provide them. However, should they decide to also release tweaks like these on their App Store, the company would be able to find a new market to raise revenues in. This would most likely help decrease consumers hacking their IPhones, which will decrease the risk of the ever present temptation of using their hacked phones to pirate legitimate Apps that requires a fee to download.
An example of a company taking advantage of the hacking community to improve their product would be Microsoft. The release of their motion sensing device for the Xbox 360 game console, Kinect, created a frenzy for the hacking community. The moment a hacker showed the way to hack Kinect, the whole hacking community started to create unique ways of utilizing the device’s potential. One creative hacker was able to turn any pole-like object (a broom for example) into a light saber from Star Wars.
Another person was able to create the illusion that you are walking on water through the use of Kinect.
Microsoft never meant for these applications to be possible. However, instead of condemning the hacking community for violating the product’s terms of services, Microsoft embraced the infinite possibilities their customers can create from their product. The company has created a competition for these hackers to develop creative ways to use Kinect and the top 10 will be chosen and invested in for further development and, eventually, commercial use. By doing this competition, Microsoft may be able to see how they can apply their product and ways they have never thought of. Also, the can get a glimpse into what the consumers want on their product that they can provide. Other companies should probably take a leaf out of Microsoft’s book and try listening to a different part of customers that they most likely would never even try to acknowledge in the past.
--Hang Lin
--Hang Lin
Great points. If there is a demand for people to hack into their own property, it's not for companies to tell them that they can't do it. This demand, I believe, is high enough to warrant even some guides as to how to do it for people that don't quite know the in's and out's of computer programming and hacking, myself included. I would be thrilled if I could do some of the things that these people were capable of. Worst case scenario, I break it accidentally and have to buy another one, increasing revenue for the companies that are encouraging the hacking. This will also give them an insight into the demands of the consumer without much effort at all.
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