DIY

The most recent Economist revealed how the "Angry Bird", the "number-one paid game on Chilean App Store" as I quoted, was developed. Its creator didn't have any background in programming, but used DIY-tools to embody his idea. Later I logged into the same website and downloaded the DIY software called GameSalad, and tried a few operations. It's not straightforward, but for programming amateurs, it's much better than those forbidding codes.

We are in an era when producers have learned how to pander to consumers in order to get a market share in the fierce competition. People used to learn DOS and the Five-stroke Chinese Input, which was viewed as a language specific to those "who know how to use computers." But soon DOS was replaced by windows, and  Five-stroke gave away to a more user-friendly Pinyin Input. By selection the most accessible programs remain in the market, and consumers - regardless of their age, gender, education - are able to use them easily. Let rookies have fun. The sharp-nosed GameSalad successfully lowers the barriers for people who have ideas for games but no tech background, and allows ordinary people to translate their ideas to reality.

GameSalad is not the pioneer of its kind. DIY products have been popular for decades. You can easily buy artificial pearls and clay flowers on ebay and follow the tutorials on youtube if you want to make your own necklace; or get automobile parts from amazon and fix the headlights by yourself instead of sending cars to the overcharging auto maintenance. So far most DIY products are under the constraints of skills and expertise, and limit itself to the field of simple labors, like knitting, carving and drawing. In this sense, the GameSalad is absolutely a breakthrough as it turns profound programming into easy work as making salad. If one day, the current complicated machines can be divided into easy steps, people may want to DIY their own robots.

If we reflect how the international division and trade has been exploding ever since globalization taking place in early 19th century, it is very interesting to see the back flow of individual workshops. It is no longer efficiency or profits that people are seeking, but the sense of achievement and fun that they can get out of DIY. More importantly, it makes us feel unparalleled if we own some items "made by hand" and not sold in the market; and it also impresses our significant others with our delicacy and love. DIY emerges as needed, and provides a taste of uniqueness in the industrialized world.

In the field of arts, everyone needs to DIY. You create a painting with brushes and pigment, or write a book with pens and now laptop. Sure you can copy other people's paintings, but it doesn't make much sense except for practice's sake. (It will be worse if you copy a book or paper.) In this respect, DIY tools open the door to transforming line products into arts. People can be very creative when they acquire the tools to do so, and we could expect a booming age for innovation. Meanwhile, consumers may gain better understandings of their demand, and makes their daily essentials more personalized.

DIY to entertain oneself is different from marketizing his/her products. A concern about the sharp increases in DIY products, those marketized in particular, is the information asymmetry due to the lack of standardized production. Actually App Store already complained about too many apps hitting shelves everyday, which results in a increase in operating cost because of differences in quality and tastes. One man's meat is another man's poison. Products targeting at specific groups deserve a share in the market, but how to channel them to the right customers needs further exploration.