Saturday, 3 October 2015

Thought of the Day #21: Peeple and The Circle

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/oct/01/peeple-review-people-the-user-review-app-you-didnt-dare-ask-for

This is a concept I'd like to see. In fact, I thought about building this myself. If they solve the problems that come their way (eg. legal, marketing, media), they can do pretty well.

It's going to be one hell of a social experiment. And there will be no opting-out.

As the article says, "She said Peeple would be launched in November “unless we change major features” – meaning you have at least one month to get into everyone’s good books."


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Which is a lot like this book, called "The Circle", by Dave Eggers.

I first came across this book in the subway. I was minding my own business when my eye was caught tall, blond, young, reading woman was leaning against a glass panel reading, reading this book. As you know, it's not all that often you see people reading paperback novels on the train. I caught a glimpse of the bookcover and looked it up.

The Circle is about = a young woman who works at this Facebook/Twitter/Google/Apple/Microsoft-like corporation, as she discovers the true aims of its owners.  As the story unfolds, we are told that the goal of the Circle is to model everyone's lives - everything they eat, think, say, do. Nothing escapes them.  Eventually, she is assimilated into the machine and becomes its leading evangelist.

This is not an original story. As always, Futurama was there first.




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