My recent fetish with Jott has got me experimenting with some of the links to the service. One of the links is I Want Sandy. If you have used Stikkit from Values of n, then you have an idea of how I Want Sandy works. The system is able to interpret your messages and turn them into useful notes. Stikkit functions as a virtual post-it note. I Want Sandy functions like a virtual assistant. The mechanisms are the same, but the focus is different. For my purposes, Stikkit is not so useful. This prejudice makes me not want to like Sandy, but she is turning out to be the right thing.
Unfortunately, Jott is not the best interface for Sandy. I can’t think fast enough to phrase my entries in the appropriate way for Jott to transcribe to Sandy. Frequently, Jott misinterprets what I said, and butchers the message. So, Sandy often sends me back messages telling me that she doesn’t know what I want. I’ve pretty much given up on Jotting to Sandy unless I give my command serious thought in advance, which defeats the usefulness of Jott. At that point, I could just write things down. I still love Jott, just not with Sandy.
The upside is that Sandy works well with my other hero, Twitter. Typing a message to Sandy through Twitter works well for me. I can add contacts, notes, reminders, and all manner of info. Sandy then sends me a confirmation by Twitter and email. The best thing about Sandy is that she will send me reminders for things. I can also run searches on the information Sandy has through Twitter. I know this will sound geekishly pretentious, but Twitter is my command line interface for Sandy. Once you learn the syntax, you can manage your personal information through Twitter, i.e. text message. Who ever saw that coming? Maybe someday somebody will invent a linux shell that runs on sms. For now, I’m happy communicating with Sandy through my twitter account. The same ability to use Twitter by sms, gtalk, or web interface is what makes accessing a third-party app so awesome. I Want Sandy has done the best implementation thus far.
UPDATE
It was recently announced that I Want Sandy will be shut down on December 7. Sandy’s developer is moving on to a position at Twitter. I am sad to see Sandy go. On the other hand, some of Sandy’s features are said to be rolled into Twitter. There is no mention as to which of these features will survive.
Shaine 