????顯而易見，很多消費(fèi)者也越來越把自己視為創(chuàng)作者。未來一些年，希望產(chǎn)品和服務(wù)能大獲成功的企業(yè)不僅需要明白這一點(diǎn)，更要擁抱和推動(dòng)這股趨勢。

????為何這種現(xiàn)象隨處可見？從最根本來說，消費(fèi)者希望能實(shí)現(xiàn)用品的個(gè)性化，試圖給現(xiàn)成的科技產(chǎn)品打上自己的標(biāo)簽。尤其在社交媒體領(lǐng)域，消費(fèi)者變身創(chuàng)作者的例子比比皆是。例如，F(xiàn)acebook的統(tǒng)計(jì)顯示，每個(gè)用戶平均每月創(chuàng)作90條原創(chuàng)文字或圖片內(nèi)容。在商業(yè)化的平臺上走得更遠(yuǎn)的是Etsy，這個(gè)在線交易網(wǎng)站把手工藝品的制作者——通常是個(gè)人或小企業(yè)——與全球潛在買家連接了起來。Etsy的銷售統(tǒng)計(jì)數(shù)據(jù)反映了消費(fèi)者/創(chuàng)作者趨勢的日盛，而且該公司剛剛?cè)诘?000萬美元的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資（投資者包括Accel Partners、Union Square Ventures等等）用于國際擴(kuò)張。2012年3月，該網(wǎng)站賣出了6,280萬美元的貨物（剔除退款和訂單取消因素），同比增長41.5%。當(dāng)月，貨物銷售數(shù)量同比增長34%。任何公司老板都會樂于看到這樣的增幅，不管是哪個(gè)行業(yè)。

????其次，全球范圍內(nèi)“創(chuàng)客運(yùn)動(dòng)”（Maker's Movement）日漸火爆，甚至連大型跨國公司也開始參與其中。如果你還不知道這一趨勢，這就是一群人利用周末、午休和其他閑暇時(shí)間在車庫、臥室里進(jìn)行的自己動(dòng)手做（DIY）工程。曾幾何時(shí)，這項(xiàng)運(yùn)動(dòng)只是科技迷、甚至計(jì)算機(jī)迷圈子里的“另類”文化，如今已開始出現(xiàn)在服務(wù)于專業(yè)建筑師和設(shè)計(jì)師的歐特克（Autodesk）公司的PPT演示中，甚至是通用電氣（General Electric）公司中。比如，通用電氣近年來一直主辦GE Garages，這一實(shí)驗(yàn)性資源幫助普通人鼓搗各種技術(shù)進(jìn)行創(chuàng)作。換言之，通用電氣正在擁抱創(chuàng)客運(yùn)動(dòng)的“非主流”精神，而不是與之競爭。而且，這一運(yùn)動(dòng)在全球范圍內(nèi)都在快速發(fā)展。在中國，第一屆“制匯節(jié)”——基本上是DIY機(jī)器人愛好者和其他工程師的大會——今年4月在深圳舉行。在意大利羅馬，今春也舉行了一項(xiàng)類似的大會。

????It's easy to see that many consumers are increasingly seeing themselves as creators, too. Companies that will launch successful products and services in coming years will not only understand this phenomenon, but also embrace and enable it.

????The reasons why are all around us. On the most basic level, consumers are interested in personalizing their gadgets, an attempt at making off-the-shelf technology their own. In the realm of social media, especially, examples of the consumer as creator abound. On Facebook, for instance, the average user creates 90 pieces of content each month, in terms of original photos and posts, according to the company. And on a larger, commercial stage, there's Etsy, the online marketplace that connects makers of handmade goods -- usually individuals or small businesses -- with potential buyers around the globe. Etsy's sales statistics reflect the growing wave of consumer/creators, and the company just raised $40 million in venture financing (from Accel Partners, Union Square Ventures, and others) for international expansion. The site sold $62.8 million worth goods (after refunds and cancellations) in March 2012, up 41.5% from the same time last year. The number of items sold was up 34% from March 2011. Any business leader would be pleased with those growth figures, no matter what the industry.

????And then, there is a strong interest brewing worldwide in terms of the Maker's Movement, even among large, multinational corporations. If you're not aware of this trend, it's about the do-it-yourself engineering that happens in garages and bedrooms, on weekends and during lunch breaks and other moments of free time. Once considered an "alternative" culture in the realm of tech geeks and even hackers, the Maker's Movement is now being mentioned in PowerPoint presentations at Autodesk (ADSK), the software company that caters to professional architects and designers, and even in the halls of General Electric (GE). GE, for instance, has been hosting GE Garages, a lab-like resource that helps everyday people tinker with technologies and invent products. In other words, GE is embracing the "indie" spirit of the Maker's Movement rather than competing with it. And it's a movement that's gaining steam worldwide. In China, the first Maker's Faire -- essentially a conference for DIY robotics fans and other engineers -- took place in April in Shenzen, and in Rome, Italy, a similar event took place this spring.