Fast Company recently published the article, Neil Young: Automotive Entrepreneur? by Allyson Kapin. It said that Neil Young, the singer, and The Linc Volt project have been adapting Neil's 1959 Lincoln Continental, using existing technologies, into a “self-charging electric vehicle, running on natural gas and getting 100mpg!” It said that they are already up to 65mpg with the 2.5 ton Lincoln Continental, Now I once had a 1974 Lincoln Town Car, when it was still a trim option for the Continental. I bought it used for only a few hundred dollars during the a gas crisis so I have a feel for their challenge.
Now here is the social media part. Linc Volt has teamed up with SalesForce.com to set up a web site at lincvolt.force.com that uses SalesForce.com technology to build community around the project. In typical web 2.0 style, visitors at the site can submit their ideas and vote on other user's ideas. Then the most popular will get incorporated into the project if possible. Visitors can also share photos of themselves and their cars. These cars they would like to do a Linc Volt transformation when the project is finalized. As Fast Company reports, “Neil and crew are crowd-sourcing innovation. It's a great move, especially in what they would like to turn into a grassroots movement.”
I also think it is great that this practice of outsourcing innovation is becoming more common. See for example, Mining the Web and the World for Innovation - Part Two and Cisco Announces I-Prize Winner and Results of Their Global Collaboration.
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