The Internet changes the way companies connect with their customers. When the Cluetrain Manifesto hit the Web 1.0 in the 90's, many businesses said that they would never let customers have access to their manufacturing floor. Guess what - they've changed their tune. Smart CEOs are realizing something that designers have always known: customers know what they want. The result of this trend is that smart Internet developers will create new tools to facilitate the dialogue.

Trendwatching's May 2006 newsletter follows the trend described as "customer-made."

What is a customer-made product?

“The phenomenon of corporations creating goods, services and experiences in close cooperation with experienced and creative consumers, tapping into their intellectual capital, and in exchange giving them a direct say in (and rewarding them for) what actually gets produced, manufactured, developed, designed, serviced, or processed.”