Shoeboxing
Discussing with some other local bloggers, seems we've all noticed various marketing materials around town for a website called Shoeboxed.com.
Here's one of the their features:
You've got to be shitting me. I want to put my purchasing habits out there for total strangers to amuse themselves with? What kind of moron thinks this is a selling point?
But wait, there's more!
Toastie (who started all of this) has unearthed a recent comment over at Blazer's place (yeah, leaving comments at defunct websites strikes me as a little necrophiliac, too) that might link Shoeboxed with a place called BullCityStartups.com. Which may or may not be affiliated with the We Want Oprah! campaign, or it might just be another joke.
Inquiring minds want to know.
Meanwhile, does anybody think sharing your receipts with the world at large is a good idea?
Here's one of the their features:
Itemize your receipts to catalog what you own; then look at what other people are buying.
You've got to be shitting me. I want to put my purchasing habits out there for total strangers to amuse themselves with? What kind of moron thinks this is a selling point?
But wait, there's more!
Toastie (who started all of this) has unearthed a recent comment over at Blazer's place (yeah, leaving comments at defunct websites strikes me as a little necrophiliac, too) that might link Shoeboxed with a place called BullCityStartups.com. Which may or may not be affiliated with the We Want Oprah! campaign, or it might just be another joke.
Inquiring minds want to know.
Meanwhile, does anybody think sharing your receipts with the world at large is a good idea?
Labels: Durham bloggers, idiots
Since 1949, Durhamites have slept soundly, secure in the knowledge that, in our town, erection can be depended upon. Now, thanks to the power of the internets, we can spread that security all over the world.
6 Comments:
It started as a Duke undergrad project:
http://www.pratt.duke.edu/. . .
No, that doesn't necessarily make it any more comprehensible.
By
Ross Grady, at 12:37 PM
I don't even like using a Vic card at the HT, nonetheless letting people peruse my receipts.
By
Ginny, at 12:51 PM
Hey guys and gals, it's Alex from Shoeboxed.com. First off, as Ross Grady pointed out, our CEO/Founder started Shoeboxed in early 2007 while he was still a Duke senior.
I understand that some (like Barry and Ginny) don't like the idea of people seeing what they've purchased. That's why we make the default setting "not shared," and even when people select "shared," all that is viewable are first name, item name, item price, and item store. It is fun to see what others are buying, though!
We are constantly working on making the site more user friendly and more useful in general. It is a great site to use for organizing your receipts, which is its primary function. We think the social shopping aspect is a great addition, but it's not the main focus right now.
Lastly, we have recently launched a Mail-In service that is similar to Netflix. We provide an envelope, you plop your receipts in it and send it to us, and we scan them all into your Shoeboxed account for you to view anytime, anywhere, for free on our site. So far, we've had a great turnout! Several big blogs have written about it and I encourage you to try it - it's a great way to organize your finances without doing all the boring scanning and data entry.
Thanks for your interest in Shoeboxed, and if you have any questions, don't hesitate to email me at alexk@team.shoeboxed.com.
Durham love,
Alex
By
Anonymous, at 7:44 PM
Alex - thanks for stopping by.
I gotta say, the idea of voluntarily uploading my financial data and receipts with a third party who wasnt' involved in the transaction is a bit, well, creepy. ("Ha look at this. This guy bought a friggin' gallon of butt lube.")
The idea of advertising that you can look at other people's receipts is downright repulsive. If that's not one of your main selling points, you may want to think about taking it off the front page where people who don't know anything about your service might encounter it.
But hey, best of luck with that venture.
By
Barry, at 8:36 PM
Ah, social shopping. I worked for a start-up in Silicon Valley that included a product for shopping in a chatroom. It bombed.
I really have to wonder who would find it "fun" to go online to see what other people are buying. Who the hell is that hard up for amusement?
By
Anonymous, at 9:10 AM
I'd just like to reiterate some of what Alex said--that the main focus of Shoeboxed is receipt organization. A powerful tool for securely and privately organizing receipts, Shoeboxed has been praised by some of the biggest blogs on the internet for its innovative ideas.
http://lifehacker.com/software/shopping/organize-your-receipts-at-shoeboxedcom-291543.php
http://mashable.com/2007/08/02/shoeboxed/
http://mashable.com/2007/12/18/shoeboxed-mailin/
http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/11/09/shoeboxed-heads-into-social-shopping/
The criticisms on this blog, though, seem to say that they would never use the site because that means they would have to share information with other people, which just simply isn't the case. That is an optional feature that you have to go out of your way to use. Some people have found the feature extremely useful for shopping, so we're keeping it around.
I think a read-through of the site makes it clear that Shoeboxed is branding itself as a receipt organizer first, and anything else second, contrary to what we seem to be hearing here. Making people share data is silly, I agree. But that's not what we do!
We love being in Durham, and hope we can clear things up in the future with a neighborly walk over to our office in Brightleaf, or a call to my cell at 602 320 5629!
Dan Englander
shoeboxed.com
VP Communications
By
Dan Englander, at 8:33 PM
Post a Comment
<< Home