Technology deathmatch: Apple v. open source?

Neuros Audio, maker of portable media devices, is using a unique approach to compete with Apple's iPod. In a move that has been making the rounds on message boards and blogs, the company has decided to open up the firmware for its Neuros 442 portable media player and ask the open-source community for input on features that should be included. The company has a forum set up that has thousands of comments already, and there is a user-run wiki where all manner of information on the device can be found.

But the story doesn't end there. Neuros is essentially pitting two of the technology world's most enthusiastic groups against each other--the Apple faithful and open-source followers--in a clash that could be the online equivalent of Alien v. Predator. And while many bloggers think inviting input from open-source developers and hackers is a nice sentiment, the overture begs another question: Where is the line between embracing the open-source community and exploiting it? One Slashdot post mocked Neuros' intentions with this satirical pitch: "iPod makes millions of dollars and we'd like to make millions of dollars too. Can you help us? We promise not to pay you." As a growing number of companies solicit input from open-source developers, there may be a point at which the community will feel they have simply become free labor.

Blog community response:

"As nice a gesture as this is, the iPod is a lot more than just its firmware. That clickwheel interface is pretty amazing--I haven't used such an intuitive device interface in a long time. The other challenge they will face is getting content to their player. We've seen how frightenend the RI/MPAA is about letting users control (gasp!) their own devices. But I guess if you're just selling a player, pirates are valuable as customers just like anyone else. I don't know, in the end I'm going to say this is a good thing, but more good in the "that's pretty cool" sense rather than the "this will change the industry!" sense."
--Alaren on Slashdot

"The real news here remains the paradigm shift back to the old school when personal computers were almost infinitely hackable; herein a niche product is developed not solely by a devicemaker's team, but with the welcome help of the wayfaring light of the actual user base. Next step: completely user-created electronics, designed by audiophiles through online collaboration for small manufacturing runs."
--Engadget

"Whoa. Really? Consumers don't really want to know what bit rate their bluetooth connection is running at, but hackers love crap like that. Not to say an open source project can't produce a decent UI (look at Firefox), but that's the exception."
--Picture My World