Customizable Products - Isn't it just an extension of the World We Live In?

When I read the post and rants on customizable products and how they are becoming more and more available, I am not surprised. Do I think it is necessary, for today's consumer it is. 

This is all and extension of having everything at our fingertips within seconds of thinking about it. How a person wants to acquire a product is now fully up to them. We now have all the control in the majority of the purchases that we make. We cannot actually customize every product we buy, but we can now determine within seconds of thinking "I would like to buy X":

• how we want to purchase an item
• at what price?
• from whom we are buying it (what company)
• how soon it can come to us
• what color we want
• is it used or brand new

we have all the control and we don't have to go to the mall or to the next county to find what we are looking for. So with all this power at our fingertips it only seems natural that customization being offered on many levels to consumers is the next step.

Does it matter that it is stupid to customize Oreos, that is just personal opinion. But Oreo will probably make a $10 profit on that one customized purchase. Being on the topic of junk food one of the first, more simpler, custom products I thought of was M&Ms. They have been around for a while now and I have seen them used quite a bit but I am not sure if I need to go that route to say "I Love You" - sort of corny to me girls, but I am guy. What do I know about True Romance? 

Thanks Pam, Ed for showing us the meaning of love.

It would be nice if we could just customize our own Starbucks cup each time we went to get our coffee but we are not ready for that.

To add to Layla's rank: I can also see where these ideas can spill over into the layman world, but it isn't just design. I think you are right more and more people think they can do professional work themselves because of the empowerment we have received our overall options, and what is available to us. But it isn't just design. So don't let them have the power when they make you feel the way you do about your profession. The do come back when they see their mess.

Home Improvement, in-home surgery are some of the others fields taking a beating. I am one who likes to attempt home improvement myself, and I am fairly good at it, barring one emergency room trip.

I can't help it, I like to learn how things work and also to work with my hands.