Plaxo To Launch Address Software To Annoy Us All (from Techdirt)

In fact, the very
next post I saw described exactly that:

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 href="http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/5911375.htm">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.
[Techdirt]