Friday, March 28, 2008

Attention Shoppers

Software shoppers that is.

Wakoopa allows you to track what sofware you use and (a social twist being de rigeur these days) find others who use the same applications (also de rigeur is an API).

It's not merely a list of installed software, your usage is continuously tracked.
When you sign up, you also install a small tracker that keeps tabs on what software you use. This creates an online profile for you to share with the world, and also gives you updates and recommendations on what your friends and others are using.

A screenshot of my profile page


I do not (intentionally) run Windows Live Messenger. But there it is. Sneaky.

There is a 'recommendation' function


Microsoft Office is recommended because it is 'similar' to the Open Office that I use. Well that's great, I wasn't aware there were alternatives, I must look into this particular expensive software suite.

I like that they take the issue of privacy with appropriate seriousness.
We're pretty swell guys, or so our mom's tell us. Just look at our faces. If we've ever hurt anybody, it's probably been related to a teamsport or something, and even then it must've been by accident. It's a bit arrogant to say "you can trust us", but yeah... you can trust us.

Clearly what applications you use is less privacy sensitive than the what & where you do/go with those applications. Unless of course you've installed a dedicated client porn browser, ie unless the installed applications are targetted at specific services (interestingly enough, the direction in which Site Specific Browsers take us. Although I'm sure that Wakoopa's tracker is oblivious to distinct SSBs running off the same browser engine).

A hint of a business model peaks through

Did you know women spend twice as much time in Photoshop than men? We do. Wakoopa knows software.

How long till the IDM vendors get hold of such info.

Female CIOs spend 32% more time tracking federated identity transactions through pink-themed monitoring applications.

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