Canada is catching on - Askipedia
So here I was driving around my boring little town this evening on my way home, when I got stuck behind an SUV at a traffic light. Now living in a land where oversized vehicles are a common occurance, this isn’t too shocking, except for the fact that plastered all over this SUV was an ad for Askipedia. Along with the words, Text & Answer - Text your question to ASKUS. (My apologies for lack of pictures, my E62 doesn’t have a camera)
Before I got a chance to study it too closely, the SUV turned the corner and was gone. So as soon as I got home I Googled them to get some more info. See website here
They seem to have 2 options. 1 - fill out your question online and someone will answer it within 24 hours, or 2 - text your question and someone will answer you in minutes ($2 charge applies)
I have yet to try it. Partly because I have nothing good to ask, partly because I have issues paying the $2, plus whatever Fido will charge me I’m sure. Now maybe that doesn’t seem much to you dear reader, (not being in the UK, I’m not entirely familiar with what similar companies there charge for their answers) but to me it seems a lot. Here in Canada, we’re not inendated with the constant “txt for this joke” or “txt for this wallpaper” that seems to be everywhere in other parts of the world. All of this is a fairly new experience to most. The most common thing you see is “Txt your vote to…” on shows such as Canadian Idol.
So I applaud Askipedia for expanding to this Text & Answer service (they’ve been around as a website since November 2005) and other similar companies such as Mosio. It’s nice to see Canada finally catching on.
Hi Krystal
Just wait until you’re having a ‘heated discussion’ with friends in the pub, then the $2 will seem reasonable. Last night in the pub we just HAD to know the name of He-Man’s cat and gool old AQA provided the answer well before I could finish my pint.
Btw - It was Cringer or when in superhero mode Battle Cat!
Posted by Patrick on October 24th, 2007 at 9:51 am.I agree with Patrick on the usefulness, but I still feel the price is too much for me. There has to be a way to do this for free with an email to sms type app, isn’t there?
This idea seems so good, but my cell phone bill is already high enough…
Posted by Justin Meeds on October 24th, 2007 at 3:49 pm.The idea of texting questions and getting answers is awesome, especially when you can get some standard computer-generated responses on shops/restaurants, but can’t on how many touchdowns Brett Favre had in 2002 (a bet that went unsettled the other night until we got home). But, I have to agree with Justin. $2 for an answer?! That’s almost as much as our bet was. I just looked at the Mosio service mentioned in the article, but haven’t tried yet. Apparently it’s free too, so if it works like I hope it does, voila! (Not sure if it works in Canada or only US.)
Posted by Will on October 24th, 2007 at 7:48 pm.