Users of the Bug can put modules together as they see fit and then write or download code to make them operate as required. They are then free to share designs and programs with other users.

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Eric von Hippel, head of the innovation and entrepreneurship group at MIT's Sloan School of Management, says that Bug Labs is part of a general economic trend toward letting users do things for themselves. Von Hippel expects that early adopters will come up with useful innovations, encouraged by the Bug's relatively cheap modular components and the community spirit that Bug Labs is trying to foster. "Ordinary users can benefit from the hacking efforts of the leading edge," he adds.