Wired News has a story about a new venture by Napster co-founder Sean Parker:
Here’s how it works: A Plaxo user sends plain-text e-mails to friends and colleagues requesting contact information updates. Recipients can reply to the request by updating their info in the template provided or by e-mailing free-form text, which Plaxo parses using natural language processing technology.
The key to Plaxo’s success appears to lie in its virus-like nature.
It sounds like a cool idea, but I do have to agree with what Doc is quoted as saying in the article:
“If they won’t explain how they intend to make money, one can only assume they intend to spend it,” Searls said. “The product looks like a new way to hire a company to annoy your friends. It feels like spam. It’s annoying, and I don’t think there’s a viable plan here.”
I’ll have to file this under “interesting” and see what happens.