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Slim Devices is a Silicon Valley startup with hot products for aud iophiles．It's also a next—generation openorganization where customers imagine and design the products．
"You have to love this sweet，satisfying machine，"wrote David Pogue in his New work Times review or theSqueezebox．The sweet machine in question is a $300device that lets audiophiles take digital music from their computer hard drives or from Internet-radio streams，and play it with impressive clarity on high-end speakersin their living rooms．"Its creators have sweated so many details，you want to hand them a towel"
Ah，but who actually did that sweating?Not just fthe handful of engineers on the payroll at Slim Devices．the startup that makes the Squeezebox．The player，which has sold an impressive 50，000 units，is largely thebrainchild of its customers around the world．who havedone much of the vital engineering and design work forfree．They've been motivated by their passions for great audio，for cool products，for the art of engineering andalso by the satisfaction of being admired and relied on by a global community of their peers．
We know about open—source software and We bservices such as Linux．the Mozilla web browser，and Wikipedia，of course But Sean Adams，the 27-year-old college dropout who started Slim in his SiliconValley garage，bet that the same ethos of knowledgesharing and community could extend to a manufacturedphysical object，one being soldgasp!for profit True，it's a conclusion he came to by accident．Adams hada more conventional company in mind when he wasmaking the rounds for venture capital He just happened to be looking for funding during the Valley's particularlyinauspicious time of late 2001．"Sean wanted Slim Devices to be open source because he didn't have themoney to build a company in the usual way，"says Patrick Cosson．Slim's vice president of sales andmarketing．"It wasn't a political position．It was out of necessity."
And you know what they say about necessitySlim Devices will bring in around $10 million in frevenue this year Its fans include music stars Herbie Hancock and Alanis Morissette．And its latestproduct，released last September，the higher-end$2，000 Transporter(at right)，has reaped three time sthe expected orders．
Slim Devices是美国硅谷一家生产视听设备的创业企业，其最大的特点是由消费者来想象和设计产品，这也代表了未来公司的趋势。
售价300美元的Squeezebox就是在此理念下生产的，这是一种可直接将计算机和互联网上的数字音乐高品质地在扬声器上播放的装置。
Squeezebox是全球视听设备爱好者“头脑风暴”的结果，他们为产品进行了视觉设计和电子工程设计，而这一切都是免费的，因为他们对视听和酷的产品永远充满无限热情，同时他们也想得到全球其他玩家的认可。
全民共享知识和能力的想法可以说是公司的创始人、27岁的大学辍学生Sean Adams的意外收获。2D01年末，Adams正试图说服那些风险投资人给他的公司投资，但由于互联网泡沫，风险投资处于低潮，因此．没有办法的Adams只能另想出路。Adams注意到人们对诸如Linux、Mozilla浏览器和维基百科这样的开源软件和网络服务早就习以为常，但很少有人想到将同样的方式应用到实体产品上。于是他开创了Slim Devices。
Slim Devices is still small．of course．and young．But it offers aglimpse of how many companies may come to function in the future：asecosystems that depend on the active participation of broad networks of contributors．"Everywhere you find innovation today．a community isinvolved，"says Patricia Seybold．author of Outside Innovation：How YourCustomers Will Co-Design Your Company's Future(Collins，October2006)．
In this world，running a company is not about brilliance orcommand，but about attracting and orchestrating the work of talentedand passionate outsiders people who know more than you do，havebetter ideas，and maybe even care more about your product than youdo．As Slim's five-year history shows．there's still an important role forthe company and its leaders．but it sure isn't what people have beenlearning in business school for decades People around the world have been contributing to Slim Devicesfree of charge for all sorts of reasons．Some do it to showcase theirskills the hope of attracting a job offer．Some do if for the challengeBut much of it comes down to this：We want things our way．"initially．really got involved because the product didn't do quite what I wanted。"says Adrian Smith．who's employed as a network architect for a largetelco in Britain．"instead of just complaining，Slim allowed me to roll upmy sleeves and try to improve it。"
Hard-core audio enthusiasts like Smith．the sort Adams calls"people who will do anything in the pursuit of sound．"are the backboneof the Slim Devices community．But what keeps these avidlisteners engaged．in fact．is thechance to be heard．Felix Muellerwas a software engineer in SanJose．California．a few miles fromSlim's headquarters in MountainView，when he started writingnew features for its players Thestartup's bosses treated him withdeference when he dropped byits vintage 1950s Silicon Valleybuilding (which originally belongedto Fairchild Semiconductor．thelegendary company that inventedthe computer chip)．“When I firstmet Sean，"Mueller recalls．"hegreeted me with，You must be thefamous Felix"Mueller remained akey member of Slim's communityeven after he moved to Switzerland．Smith says Slim's executives haveearned his trust by relying on his software and"treating me as theexpert on how it works．"
Slim Devices has depended on its community of enthusiaststo both suggest and create the numerous add-on features that giveits products their full richness．But if that's all there was to it．Slimwould be merely a customer-centric organization using open—sourcesoftware development in much the same way giants like IBM do．Adams's true leap of faith is to let his company rely on nonemplcyeesfor much of its most crucial engineering．A particularly vexingchallenge for any high-end audio product，for example．is minimizingthe amount of power it uses．because electricity creates noise thatdetracts from the purity of the signal．And Andrew L. Weekes，theengineer who master-minded Slim Devices。approach to minimizingpower，isn't an employee：He works for a company that supplies theBritish military with target drones，unmanned aircraft that they can use for practice．Still he's one of a handful of the community's memberswho have full access to the product's inner sanctum"firmware,"thedetailed hardware specs and software that determine how it works．"Vendors told us，‘You guys are insane，""Adams recalls．"They said．"What are you doing?You need to protect intellectual property．Youneed patents．"Instead,Slim's executives decided to put their trust inthe contributors who have proven their talent and commitment to theendeavor for several years．
Slim Devices还很小，也很年轻，不过他代表了未来公司的潮流：一个网络中所有的人都会积极参与和贡献的生态系统。
在当今这个世界，运营一个公司将不再依赖天才或命令，而是靠吸引有能力和热情的外部人员参与，他们比你更专业、更有创意，甚至比你更关心产品。公司和领导在运营中还在扮演一些角色，但已经远远不像当初人们在商学院里学的那样了。
为公司产品做贡献的人抱有各种各样的目的：有的人展示能力是希望有其他大公司注意到他：有的人把这个机会当成挑战，但是更多的人是为了让产品设计能够完全按照自己喜欢的方式进行。
Adams常用尊重和信任来吸引住那些发烧级的爱好者不断贡献主意，有些人甚至移居海外之后还不断出谋划策。
信任也同样体现在公司对核心技术的控制上，由于很多关键部位的设计是由公司以外的人完成的，这样，很多产品的核心技术和独有技术就必须为大家所共享。比如，电会影响声音的质量，因此为了得到更优质的声音效果，必须降低设备的耗电量．为此，Adams找来一位为英国军方提供无人控制飞机技术的专家，并向专家提供了产品内部所有的电路图。
很明显，这样做有风险，但这也正是为什么Slim Devices能够得到如此多外部支持的原因。
为公司设计第一个产品——SliMP3的人是Blackketter，他是一位软件工程师，曾为苹果公司和微软公司服务过。一次偶然的机会，Blackketter看到了Slim Devices在其网站上公布的产品的软件代码，于是他进行了修改和完善并把新代码发给了Adams。作为回报，Adams送给了Blackketter一个SliMP3。经过这样几次交往之后，Blackketter甚至得到了公司的一些股票!
Blackketter现在是公司的首席技术官，他认为最难的部分是：学会放弃控制。“我发现每次我把关于产品的想法与大家共享时，都会得到很好的回报。有好几次我都想用自己的方法来设计，但其他人让我改变了主意．而且他们的想法比我更好，因为他们热爱这个。”Blackketter说。
当然．为了管理快速增长的公司并保持竞争优势，Slim Devices也需要全职的员工，以便控制质量并保证按时完成订单。现在公司一共有26名员工。
开放源的模式也随着公司的增长和成熟不断接受考验。正如公司主要贡献者之一Kevin Deane-Freeman所说：“这么多年，我都是在午饭的时候写写软件，现在已经跟不上发展的速度了．同时也很难让所有人都满意了。”
一些问题也伴随着员工人数的增长而出现，“比如在以前，大量的技术讨论发生在公司的论坛上，你很难识别谁是爱好者、谁是员工。而现在，由于员工人数的增长，使很多对话都变成了内部交流。”Blackketter说。
It's a risk．to be sure．But cultivatingcustomer—creators of all stripes gives Slimaccess to talent that it otherwise wouldn'thave"There are a lot of bored telecomengineers who would move to Californiaif they didn't have families or passportproblems"says Cosson．"Half our contributorsare abroad in Canada，the UK，Switzerland，Germany and this is their way of connecting toSilicon Valley."
Leading a network of outsidecontributors if it can be called"leading。takessome getting used to，says Dean Blackketter，Slim’s chief technology officer．He knows thisrelationship from both sides：Blackketter wasSlim's first customer-creator A seasonedsoftware engineer who had worked at Apple．Microsoft．and WebTV．he bought Adams'sfirst product，the SliMP3(serial No 3)，outof curiosity He saw that the software codethat ran the device was posted as opensource on the company's Web site Hebegan making improvements and additionsto the code and sending them to Adams，who responded by sending a free SliMP3 toBlackketter in San Francisco (now a commongift to contributors)．and then another,andthen some stock in the company．In 2002．Blackketter came aboard as the company'ssecond employee
Now he presides over the community，a task that among other things．requires a talentfor suppressing his own ego．"The hardes tpart is giving up control，"he says."Do I makedecisions myself about changing the product，or do I open it up?Every single time I'veopened it up．it s paid off．A couple of times．l've been this close to doing it my way，butthey"the people in the community"changedmy mind Their hearing is better than mine，their ideas are better than mine They're doingit because they love it．"
As the company has grown．Slim'sleaders have learned exactly what thefounders of Mozilla Web browser discovered：If you're going to have a grown—up company，with a competitive product in the marketplace，you need a staff of paid full-time employees．They make it possible to meet dead lines fand run reliably．Some things have to behandled by staff such as quality control forthe physical product．And，of course，you can get paid staffers to do what the volunteerspass up or abandon midway．"We think of our development community as this big gameroom．this big playpen，and we're watching，"says Cosson．"If the community can eleva tean idea and get it over the hump．that's great．But sometimes we have to rewrite software tofinish。Slim now employs 26 people．
The company's open—source modelwill increasingly be tested as it grows and matures Already．Slim's top contributorsdetect changes in the tenor of the online forums that have been so effective。"Thecommunity has grown wildly in the last couple of years．"says Kevin Deane-Freeman．who makes his living as a hardware designerfor a printer manufacturer near Vancouver．British Columbia．For several years．he hasoften spent his lunch break working onsoftware for Slim."It's no longer possible to keep up with it 100％．nor to make everyonehappy．That's a big thing when much of whyyou do it is to see others happy with what fyou have provided．"
With Slim's full-time staff increasing．there's also a danger that the Intellectualcenter of gravity will shift to the inside In thepast Blackketter says．"the vast majority ofour technical dIscussions．inside and out"took place on Slim's online forums，"where you fwouldn't be able to tell who is an employeeand who isn't“Now．Adrian Smith warns．"as the employee team has grown，there are moreconversations going on in private"
How Slim manages this phase will determine whetherit can be more than just a startup that briefly thrived on theopen—source model"With the open organization the realquestion is：Can it scale?"says Ram Charan the prominentmanagement consultant．Open—source software projectsoften reach a"forking"point where the community splintersand factions go their different ways．And while the open．source approach offers a nearly limitless resource potential"that same potential can introduce an unpredictability,"says Deane-Freeman．who signs his postings"not a Slim Devicesemployee"because of confusion that arose from his frequent and authoritative contributions．"In a larger structure andespecially with a publicly traded company,predictabilityplays a strong role．"Indeed，Slim's unconventional．open style may prove challenging for Logitech International．whichannounced in October that it had acqui red the companyfor $20 million．Logitech promised that Slim would remainautonomous，enthusing over"one of[its]key assets．acommitted community of developers．"But you still have towonder whether Logitech merely covets Slim Devices for itscool audio technology-and whether．ultimately．it will kill off the more valuable invention．
On Slim Devices'online forum．Andrew Taylor(screenname："audiofi) in northeastern Britain began a marathondiscussion among the customers about the next productthey wanted from the company Although it would be newtechnology a very high-end digital audio Player they wantedIt to feel familiar and comfortable．with a retro 1970s hi—filook and a case that could mount on the 19-inch-wide stereoracks in their living rooms：
Audiofi(Northumberland，UK)"I thought | would have a go at drawingwhat | would see as my ideal squeezebox design so that it．looks more hifi—ish…"
Paul Williamson(undisclosed)"I'm sure I'll get flamed for this．but these drawings look about as far from hifi gear as any I've ever seen…kind of techno—geeky looking。but far from hifi…anything that isn't a 19"wide form factor (tome)isn't hifi gear．"
Pfarrell(Northern Virginia)"Knobs，real hi-fi has knobs．Computers havebuttons．"
Paul WIlliamson"I have yet to own an amp that has anything but a huge knobfor volume．．none of those silly little up／down buttons…"
Dave D(Wake Forest，NC)"The volume knob is also an up／down control．Youcould use this for scrolling through hundreds of songs quickly…Turn the knobslowly and the scrolls are much slower．Turn the knobs faster and they are muchfaster．"
PR Geno(undisclosed)"…Shouldn't it have a larger display?"
下面是Slim Devices在线论坛的网友对话，他们在为开发一种新技术的高端播放器进行着讨论。
Audiofi：我把想要的那种设计画出来了，你们看怎么样，我想让它看起来更具HIFI风格。
Paul：我会为它设计框架，但是它好象离HIFI风格远了点儿．尽管很有技术感，如果达不到19英寸宽，就不是HIFI。
Pfarrell你们缺了球形按钮．真正的HIFI都有球形按钮。如果按钮是平的，那就是计算机了。
Dave：音量调节按钮也应该是上下控制．这样可以很快地在很多歌曲中翻找。
PR：显示屏可以更大一些吗?
另外一个问题是，咨询公司的专家认为公司很难规模化，虽然开放式做法为公司发展提供了近乎无限的可能，但同时增加了很大的不确定性和不可预测性．而对于一个较大的组织．特别是上市的公司，可预测性是非常重要的。2006年10月，Logitech International花费2000万美元收购了Slim Devices，但批评人士怀疑Logitech是为了Slim Devices独有的音响技术．而会把更有价值的创造抹杀。
"You have to love this sweet，satisfying machine，"wrote David Pogue in his New work Times review or theSqueezebox．The sweet machine in question is a $300device that lets audiophiles take digital music from their computer hard drives or from Internet-radio streams，and play it with impressive clarity on high-end speakersin their living rooms．"Its creators have sweated so many details，you want to hand them a towel"
Ah，but who actually did that sweating?Not just fthe handful of engineers on the payroll at Slim Devices．the startup that makes the Squeezebox．The player，which has sold an impressive 50，000 units，is largely thebrainchild of its customers around the world．who havedone much of the vital engineering and design work forfree．They've been motivated by their passions for great audio，for cool products，for the art of engineering andalso by the satisfaction of being admired and relied on by a global community of their peers．
We know about open—source software and We bservices such as Linux．the Mozilla web browser，and Wikipedia，of course But Sean Adams，the 27-year-old college dropout who started Slim in his SiliconValley garage，bet that the same ethos of knowledgesharing and community could extend to a manufacturedphysical object，one being soldgasp!for profit True，it's a conclusion he came to by accident．Adams hada more conventional company in mind when he wasmaking the rounds for venture capital He just happened to be looking for funding during the Valley's particularlyinauspicious time of late 2001．"Sean wanted Slim Devices to be open source because he didn't have themoney to build a company in the usual way，"says Patrick Cosson．Slim's vice president of sales andmarketing．"It wasn't a political position．It was out of necessity."
And you know what they say about necessitySlim Devices will bring in around $10 million in frevenue this year Its fans include music stars Herbie Hancock and Alanis Morissette．And its latestproduct，released last September，the higher-end$2，000 Transporter(at right)，has reaped three time sthe expected orders．
Slim Devices是美国硅谷一家生产视听设备的创业企业，其最大的特点是由消费者来想象和设计产品，这也代表了未来公司的趋势。
售价300美元的Squeezebox就是在此理念下生产的，这是一种可直接将计算机和互联网上的数字音乐高品质地在扬声器上播放的装置。
Squeezebox是全球视听设备爱好者“头脑风暴”的结果，他们为产品进行了视觉设计和电子工程设计，而这一切都是免费的，因为他们对视听和酷的产品永远充满无限热情，同时他们也想得到全球其他玩家的认可。
全民共享知识和能力的想法可以说是公司的创始人、27岁的大学辍学生Sean Adams的意外收获。2D01年末，Adams正试图说服那些风险投资人给他的公司投资，但由于互联网泡沫，风险投资处于低潮，因此．没有办法的Adams只能另想出路。Adams注意到人们对诸如Linux、Mozilla浏览器和维基百科这样的开源软件和网络服务早就习以为常，但很少有人想到将同样的方式应用到实体产品上。于是他开创了Slim Devices。
Slim Devices is still small．of course．and young．But it offers aglimpse of how many companies may come to function in the future：asecosystems that depend on the active participation of broad networks of contributors．"Everywhere you find innovation today．a community isinvolved，"says Patricia Seybold．author of Outside Innovation：How YourCustomers Will Co-Design Your Company's Future(Collins，October2006)．
In this world，running a company is not about brilliance orcommand，but about attracting and orchestrating the work of talentedand passionate outsiders people who know more than you do，havebetter ideas，and maybe even care more about your product than youdo．As Slim's five-year history shows．there's still an important role forthe company and its leaders．but it sure isn't what people have beenlearning in business school for decades People around the world have been contributing to Slim Devicesfree of charge for all sorts of reasons．Some do it to showcase theirskills the hope of attracting a job offer．Some do if for the challengeBut much of it comes down to this：We want things our way．"initially．really got involved because the product didn't do quite what I wanted。"says Adrian Smith．who's employed as a network architect for a largetelco in Britain．"instead of just complaining，Slim allowed me to roll upmy sleeves and try to improve it。"
Hard-core audio enthusiasts like Smith．the sort Adams calls"people who will do anything in the pursuit of sound．"are the backboneof the Slim Devices community．But what keeps these avidlisteners engaged．in fact．is thechance to be heard．Felix Muellerwas a software engineer in SanJose．California．a few miles fromSlim's headquarters in MountainView，when he started writingnew features for its players Thestartup's bosses treated him withdeference when he dropped byits vintage 1950s Silicon Valleybuilding (which originally belongedto Fairchild Semiconductor．thelegendary company that inventedthe computer chip)．“When I firstmet Sean，"Mueller recalls．"hegreeted me with，You must be thefamous Felix"Mueller remained akey member of Slim's communityeven after he moved to Switzerland．Smith says Slim's executives haveearned his trust by relying on his software and"treating me as theexpert on how it works．"
Slim Devices has depended on its community of enthusiaststo both suggest and create the numerous add-on features that giveits products their full richness．But if that's all there was to it．Slimwould be merely a customer-centric organization using open—sourcesoftware development in much the same way giants like IBM do．Adams's true leap of faith is to let his company rely on nonemplcyeesfor much of its most crucial engineering．A particularly vexingchallenge for any high-end audio product，for example．is minimizingthe amount of power it uses．because electricity creates noise thatdetracts from the purity of the signal．And Andrew L. Weekes，theengineer who master-minded Slim Devices。approach to minimizingpower，isn't an employee：He works for a company that supplies theBritish military with target drones，unmanned aircraft that they can use for practice．Still he's one of a handful of the community's memberswho have full access to the product's inner sanctum"firmware,"thedetailed hardware specs and software that determine how it works．"Vendors told us，‘You guys are insane，""Adams recalls．"They said．"What are you doing?You need to protect intellectual property．Youneed patents．"Instead,Slim's executives decided to put their trust inthe contributors who have proven their talent and commitment to theendeavor for several years．
Slim Devices还很小，也很年轻，不过他代表了未来公司的潮流：一个网络中所有的人都会积极参与和贡献的生态系统。
在当今这个世界，运营一个公司将不再依赖天才或命令，而是靠吸引有能力和热情的外部人员参与，他们比你更专业、更有创意，甚至比你更关心产品。公司和领导在运营中还在扮演一些角色，但已经远远不像当初人们在商学院里学的那样了。
为公司产品做贡献的人抱有各种各样的目的：有的人展示能力是希望有其他大公司注意到他：有的人把这个机会当成挑战，但是更多的人是为了让产品设计能够完全按照自己喜欢的方式进行。
Adams常用尊重和信任来吸引住那些发烧级的爱好者不断贡献主意，有些人甚至移居海外之后还不断出谋划策。
信任也同样体现在公司对核心技术的控制上，由于很多关键部位的设计是由公司以外的人完成的，这样，很多产品的核心技术和独有技术就必须为大家所共享。比如，电会影响声音的质量，因此为了得到更优质的声音效果，必须降低设备的耗电量．为此，Adams找来一位为英国军方提供无人控制飞机技术的专家，并向专家提供了产品内部所有的电路图。
很明显，这样做有风险，但这也正是为什么Slim Devices能够得到如此多外部支持的原因。
为公司设计第一个产品——SliMP3的人是Blackketter，他是一位软件工程师，曾为苹果公司和微软公司服务过。一次偶然的机会，Blackketter看到了Slim Devices在其网站上公布的产品的软件代码，于是他进行了修改和完善并把新代码发给了Adams。作为回报，Adams送给了Blackketter一个SliMP3。经过这样几次交往之后，Blackketter甚至得到了公司的一些股票!
Blackketter现在是公司的首席技术官，他认为最难的部分是：学会放弃控制。“我发现每次我把关于产品的想法与大家共享时，都会得到很好的回报。有好几次我都想用自己的方法来设计，但其他人让我改变了主意．而且他们的想法比我更好，因为他们热爱这个。”Blackketter说。
当然．为了管理快速增长的公司并保持竞争优势，Slim Devices也需要全职的员工，以便控制质量并保证按时完成订单。现在公司一共有26名员工。
开放源的模式也随着公司的增长和成熟不断接受考验。正如公司主要贡献者之一Kevin Deane-Freeman所说：“这么多年，我都是在午饭的时候写写软件，现在已经跟不上发展的速度了．同时也很难让所有人都满意了。”
一些问题也伴随着员工人数的增长而出现，“比如在以前，大量的技术讨论发生在公司的论坛上，你很难识别谁是爱好者、谁是员工。而现在，由于员工人数的增长，使很多对话都变成了内部交流。”Blackketter说。
It's a risk．to be sure．But cultivatingcustomer—creators of all stripes gives Slimaccess to talent that it otherwise wouldn'thave"There are a lot of bored telecomengineers who would move to Californiaif they didn't have families or passportproblems"says Cosson．"Half our contributorsare abroad in Canada，the UK，Switzerland，Germany and this is their way of connecting toSilicon Valley."
Leading a network of outsidecontributors if it can be called"leading。takessome getting used to，says Dean Blackketter，Slim’s chief technology officer．He knows thisrelationship from both sides：Blackketter wasSlim's first customer-creator A seasonedsoftware engineer who had worked at Apple．Microsoft．and WebTV．he bought Adams'sfirst product，the SliMP3(serial No 3)，outof curiosity He saw that the software codethat ran the device was posted as opensource on the company's Web site Hebegan making improvements and additionsto the code and sending them to Adams，who responded by sending a free SliMP3 toBlackketter in San Francisco (now a commongift to contributors)．and then another,andthen some stock in the company．In 2002．Blackketter came aboard as the company'ssecond employee
Now he presides over the community，a task that among other things．requires a talentfor suppressing his own ego．"The hardes tpart is giving up control，"he says."Do I makedecisions myself about changing the product，or do I open it up?Every single time I'veopened it up．it s paid off．A couple of times．l've been this close to doing it my way，butthey"the people in the community"changedmy mind Their hearing is better than mine，their ideas are better than mine They're doingit because they love it．"
As the company has grown．Slim'sleaders have learned exactly what thefounders of Mozilla Web browser discovered：If you're going to have a grown—up company，with a competitive product in the marketplace，you need a staff of paid full-time employees．They make it possible to meet dead lines fand run reliably．Some things have to behandled by staff such as quality control forthe physical product．And，of course，you can get paid staffers to do what the volunteerspass up or abandon midway．"We think of our development community as this big gameroom．this big playpen，and we're watching，"says Cosson．"If the community can eleva tean idea and get it over the hump．that's great．But sometimes we have to rewrite software tofinish。Slim now employs 26 people．
The company's open—source modelwill increasingly be tested as it grows and matures Already．Slim's top contributorsdetect changes in the tenor of the online forums that have been so effective。"Thecommunity has grown wildly in the last couple of years．"says Kevin Deane-Freeman．who makes his living as a hardware designerfor a printer manufacturer near Vancouver．British Columbia．For several years．he hasoften spent his lunch break working onsoftware for Slim."It's no longer possible to keep up with it 100％．nor to make everyonehappy．That's a big thing when much of whyyou do it is to see others happy with what fyou have provided．"
With Slim's full-time staff increasing．there's also a danger that the Intellectualcenter of gravity will shift to the inside In thepast Blackketter says．"the vast majority ofour technical dIscussions．inside and out"took place on Slim's online forums，"where you fwouldn't be able to tell who is an employeeand who isn't“Now．Adrian Smith warns．"as the employee team has grown，there are moreconversations going on in private"
How Slim manages this phase will determine whetherit can be more than just a startup that briefly thrived on theopen—source model"With the open organization the realquestion is：Can it scale?"says Ram Charan the prominentmanagement consultant．Open—source software projectsoften reach a"forking"point where the community splintersand factions go their different ways．And while the open．source approach offers a nearly limitless resource potential"that same potential can introduce an unpredictability,"says Deane-Freeman．who signs his postings"not a Slim Devicesemployee"because of confusion that arose from his frequent and authoritative contributions．"In a larger structure andespecially with a publicly traded company,predictabilityplays a strong role．"Indeed，Slim's unconventional．open style may prove challenging for Logitech International．whichannounced in October that it had acqui red the companyfor $20 million．Logitech promised that Slim would remainautonomous，enthusing over"one of[its]key assets．acommitted community of developers．"But you still have towonder whether Logitech merely covets Slim Devices for itscool audio technology-and whether．ultimately．it will kill off the more valuable invention．
On Slim Devices'online forum．Andrew Taylor(screenname："audiofi) in northeastern Britain began a marathondiscussion among the customers about the next productthey wanted from the company Although it would be newtechnology a very high-end digital audio Player they wantedIt to feel familiar and comfortable．with a retro 1970s hi—filook and a case that could mount on the 19-inch-wide stereoracks in their living rooms：
Audiofi(Northumberland，UK)"I thought | would have a go at drawingwhat | would see as my ideal squeezebox design so that it．looks more hifi—ish…"
Paul Williamson(undisclosed)"I'm sure I'll get flamed for this．but these drawings look about as far from hifi gear as any I've ever seen…kind of techno—geeky looking。but far from hifi…anything that isn't a 19"wide form factor (tome)isn't hifi gear．"
Pfarrell(Northern Virginia)"Knobs，real hi-fi has knobs．Computers havebuttons．"
Paul WIlliamson"I have yet to own an amp that has anything but a huge knobfor volume．．none of those silly little up／down buttons…"
Dave D(Wake Forest，NC)"The volume knob is also an up／down control．Youcould use this for scrolling through hundreds of songs quickly…Turn the knobslowly and the scrolls are much slower．Turn the knobs faster and they are muchfaster．"
PR Geno(undisclosed)"…Shouldn't it have a larger display?"
下面是Slim Devices在线论坛的网友对话，他们在为开发一种新技术的高端播放器进行着讨论。
Audiofi：我把想要的那种设计画出来了，你们看怎么样，我想让它看起来更具HIFI风格。
Paul：我会为它设计框架，但是它好象离HIFI风格远了点儿．尽管很有技术感，如果达不到19英寸宽，就不是HIFI。
Pfarrell你们缺了球形按钮．真正的HIFI都有球形按钮。如果按钮是平的，那就是计算机了。
Dave：音量调节按钮也应该是上下控制．这样可以很快地在很多歌曲中翻找。
PR：显示屏可以更大一些吗?
另外一个问题是，咨询公司的专家认为公司很难规模化，虽然开放式做法为公司发展提供了近乎无限的可能，但同时增加了很大的不确定性和不可预测性．而对于一个较大的组织．特别是上市的公司，可预测性是非常重要的。2006年10月，Logitech International花费2000万美元收购了Slim Devices，但批评人士怀疑Logitech是为了Slim Devices独有的音响技术．而会把更有价值的创造抹杀。