However i do agree with you in the fact that if they take peoples ideas and fail to atleast credit them, they will be shooting themselves in the foot as the respect for SM will dramatically decrease, thus potentially resulting in a huge dent in sales come release date.

Maybe you’ve seen that episode of the Simpsons where Homer is asked to design the common man’s car, precisely because he’s a common american ? The car turns out hideous because Homer, being a common man, doesn’t know anything about car design.
I’m not saying the same thing will happen with the book, but it’s a good example to keep in mind all the same.

However, if you look at it, its good simple marketing. Companies spend ££££££’s on research to find out what it is that their consumers want, and then develop a product/service to cater to that need, thus giving them an almost immediate success of the product.

Smashing Magazine are doing the same, the only difference being there is little cost involved as their target market comes straight to them!

The cycle works in everyones favor, the readers of the book get exactly what they want, in turn resulting in high volume sales, therefore resulting in a large generation of income, therfore paying the SM staff a little extra, therefore motivating them to put more into the SM site. Its a perfect cycle.

Perfectly reasonable and clever marketing.