eNag

Well, “nag” is a strong word, but here’s an interesting site that will keep you electronically engaged. A friend of mine pointed me to I Want Sandy (www.iwantsandy.com), a web assistant . Sandy is very nice, for a figment of my digital imagination, and sends timely, pleasant reminders to my email inbox and/or my mobile phone. It would be nice if Sandy had a built-in text-to-speech app that could say, “excuse me Abu (or even, “Hey, baby” if I want to get digitally intimate) but here are some things you need to take care of…” but for now it’s nice just to have someone who cares enough to keep me on track.

The next-gen part of it all is of course, when can I get Sandy to actually do the things for me (like automatically pay the bills I specify on a date when I’m certain the money will be there, as opposed to the extant system of being date-specific), so that that part of my life “runs in the background?” And is that progress, or too much engagement? And if you’re a marketer, is there a way to market to or through Sandy? Should there be? Is it possible that Sandy could even someday act as a filter, comparing services that are being marketed to me, and giving me an evaluation and recommendation based on my life patterns that she will by then know so well? Will it be legal to marry her (researcher David Levy, among others, says yes)? Would you?