“Let the Right One In”

No, this post is not about the Swedish romantic horror film – what a genre! – that came out last year. Only the title is borrowed from it because nothing would have been more fitting. That’s right, I am taking issue with the Invitation Only gimmickry by Web tool services these days. Google Wave, Spotify, Voddler, to name a few.

I understand the concept of exclusive membership has always existed – probably dating all the way back to the beginning of recorded thought. Still, that doesn’t stop me from finding it a bit … annoying.

Well, of course you can say that I am being bitter here because I haven’t been invited into some of such sites. 😛 But don’t you worry; now I have turned this into a little experiment of mine. I came to know of Google Wave on the 1st of October this year. I remember the exact date because I remember the exact context in which it first came to my attention. It was David Mitchell’s tweet, which went:

Suddenly everyone’s mentioning ‘Google Wave’. Why are there always new things? I’ve only just got the hang of twitter! I’m annoyed and upset. (10:43 AM Oct 1st)

I am going to see how long it takes for me to get an ‘invite’, IF EVER, without me actively looking for one in response to one of those “Hey, I have a few spare invites to Google Wave. Anyone wants one?” offers. I have so far passed three.

To finish, here’s another very fitting sketch – from an old episode of Frasier.