When should I give a company a second chance?

Uncategorized 1 Minute

My son with Plaxo executives John McCrea, VP of marketing, and Todd Masonis, VP of products and co-founder (middle)

I’ll be honest, I last tried Plaxo a couple of years ago. I hated the service. Yet another way to be bugged by people into joining yet another social service. And worse everytime I added someone to my Outlook contact Plaxo bugged them with an email to join up and keep their contact info up to date. I quickly uninstalled and didn’t try the service again. But I met someone who works at Plaxo at a recent Silicon Valley party and he said “everything has changed you should come back out and see what we’re up to.”

So, today, I did.

They are coming out with a new set of services on Monday. All I can say is “wow.”

I quickly signed on. I can’t say more until Monday, but Plaxo is definitely added back onto my set of services that I’m going to regularly use.

I’m glad I gave Plaxo a second chance.

By the way, the picture above is of my son with John McCrea, VP of marketing, and Todd Masonis, VP of Products and co-founder of Plaxo (middle).

Plaxo sign in their lobby.

Advertisements

Published by Robert Scoble

I give you a front-row seat on the future. Focusing most of my efforts now on next-generation augmented reality and artificial intelligence, AKA "mixed reality." SUBSCRIBE TO MY NEWSLETTER: http://clevermoe.com/scobleizer-news/ BUY OUR NEW BOOK: https://www.amazon.com/Fourth-Transformation-Robert-Scoble/dp/1539894444 "The Fourth Transformation: How augmented reality and artificial intelligence will change everything." WATCH MY LATEST SPEECHES: State of VR with Philip Rosedale (done in VR itself, very cool): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zAA1EVGUZU At GEOINT, June 2017: http://trajectorymagazine.com/glimpse-new-world/ Augmented World Expo, June 2017: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4xHILvLD8E At Leade.rs, April 2017: https://youtu.be/52_0JshgjXI +++++++++++ BIO: Scoble gives you a front-row seat on the future. Literally. He had the first ride in the first Tesla. Siri was launched in his house. He's been the first to share all sorts of technologies and companies with you, from Flipboard to Pandora to Instagram. Today he's focusing on mixed reality, AKA "next-generation augmented reality" which will include a new user interface for EVERYTHING in your life (IoT, Smart Cities, driverless cars, robots, drones, etc). That's based on his view thanks to his past experience as futurist at Rackspace. Best place to find Scoble? On his Facebook profile at https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble He has been a technology blogger since 2000, was one of five people who built Microsoft's Channel 9 video blog/community, worked at Fast Company Magazine running its TV efforts, and has been part of technology media businesses since 1993. ++++++++ SPEAKER PITCH: Apple and Facebook now have revealed their Augmented Reality strategies, which means your business needs one too. Rely on Robert Scoble, the world's top authority on AR, to bring to your conference what businesses should do next. SPEECH ABSTRACT #1: TITLE: The Fourth Transformation: What's next in mixed reality (AR and AI) and the future of technology? Here's an example of this talk at Leade.rs in Paris in April, 2017: https://youtu.be/52_0JshgjXI Why "the Fourth Transformation?" Soon we will have phones and glasses that do full on augmented reality. Everything you look at will potentially be augmented. This world is coming in late 2017 with a new iPhone from Apple, amongst other products. Microsoft is betting everything on its HoloLens glasses that do mixed reality and the industry is spending many billions of dollars in R&D and funding new companies like Magic Leap. This future will be the user interface for IoT, Smart Cities, autonomous cars, robots, drones, and your TV. This is a big deal and Robert will take you through what mixed reality is and how it will change every business. Learn more about Robert's speaking style and contact his agent at http://odemanagement.com/robert-scoble/Robert-Scoble.html ++++++++ SPEECH ABSTRACT #2: "The Next Two Clicks of Moore's Law." Over the next four years, or two clicks of Moore's Law, a ton about our technology world will change. Scoble will bring you the best from his travels visiting R&D labs, startups, and innovators around the world. He views the world through his rose-colored-mixed-reality glasses, which will be the new user interface for self driving cars, Smart Cities, IoT, and many other things in our world. He'll send you off with some lessons for companies both large and small. ++++++++ SPEECH ABSTRACT #3: "Personalized Meaning: What is Augmented Reality For?" As we enter a far more technological world where even cars drive themselves, I predict we'll see a blowback toward the analog, more authentic world. What role does augmented reality play in both worlds? Get Scoble's insight into where augmented reality is going, see tons of real-world demos, and understand what he means by 'personalized meaning.' CONTACT: If you are looking to contact me, email is best: scobleizer@gmail.com. ++++++++ ENDORSEMENTS: IZEA Top 25 Tech Influencers: https://izea.com/2017/07/07/25-top-tech-influencers/ Time: One of the top 140 Twitterers! FT: One of the five most influential Twitterers! Inc. Top 5 on list of Tech Power Players You Need to Know: http://www.inc.com/john-rampton/30-power-players-in-tech-you-need-to-know.html Next Reality: #4 on top 50 AR influencer list: https://next.reality.news/news/nr50-next-realitys-50-people-watch-augmented-mixed-reality-0177454/

Published

30 thoughts on “When should I give a company a second chance?”

  5. I am glad that they stopped bothering non-plaxo users with updates, but won’t come back to them. They simply pissed off too many people I know, and these kind of services only work when my contacts also use the same service.

    Many of my contacts are on LinkedIn, and the LinkedIn Outlook add-in provides more or less the same functions, though I have to admit that Plaxo supports more e-mail applications.

    Like

  6. I am glad that they stopped bothering non-plaxo users with updates, but won’t come back to them. They simply pissed off too many people I know, and these kind of services only work when my contacts also use the same service.

    Many of my contacts are on LinkedIn, and the LinkedIn Outlook add-in provides more or less the same functions, though I have to admit that Plaxo supports more e-mail applications.

    Like

  7. I haven’t regretted using Plaxo at all and I signed up for the premium version a couple weeks ago. Granted their emails can be a little annoying at times but that has improved and the ability to keep multiple address books and calendars in sync makes it all worth it.

    Like

  8. I haven’t regretted using Plaxo at all and I signed up for the premium version a couple weeks ago. Granted their emails can be a little annoying at times but that has improved and the ability to keep multiple address books and calendars in sync makes it all worth it.

    Like

  13. Glad to hear they’re improving the service.

    I was about to delete my account, but I’ll hang on until Monday.

    One problem with Plaxo is it doesn’t sync with Google Apps, which I use for my company. If it could sync with Google and maybe, even, handhelds… that would be great!

    Like

  14. Glad to hear they’re improving the service.

    I was about to delete my account, but I’ll hang on until Monday.

    One problem with Plaxo is it doesn’t sync with Google Apps, which I use for my company. If it could sync with Google and maybe, even, handhelds… that would be great!

    Like

  15. I tried it before too, and couldn’t stand it.

    I’m still waiting for someone who can keep my Thunderbird AB, Palm AB, and phone AB in sync… and handle my phone via bluetooth sync using the windows AB.

    Then let me keep my Mac AB in sync.

    What a drag to have addresses in the places you need them huh?

    Like

  16. I tried it before too, and couldn’t stand it.

    I’m still waiting for someone who can keep my Thunderbird AB, Palm AB, and phone AB in sync… and handle my phone via bluetooth sync using the windows AB.

    Then let me keep my Mac AB in sync.

    What a drag to have addresses in the places you need them huh?

    Like

  17. There’s one thing about Plaxo I love. A simple little phrase that made me stick with the service: “No further action is required”. I love it.

    Like

  18. There’s one thing about Plaxo I love. A simple little phrase that made me stick with the service: “No further action is required”. I love it.

    Like

  19. This product looks good but I don’t see Linux support. Just OSX. If they support Thunderbird, they should support Linux.

    If Plaxo wants to they can outsource that to us and we’ll code the Linux plugin for them while their devs work on other stuff.

    Like

  20. This product looks good but I don’t see Linux support. Just OSX. If they support Thunderbird, they should support Linux.

    If Plaxo wants to they can outsource that to us and we’ll code the Linux plugin for them while their devs work on other stuff.

    Like

  21. I’ve been using Plaxo for about three years now, and while I have had issues at times, I love the service. I use it to synchronize my calendar and contacts in Outlook between my work computer and my home computer. I also sync my SmartPhone, but only at home. This system really seems to work for me. There may be better solutions out there, but I really haven’t taken the time to look. It just works. I don’t worry about sending the email reminders to others (at least after the first time). If people want to use it, they use it. If not, fine by me. I can’t wait to see what is coming next.

    Like

  22. I’ve been using Plaxo for about three years now, and while I have had issues at times, I love the service. I use it to synchronize my calendar and contacts in Outlook between my work computer and my home computer. I also sync my SmartPhone, but only at home. This system really seems to work for me. There may be better solutions out there, but I really haven’t taken the time to look. It just works. I don’t worry about sending the email reminders to others (at least after the first time). If people want to use it, they use it. If not, fine by me. I can’t wait to see what is coming next.

    Like

  23. Disclaimer: I used to work at Plaxo. I don’t anymore.

    I think Plaxo and LinkedIn are complimentary. I like to say that you use LinkedIn to grow your professional social network and you use Plaxo to maintain those connections. Plaxo is missing that key component of social networking. According to Plaxo’s blog, they released a LinkedIn synchronization (right now it’s just an importer) as a beta for premium users.

    The Plaxo Thunderbird client should work just fine on Linux. If it doesn’t the xpi for Plaxo is available under Mozilla Public License. (I don’t use Thunderbird, I use the Mac one.)

    As for support for more clients and sync endpoints, and possibly allowing you to build your own clients and interfaces… Well, I’ll wait to see what Scoble says on Monday.

    Like

  24. Disclaimer: I used to work at Plaxo. I don’t anymore.

    I think Plaxo and LinkedIn are complimentary. I like to say that you use LinkedIn to grow your professional social network and you use Plaxo to maintain those connections. Plaxo is missing that key component of social networking. According to Plaxo’s blog, they released a LinkedIn synchronization (right now it’s just an importer) as a beta for premium users.

    The Plaxo Thunderbird client should work just fine on Linux. If it doesn’t the xpi for Plaxo is available under Mozilla Public License. (I don’t use Thunderbird, I use the Mac one.)

    As for support for more clients and sync endpoints, and possibly allowing you to build your own clients and interfaces… Well, I’ll wait to see what Scoble says on Monday.

    Like

  27. Pingback: The Musings of an Aspiring Geek - One day I’ll be a Proper Geek » A New plaxo coming!
  28. Pingback: Eric Edelstein » 22 Hour Flight to Meet Robert Scoble in 20 Minutes

Comments are closed.