Scoble on Plaxo
Scoble doesn’t do Plaxo as it would be something that “takes him out of his e-mail client”. Personally, once you have over a couple of hundred contacts in your Blackberry, I found it hard not to use Plaxo.
Just keeps everything nice, updated, duplicate free, etc., etc. Sure it annoys some folks, but if it didn’t annoy some people then the product would have no evangelists (that would be me) now, would it?
Guy mentions don’t be afraid to polarize people. I agree.
Don’t be afraid to polarize people. Most companies want to create the holy grail of products that appeals to every demographic, social-economic background, and geographic location. To attempt to do so guarantees mediocrity. Instead, create great DICEE products that make segments of people very happy. And fear not if these products make other segments unhappy. The worst case is to incite no passionate reactions at all, and that happens when companies try to make everyone happy.
Plaxo might be polarizing, but like the Blackberry itself it has a loyal community as well….
and btw Robert, Plaxo keeps you in your e-mail client. That’s the idea. 
January 12th, 2006 at 8:55 am
Don’t be too harsh on Scoble, the man lives in Outlook. But I am going to test your claim about Plaxo keeping me in my email client. Let’s see … OK, here’s your Plaxo request to me from exactly three months ago. I’ll click “Change” and … Bingo, it opens a web page. Does it do something different for you? In this case it takes me out of my email client. You sent the request to my work address because, well, we work together, so it went to Outlook in this case. So, I am having a Scoblish experience by having to shift focus from one app to another and even in my case from one monitor to another. It doesn’t bother me so much because I actually do most of my work within the web browser. I even manage my personal email through Gmail. Scoble has a point about shifting focus but I don’t find it compelling. Switching apps is not as disruptive as ordinary activities such as answering a phone. And nothing compared to traveling to Vegas to attend CES. I guess we all draw the line somewhere.
January 12th, 2006 at 12:59 pm
What I mean is.. if you’re using Plaxo, it keeps you in there… I don’t think you have Plaxo installed.
If that’s what he means, then I see what he’s talking about.
January 12th, 2006 at 2:53 pm
I suppose in some respect, you both are correct. As a Plaxo member, you can optionally install the Plaxo toolbar. The purpose of the toolbar is to keep your local information sync’d with your Plaxo account. Alternatively, someone can use Plaxo exclusively through our web-based Plaxo Online. Most members do install the toolbar since it is their local address book that they wish to manage, but it is optionally.
As a non-member, when you receive an update request (UR), clicking on the “Change” or “Update” link will direct you to a secure page on the Plaxo web site. This link is specific to the UR you received and allows you to securely update the information the Plaxo member maintains for you. Alternatively, if you prefer to stay within your email client, you can simply reply to the email. You’ll notice the Reply-To address of the UR is a unique Plaxo email address. This allows us to process the response, apply some NLP to the reply and pull out any included updated contact information before forwarding the respond on to the Plaxo member. Either method, your updated contact information is only used to update the address book of the requesting Plaxo member.
Stacy Martin
Plaxo Privacy Officer
privacy @t plaxo.com
January 12th, 2006 at 3:07 pm
and thanks for your post. We often only hear the negative, so it’s uplifting to hear postive feedback and support for folks like yourself. Thanks for your support.
January 12th, 2006 at 5:41 pm
My understanding is that Microsoft has discouraged the use of Plaxo among its employees, so Scoble’s paper-thin objection to Plaxo’s usability might be some kind of after-the-fact rationale.