"You've got a MySpace profile, an Open ID, a Gravatar, tons of indie badges. Anything missing? Yep: Your sound badge." I've got to admit, the pitch appeals to the target market: breathless widget collectors and the sorts of people who glitterfy their MySpace and play the "zombie" app ("You've been bitten by a pyramid game!") on Facebook. Here's the idea behind Soundbadge.
1. Answer some quiz questions to make generalizations about your personality.
2. Push a button.
3. Hear a crappy loop that has nothing to do with your personality.
"Like you," says the site, the sound badge created for you is "absolutely unique." Unfortunately we're all uniquely like this:
Every sound badge is a similar uninspiring MIDI loop. It's the opposite of a custom ringtone or MySpace soundtrack, and it doesn't even serve a social purpose.
Odd that such a decent interface should produce such an awful "product."
Oh, also, is it "soundbadge" or "sound badge"? It's spelled either way several times on the site. I wish people would name their kids like this. "Well you might be Katie, but you're kind of a Caity, and in kindergarten we'll write it as Katee."
