On those days, when we were discussing the possible projects, one of my colleagues, Atasay, suggested a project, a real time question ask & answer service. We did not think on it much concluding that this kind of problems have already been solved by offline versions like Yahoo Answers.

But a few days ago via a Techcrunch RSS feed, I’ve been introduced to Aardvark; which is a service that let’s you ask questions that will be answered asap by other online service users. When we thought about this project a year ago, we were thinking of a desktop application but Aardvark has already solved this problem with an awesome tool: IM !. So you can contact Aardvark via msn messenger, gtalk and some other popular instant messengers. Are you away from computer? Don’t worry, Aardvark has a clean and nice iPhone application.

Today I was looking for a new book to read, I’ve asked for a suggestion via Aardvark and within a few minutes, I’ve received two usable answers. This is what I call “good service”.

I think, as the user base grows, Aardvark will be an indispensable tool for our life.

Great job Aardvark team. I want to add some suggestions for the service:

* A public API. I believe this is what they MUST add to their service. For example, web developers may create a site specific Aardvark where users can ask and answer questions about their site and they can query them, display via web etc. I believe there will be many other uses of an API like this.

* A desktop AIR Application (so it can run in any computer). IM is good, but for example I generally keep my IM closed whereas a hidden desktop app may increase the usage of the service. If they provide an API, I can code the AIR app

* A popularity ranking among users. A usage similar to Yahoo Answers. Basically, question owners should be able to rate answers.

* An interface to query old answers. (it’s better if automatic answers come as I ask the question but I guess it will need a lot of scientific work)

Any other suggestion is welcome in the comments. Btw, I’m not working for Aardvark nor know anyone from the company.

I just liked the implementation of the idea !

Keep working Aardvark Team!

Update:

A post @ techcrunch about a similar service:

http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/09/24/fluther-raises-600k-from-top-valley-investors-for-crowd-sourced-answers/

Luckily, there is one (for Turkey/turkcell).

Just add a *N# to the beginning of your sms, then when the sms is received by the receiver, Turkcell sends you an sms.

I know this is not usable, but better than nothing.

Apple plans to add delivery reports to version 2.2 , lets wait and see…