Commons-based peer productions is simply a group of people who do not know each other well, that come together with their own separate information and ideas. These ideas are then merged and the final creation makes up a service or a product. It can be compared to social websites such as Wikipedia, where different people with knowledge on the same topic edit and post new ideas to make a reliable and widely used service. Knowing this I would say that, depending on how you look at the situation, there is not much that can not be generated with commons-based peer production.
A product as defined by Marriam Webster’s online dictionary “is something produced something (as a service) that is marketed or sold as a commodity. When I hear product in relation with commons-based peer productions I immediately think of a company trying to sell an item. My initial reaction was that a company can be made upon the methodologies of common-based peer productions, but an actual product the company may produce could not. For instance, if you take Bic razors, the Bic Company could very easily have been made up by commons-based peer productions. It could start off with three or four different individuals coming together with the idea of creating a company that sells everyday items, such as razors and pens. The idea of making the items could have been generated using the peer based methodologies but the actual product, the pen in all of is entity could not. Some may argue that the pen was made up with commons-based peer methodologies; however it is in my opinion that the idea of the pen was made up with the methodologies in mind, but the actual pen itself was not.
Service as defined by Marriam Webster’s online dictionary “is a contribution to the welfare of others”. A service can definitely be generated using commons-based peer productions; in fact I would say that getting different ideas from various people who do not share common beliefs, or who come from different walks of life, could potentially make a service better. For instance if somebody wanted to try and help homeless youth in Toronto by opening up a home or shelter, that could be run by volunteers and would try to provide meals and housing for the youth, but the people trying to open this shelter all come from middle class families and have never even met a homeless person, much less understand the difficulties faced by homeless youth. If these people could use common-based peer production methodologies they could get people from different walks of life that could help hem come up with ideas. Even simple things such as approaching and communicating with people on the street can be a delicate issue. On that topic I had the privilege of attending a downtown Toronto walk, led and narrated by a man named Patrick Sullivan, that was a real eye opener for many who were there, on the physical and psychological horrors faced by homeless youth.
As I see it, all services could be generated using these methodologies, and most would actually benefit from different perspectives so the service could expand and incorporate more people. Ideas concerning products and products that are formulated online, such as online gaming items that one can purchase, all can utilize peer based methodologies, however the physical aspect of a product being sold, in my opinion could not be generated using commons-based peer productions.
Cristie, J. (2010). Social media and the economy. Retrieved from https://connect.mycampus.ca/webct/urw/lc4130011.tp0/cobaltMainFrame.dowebct
Wikipedia. (2010). Commons-based peer production. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commons-based_peer_production
Wikipedia. (2010). Commons-based peer production. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commons-based_peer_production
