(FORTUNE Magazine) – I've been having one of those light-bulb moments. You know, one of those moments when you install a new piece of software, struggle with how it works and how it doesn't, and flash!--you start having Big Thoughts. (Or maybe you don't know. Maybe you're normal, and your light-bulb moments come from something other than software. Maybe you're not a technology columnist.)

The program I've been playing with is called GoodContacts. Its goal is to help you maintain accurate contact information. The program does this by sending e-mails to people in your electronic address book, showing them the addresses and phone numbers and so on in their file, and asking them to update it for you. Once they respond, your desktop computer's contact-management program is automatically updated.

The people who wrote the program are trying to solve one of computerdom's Big Problems. Here we are, after all, connected by faster and faster networks in more and more places. Why can't we use these links to make sure that the information we have about one another is current and accurate? And if we move, say, or change jobs, why can't we use these connections to quickly sync with everyone we know?

I've seen business plan after business plan that wanted to use the Internet for updating contact information. But they are all hobbled by the same issue. The software is worthless if no one else is using it, and getting to a critical mass is really expensive.

GoodContacts faces the same problem, but it's beginning to get some traction, at least out here in Silicon Valley. Indeed, the reason I even checked it out is that for the past few months I've been getting a slew of GoodContacts e-mails from people asking me to update their data. (GoodContacts is completely unrelated to Good Technology, a company that wants to help you update your e-mail and other data on wireless PDAs.)

At this stage, the GoodContacts software is little more than a good start. It is confusing, relying on terms like "scanning" and "coverage" and "verifications" that make no particular sense. What's more, the program is slow and intrusive, and the messages it generates don't always work with AOL Mail or Macintosh Mail, and some other e-mail programs as well.

Despite all that, people do seem to persevere and use the stuff. Today I asked the program to refresh 798 contacts out of the 4,400 in my records. (I use Microsoft Outlook.) In the eight hours or so since I first sent out the update messages, the program has told me that 115 of my records have old and useless e-mail addresses, and it has updated 247 of the records, based at least partially on responses from other people. (Hey, I'm not the only person doing my e-mail on Sunday!) The balance may well get updated once people get back to work on Monday (or after their summer holiday).

It was watching the program manage those 362 updates in the space of a few hours that made this a seminal moment. The software might not be all that good, but the basic idea works! You really can update your personal contact information using an automated computer program. GoodContacts is just good enough to make it obvious that this is the way all personal information will be updated someday.

And it's just good enough to get my brain working in interesting ways. For starters, I've learned a bit about how different kinds of people respond to requests for information about themselves. Important people who would never deign to pick up the phone to give you their phone number and street address will, for some reason, respond to e-mail. Not-so-important people, meanwhile, really want to make sure you have all their contact details, including middle initials, all five e-mail addresses, and the extended zip code. We have way too many telephone numbers now: Company phone, direct phone, fax number, cellphone, home phone, car phone. I don't keep track of fax numbers anymore; it's old technology and represents one number too many to me. I just want to know the one or two phone numbers people really use to stay in touch.

And that leads me to the flashbulb. Imagine that we all have one phone number and one e-mail address that knows where we are. Imagine that the network keeps track of our location and our personal data, and automatically updates anyone who might be interested. Imagine that we don't have to think about whether the right phone number or address is stored in the network or our PC or our PDA or our phone. Imagine that all these little details of personal life are just handled. Yeah, yeah, I'm dreaming. But if that stuff happens, it will start with dumb little programs like GoodContacts. That's enlightening.

STEWART ALSOP is a partner with New Enterprise Associates, a venture capital firm. Except as noted, neither he nor his partnership has a financial interest in the companies mentioned. He can be reached at alsop_infotech@fortunemail.com. His column may be bookmarked online at www.fortune.com/technology/alsop.