Intel and Asus have teamed up for a crowd-sourcing project of sorts to give users a say in what they want in a laptop. The ultimate goal is to create the first community-designed PC.

The site, WePC.com, got a mention on PC Pro among others. PC Pro’s take: “The WePC site offers visitors the chance to detail their ideal netbook, notebook or gaming machine, where it will be voted on by other users.”

Besides putting forth ideas and voting for proposal concepts, community members can also interact with other members. Intel’s partner marketing group general manager Mike Hoefflinger said, ‘the spark for innovation can come from anywhere’.

‘That’s why Intel is working with ASUS to tap into the creative energy of consumers as they share ideas on designing their ideal PC,’ he said.

‘Intel is committed to encouraging conversations with consumers and giving people a voice in the design of technology they use every day.’

“Visitors to the site can share ideas, vote on submitted concepts and engage in discussions with other community members about the qualities of the ‘dream’ PC,” says Intel in a statement.

There are already quite a few designs on the site, with some as intriguing as a mouse that generates power as it’s being used, to reduce energy consumption. Some of the ideas presented are certainly unusual, such as a laptop with legs or fold-out displays. But this just might be what the industry needs – fresh input to liven up the dull notebook design environment.

Right now notebooks are similar to the point of monotony, with users often resorting to customizing notebooks themselves. There are plenty of decals being sold for such purposes while companies like Dell offer fancy shell casings for certain models or art options. But being able to offer design hacks for laptops might just prove the trick to enlivening dull laptop designs.

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Entry was posted on Friday, October 31st, 2008 at 10:48 pm under Intel, Notebook.  Print This Post

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