Too lazy to do your chores or errands? Willing to pay some cash to crowd source it? Meet TaskRabbit, a collaborative service that allows you to post up things you don’t really want to do, along with how much you’re willing to pay for them to get done, and then get a willing stranger to show up at your door to do them.
Previously, TaskRabbit was just a mobile site, but it’s recently released a slick new iPhone app.
The idea is simple. First, you choose the kind of task you want done from various task categories like Task posters can use the Lazy Susan-like interface to choose from task categories like Cleaning, Donations, Shopping, Food Delivery, Cleaning, Donations, Delivery and Something Else. The app then plucks your location from your iPhone’s GPS and suggests a price you might want to pay for the task based on historical data.
Once you’ve submitted your task, task runners, or Rabbits, are able to see nearby tasks using a “Browse tasks around you” feature. These Rabbits are vetted, so there are a minimum of toothless axe lunatics in the TaskRabbit chore-running ecosystem. If they see your task, and they like the price being offered, they’ll be put in touch.
It’s a pretty cool idea, but pick your tasks carefully! Since I was busy writing this post, I asked TaskRabbit to find someone willing to come on by, make my girlfriend a cup of tea and wake her up with a kiss on the forehead, as is customary in the Brownlee household. I can’t really fault TaskRabbit for what happened, but the Rabbit who eagerly popped on by a mere twenty minutes later and cheerily waived the $20 as he skipped joyfully into the bedroom could best, perhaps, be described as more eager and unctuous than he was fully clothed. To make a long story short, thirty minutes and several screams later, there’s a suspicious new task up on TaskRabbit’s site looking for a Rabbit willing to break up with a mystery woman’s long-time boyfriend whilst simultaneously breaking his face. So maybe stick with asking people to come on by and do the dishes.
[via TechCrunch]
