I love technology because mostly it improves the quality of our lives by making things generally easier.
For example, microwaves make sure you're always only seconds away from a delicious bowl of burnt popcorn, while cell phones ensure that no matter where you are in the world, telemarketers can reach you to offer lower credit card rates and interrupt your otherwise uneventful dinners.
See, that's called improving the quality of life, right there. However, a newly launched web site may be taking the "making things easier" part a bit too far.
Found at Hunch.com, the site aims to simplify your life by making your decisions for you. But don't go asking it if you should marry your boyfriend or strangle your noisy neighbour because Hunch isn't meant for your emotional quandaries, but rather your informational needs.
The site works by first getting to know you by asking a series of about 20 questions.
When I tried Hunch, it asked me things like where I lived, my age and which French fries I liked to eat. The process is meant to determine your specific demographic and tastes - in my case, an older, suburb-living, McDonald's-loving dude.
Once it gets to know you a little better, the site then allows you to browse some pre-made questions for answers that suit your particular personality and likes. Some of the questions the site immediately promised to answer for me included "Where should I go on vacation?" and "Should I get my DNA sequenced?"
Interesting, but completely unnecessary. If the site knew me at all, it would know I can't afford a vacation - not with all the fries I eat. I also do my own DNA sequencing at home with a chemistry set from 1978, the dishwasher and the glow-in-the-dark stuff scrapped from 42 Mickey Mouse wristwatches.
However, you can explore different topics and search for advice on almost any subject, from which camera to buy, to places to eat in certain cities. All the information comes from other Hunch users, who've submitted items based upon their own special knowledge. It's like a photo-sharing web site, except instead of photos it's knowledge. It's not surprising then, that the site was created by Caterina Fake, co-founder of popular photo-sharing site Flickr.
Fake, who really should change her name in my opinion because it doesn't exactly inspire trust, said she created the site because she found it hard to find smart information online.
Instead of having to wade through tons of online research yourself, Hunch organizes that information for you and presents it in a neat fashion. Ask it which camera to buy and you get asked another series of questions about the type of camera you want and its function.
Once it knows what you want in a camera, it suggests one that people in your demographic have also chosen. It's pretty simple actually.
But will this "collective knowledge" concept catch on? Can one site replace the wealth of information available all over the Internet? Is this just another fad site or the next big thing?
Ironically, it's the one thing Internet users will have to decide for themselves.
