Just when you thought Amazon.com sold everything, they’ve started carrying something completely different…answers.
Askville is Amazons newest invention, a place where people can ask questions and get answers. When I logged into the site today there were a wide range of questions from the simple “What is your favorite coffee drink” to the more complex “Are the neurons in our heads subject to laws of physics and behave in an measurable way like pool balls-or can we think?”
The site is filled with all types of questions most of which are the type of thing you would ask a friend or neighbor, such as who sang a particular song or what book they would recommend on a particular topic.
The site is still in beta form and is designed to be a community where people can ask questions and get answers from a huge community of people. The idea is good, theoretically the more people who answer your question the better range of answers you’re going to get.
The interface is fairly easy to actually ask questions with a huge toolbar on the fron page to type in any question you may have.
Askville takes asking questions to a new level, by also having levels. When you answer a question on Askville you will be given a rating. If you have the best answer for a particular question you will earn a certain amount of experience points, if you have the worst you can potentially lose points. The points are then converted into an experience rating from 0-6.
In addition to earning experience points you can also earn “Quest Points” which can be redeemed for things later on in the year when Amazon launches that section of their program. What types of things will be available has not yet been determined but Amazon has said that it will not be products.
More Great Computing Blogs: