Jeff’s answer, in a nutshell, is that it is a bit of both. He explained that “crowdsourcing is not a new concept, but the internet has made it far more efficacious. In other words, the internet is allowing the concept of crowdsourcing to reach its full potential.

Jeff gave a great example of crowdsourcing that goes back to 1714 in England and the offering of the “Longitude Prize.”

I checked Wikipedia for details; I have paraphrased some of the key points below. Why the prize? Previously, in 1707, Admiral Cloudesly Shovell and his fleet ran a ground causing the death of 2,000 sailors. Apparently, they thought they were in the middle of the ocean, but they were clearly close to land.

The British government through an Act of Parliament in 1714 then decided to offer the “Longitude Prize” for anyone who could determine a simple and practical solution to determine a ship’s longitude (figuring out latitude was easier).

This is crowdsourcing: putting out a problem to an undefined group of people for a solution. The solution came not from a noted expert, but from a humble Yorkshire carpenter named John Harrison.

While most efforts had focused on a precise catalogue of stars, to be used together with the moon’s position (the method of lunar distances) to determine longitude, Harrison attempted to build a marine chronometer, a precision clock which kept the time of the home port. This, together with determination of the local time using the height of the sun, would allow mariners to calculate longitude. With support from the Board of Longitude set up to administer the prize, he started in 1730 to build several marine chronometers, finally succeeding in 1761 with a determination of better than half a degree.

The bottom line is that this is old-fashioned crowdsourcing that goes back almost 300 years.

Anyone have other examples of examples of crowdsourcing from days gone by?

The type of language on the site, for example, is as follows: “Being a member of NowPublic.com is kind of like going to a big house party. You can interact with whoever you want; people from all over the world are here…Just like dressing like a pirate or ditching your pants, one way to get attention at this party is to add great images to your stories.”

Tippett refers to a book on how the language of communication has changed. Tippett notes that the conventional form of presenting a company such as in a brochure or in a Web 1.0 site seems like an antiquate language.

His approach has been shaped by a book titled The Cluetrain Manifesto: The end of Busienss as Usual written by Rick Levin, Christopher Locke, Doc Searls & David Weinberger in 1999. This book asserts that the Internet is unlike the ordinary media used in mass marketing. The internet allows people to have “human to human” conversations and this should be reflected in the type of language used.

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 be a newly-connected marketplace. Of course, the 95 thesis pay homage to Martin Luther’s 95 theses that were nailed to the Wittenberg Door and that launched the Protestant Reformation. The ideas put forward within The Cluetrain Manifesto aim to examine the impact of the internet on both markets and organizations. The authors argue that the Internet is unlike the ordinary media used in mass marketing as it enables people to have “human to human” conversations. As a result, there is the potential to transform traditional business practices radically. The book and website both challenge what the manifesto calls outmoded, 20th-century thinking about business in light of the emergence of the Web.

How important is it for a site to have personality? What are the best examples of a site with personality?

Is your imagination ahead of the whole shoe industry and you’re sick of waiting for them to catch up? Here’s your chance to go over their heads and deal with someone who actually cares what you want. All …you need is that brilliant idea. Even just for part of a shoe - scribble it down and send it to us. We don’t care if it’s on a bar napkin, as long as we can make it out. So, fax it, mail it, email it, bring it in, just get it to us!

How did Fluevog come up with the idea for “open source footwear?” Stephen Bailey told me last June that, “For years John would get ideas at the stores and trade shows on scraps of paper, napkins, and the backs of business cards.” He adds that devotees often wanted Fluevog to make a particular type of shoe. So, going with an online crowdsourcing model was not doing something new, but having a more effective way of doing it. As the webpage states:

And there you have it. Since we launched Open source Footwear, it’s become one of the most visited page on our entire website. (The most visited is this picture of John, wearing only underpants.) We make selections through a combination of peer voting, feasibility, and if we just plain like the designs. Then, we cover all the costs & development process (it takes about a year to produce a shoe) and get your shoe onto the market, without having to put our prices up or go broke. Always a bonus. It’s worked beautifully, and you’ve proven that Fluevogers have more to say than just, “Way rad, dude.” You do it; we love it. Bring it on.

The company has received over 500 suggestions during the past 5 years, and they have accepted 12 or so which they have made into actual shoes, available to the public. Bailey mentions one lady who said that her car would make a great shoe! Her vehicle was a Volvo 240—and now Fluevog has produced the “240 Wagon” shoe.

What else can be crowdsourced?