Ikea: ubiquitous, cheap, accessible design. Here's what happens when imaginative, practical, more-than-slightly geeky people get hold of your product and start to play with it. Ikeahacker is a blog about hacked Ikea furniture: stuff bought from the big yellow box and then improved upon or adapted to a new purpose. There are some brilliant ideas here (I like the coat and hat storage thingie).
The thing is this is not a one-off: brand owners are going to have to get used to this kind of thing. In a networked world your customers will share ideas, swap adaptations and enhancements. Product hackers have no respect for the integrity of your product: your brand is fair game. They'll play with it, adapt and adulterate it - mash it up. The key is not to get on your high horse and attempt to stop it but rather to enjoy the game and watch carefully - you might learn something.
