get the meaning of a paragraph

[Suthipong]

But Alessi is just as proud of his flops. It's the duds that enjoy centre stage in the company's private museum, where Alessi,s designers meet weekly to discuss new projects. He has even published a book of prototypes that never made it to production. In a market that's crowded with the mundane and generic, Alessi says, the lemons reassure him that he is not veering toward safety.
1) Is "It's the duds..."= It has the duds...?
2) What does it mean by "that enjoy central stage"?
3)Is the meaning of "a market that's crowded with the mudane and generic" is a market that is so simple and has not high taste of design?
4) "Alessi says, the lemon reassure him that he is not veering toward safety." Does it mean that from the experience of lemon (lemon squeezer) case, it makes Alessi to be more careful about his success and failure?

[TheParser]

4) "Alessi says, the lemon reassure him that he is not veering toward safety." Does it mean that from the experience of lemon (lemon squeezer) case, it makes Alessi to be more careful about his success and failure?

***** NOT A TEACHER *****


(1) Here in the United States, a "lemon" often means a defective product. For

example, it is often the case (sadly) that someone will say, "My car is a lemon."

That is, it gives him/her constant problems.

(a) In the first sentence, it says that Alessi is "proud of his flops." "Flops" means

"failures." Something like "lemons." As I read that last sentence, it means that

Alessi is proud that he is NOT careful. He does NOT want to be "safe." In other

words, he wants to experiment with new ideas. He does not want to be terrified

of trying new things. After all, if he makes 100 things, maybe 99 will be flops or

lemons, but the 100th thing may turn out to be a great success. Of course, I do

not know (for I am a nobody who has never invented anything), but they say the

great leaders in this world are not afraid to fail. By failing and trying again, those

leaders often eventually reach success. "Playing it safe" is not the sign of a truly

creative person such as Alessi. (He has even published a book with pictures of his

lemons. He is not ashamed. On the contrary, he is proud that he tried to do

something different, not the "mundane and generic.")

[Suthipong]

Thank you so much.
You give me new eyes.