The 'Killer App'

I always wondered what "Killer App" meant. It was a phrase I used to hear in the 1980s: businesses wanted to find the "killer app."

After heavy reserach (clicking Wikipedia), I learned that a "killer app[lication]" would be a computer program that is so important that all other programs, software, etc. would have to be compatible with it. It would have a deep impact on our culture. Microsoft Word is a bit like that. Know anyone these days whose computer uses WordPerfect? Nope. All manufacturers eventually bowed to the superior Word format.

I think the next "Killer App" may involve dating sites.

I have racked my brain on occasion for dating insights to give friends (although I of course am far from an expert), but it seems like any generalizations I try to offer tend to fall flat because there are too many exceptions. I know some people who hate on-line dating, but it works for others. I know some girls who meet only guys who are jerks, but there are nice guys out there, too. I know nice guys who only meet jerky girls, but of course, most of my female friends are very nice.

It just takes a while to meet the right person, and unfortunately, that can involve making yourself vulnerable and putting yourself out there over and over again. It can mean telling someone intimate details of your life as you get to know them, and not having it go anywhere in the end. It can also end up truly wonderfully, but it can mean getting hurt beforehand during the process, unless you meet the love of your life when you are 14.

Internet dating is a modern phenomenon. Only a few years ago, people thought it was creepy, but now it's something that many people try. It can be hard for shy people to advertise themselves, though...but they have to do it. And then we all find out the inevitable: Someone may seem different on the internet than they do in person, etc., etc.

This doesn't make internet dating a failure, because there are all those possibilities in other forms of dating as well.

Anyway, my point is...people are constantly trying to invent the "killer" dating site. In the New York region, there are match, jdate, eHarmony, and nerve...and some less-popular ones. They all have their plusses and minuses. But I know that people are trying to look at the minuses and figure out an improved way to meet.

I recently heard of a website that invites groups of friends to meet each other at events, so there isn't as much one-on-one pressure. The idea is that people will eventually get to know each other through groups of friends, and then pair off if they find someone they like. I also know someone who tried to take the pressure off by starting a site called "nodating" where people just hang out without the pressure of having to act like it's a dating event. Of course, if they HAPPENED to meet, then...

Yes, knowing you are SUPPOSED to meet someone at an event adds pressure. So if someone comes up with a killer dating site that reduces some of the potential for disappointment (is that possible?), makes it seem less contrived, and uses all the positive aspects of meeting through friends and that sort of thing, it could go over well. Of course, everyone is human, so there's really no way to take out the risks or chances. But I know that people are still trying to figure out a better formula. If someone does, that person will become VERY rich caballero.

And anyway, that's one of the things that was going through my brain before V-Day...the fact that someone who creates a really really popular dating site -- whoever that person is -- will be building a sort of "killer app."