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Godin: the end of dumb software

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urlwolf:
Godin writes on the end of dumb software. I could not agree more.
I think the examples he uses are easily solvable with the tech we have now (sounds like semantic desktop to me).

He blames desktop software authors (as if web-based software was automatically smarter). It's true that it tends to be more 'connected', but smarter? I don't know of any web-based tool for contacts that does all he wants.

What do you think?

mouser:
Not to be contrarian, but let me argue for the opposite point.

I'm tired of programs that are trying to be "smart" and figure out what i want to do, or ways they can help me by doing not what i said but what it thinks i meant, very often lead to infuriating unpredictable outcomes that just cause more trouble than it's worth.

Let's take Godwin's example in that essay, where when he sets an appointment time he chooses 2, and then has to select PM.  His complaint: "I have never once had a meeting at 2 am. Shouldn't it know that?"  From my standpoint, i don't want the program to try to be guessing the AM/PM setting for me, and get it right 95% of the time, and have me worrying about the 5% of the time when i put in 5 and i really did mean 5am and end up missing that appointment.

I think predictability is under-appreciated by these people who are always screaming to make software "smarter" and have it intuit what you are wanting to do.  What you gain in speed you lose in predictability and consistency of use.

skwire:
What about folks, like me, that work nights and do, indeed, have meetings at 2am?  Food for thought, anyway.   :D

app103:
Or, better, why doesn't this address book hook up with other address books of trusted peers and automatically correct and update?
--- End quote ---

Because that would be a privacy violation. You never harvest private info like that from users to give out to other users.

Plus, how do you know which user has correct info and if the info other users have is wrong or additional valid info? And even if you could know, how do you know if the person who owns that info wants his personal email address that he gave his mom to be distributed to all of his business contacts that he purposely didn't give it to? You really don't know and can't know it for sure unless the person owning the info submitted it himself. And that would require an online database and service similar to Plaxow. (of course that also requires everyone in his address book to be Plaxo members and to keep their info up to date, in order for it to work)

housetier:
I would like smarter software too: but not simply software that connects, aggregates and updates data, but software that connects, aggregates, updates, and keeps an eye on my privacy.

I don't think it's a web-software vs. desktop-software thing though.

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