Review: Taking Back My Contacts With 'WhoPaste' Software
As more of my social interactions move onto web platforms, it's increasingly difficult to accrue and retain platform agnostic contact data for the people I care about. If I interact only within social platforms, then they 'own' my relationships. Social platforms rely on that, it makes them sticky. So how do I easily move contact data into my platform, my stored data, where I can manage, back up, and use it as I see fit.
Enter WhoPaste. WhoPaste is an inexpensive ($15 USD) OS X contact utility that enables simple creation of contact records from any text, which is then piped into your preferred address book application. Using WhoPaste, I now easily collect contact data as I work through email and online social interaction, without manual data entry or slowdowns.
Compatible address book applications include:
WhoPaste is lightweight and runs persistently in the background with easy access via menu bar widget. While the default settings work well for most use-cases, the tool is extremely configurable, and deceptively simple. This tool is a must have for anyone who spends much time cutting & pasting contact data for any purpose.
By installing the OS X "service" component (Menu Bar widget > Preferences > Components > Service > Install Service), the WhoPaste functionality is fed into the OS-wide services feature, including the ability to right-click on any selected text anywhere in the system for capture by WhoPaste and import into your contact application.
At $15 a pop, this is one of the most useful apps I've got. And to add to the value, developer Steve Cronin replied within one hour, and with a very detailed and friendly response, to my one how-to support question, as well as a separate feature-request/feedback message.
My Test Configuration:
I run Snow Leopard (OS X 10.6.x), use AddressBook (synced w/ my Google Contacts), and sync by wire with my iPhone
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