Plaxo To Launch Address Software To Annoy Us All
from the I-don't-get-it dept
I have to admit, for all the hype it's received, I don't understand the point of Plaxo at all. Everything I read about it makes it seem like a 1999 overhyped, overfunded, half-baked idea. It was founded by a former Napster founder, and the idea is to let people constantly "ping" everyone in their address book to make sure the information they have is current. First off, even if this is a useful feature, that's all it is. It's a feature. It's not anything to build a business around. If it's really that useful, I'm sure the next generation of email clients will just build it in. Second, I don't even think it's that useful. In fact, I think it sounds annoying. In the months that they've been beta testing, I've received one such Plaxo ping, and I ignored it. I don't want to be bothered all the time from people who I haven't spoken to in some time, having a robot ask me to update my contact info. Personally, if I realize I've fallen out of touch with someone I want to keep up with, I send them a personal note to see how they're doing. An automated ping isn't exactly the friendliest way to say hello - and I might even consider it spam in some cases.
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No Subject Given
When I meet someone new and only have an email address I can send them a "request to update their information" and again, simply fill in the information in the email address and hit reply.
In the meantime my contact information is attached so they can update their address book.
I recently changed my cellphone number - one click let my 200+ contacts know.
Where it REALLY shines though is if the other person has plaxo too. Then no emails are exchanged - it simply keeps our address books synced.
It will be interesting to see where the technology goes, but at the moment I thoroughly LOVE it and I would pay a nominal fee like $20 a year to use it.
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Its missing the point to say this is a feature not a business because the point is Plaxo stores contact info server-side and can sync (I assume) to multiple contact mgrs. Its data that really should be kept server-side. I'm guessing they get bought by Microsoft at some point, it might be the first honest-to-god useful .Net web service if Microsoft did buy them. Or Microsoft could just copy them I guess....its a pretty easy thing to implement. But it depends on if Plaxo gets enough users.
p.s. I do NOT work for or otherwise even KNOW the Plaxo people!
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Wake me up when...
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What a treat! As soon as you download Plaxo. every spammer in the known universe can update your details on their database without you even knowing about it!!!
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I also have garlic hung in all the windows.
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You guys are unbelievable
I think Plaxo is an awesome tool. My contacts have never be so organized and up to date.
Now enough with all the paranoia...
Regards,
Victor
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