Finally, someone has harnessed the true power of technology to give us the future we deserve: one that is full of wish-granting and the tender realization that magic has always existed (but, like, in the power of the human heart). By this I mean that former model Lily Cole — who is especially qualified for the task because she once literally served as a model for the Queen of All Fairies — has just launched a “wish-granting app” called Impossible.
According to Elle, Impossible.com is “a social web platform that encourages users to share their time and talents with others.” Its motto is “Give a wish, take a wish.” As of now, the website reads kind of like a cross between Pinterest as used by someone who does not understand the difference between Pinterest and a vision board, Yahoo! Answers, and me making passive aggressive snack-related exhortations at my boyfriend late at night (“Wow, it would be so nice if someone went to the deli and got me a grilled cheese! :-)”).
Here are some wish examples:
I wish I could had the #opportunity to acting #gig in #toronto
I wish cows could #seriously #milk themselves!
I wish a #video #game #designer would #listen to an episode of the Welcome to Nightvale podcast, and then #listen to my pitch about the #game.
I wish to be mortgage free. Note to self ‘ must work harder’
Apparently, there are more practical threads floating around as well: in the Elle interview, Cole mentions enthusiastic cake recipe sharing and a thread frequented by users who want to learn foreign languages. She also notes that she wants it to be less about money — so, please, no making an account and wishing for #100dollars via #paypal #now #thankyou #bless — but rather about people sharing things with each other.
Even if your cold, embittered heart doesn’t believe in the power of crowd-sourcing the universal spirit of human generosity, it’s true that community-based goodwill/kindness/help/whatever apps are becoming a niche that investors believe in. Jelly, for instance, was “the most hyped app of 2013,” and it’s essentially just a way to ask your friends for advice. And Cole (who is a Cambridge graduate) knows what she’s doing: she recently led a sold-out panel at SXSW, and iTunes awarded Impossible “Best New App” this week.
What a brave new world of apps we’re slowly coming into — back in my day, we had to make our futile appeals to the merciless and indifferent gods manually.
Image via Getty.
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