[farmer_ted]

This patent describes a system for interactively polling users of a system about their preferences and/or opinions regarding that system's features. The stated intent is to enable users to provide feedback to potentially inform the creator of the system in making decisions on feature enhancements.

As with all of these stupid software patents, once you read the details (i.e. beyond the summary), it becomes more apparent that the patented "invention" has a distinctly specific application.

This Lodsys letter of solicitation for cash is not much different than a 419 email.

[ryanhuff]

On the surface, it sounds more applicable to netflix and amazon, and their recommendation engines.

[sorbus]

So they've patented surveys.