Have there been any successful applications of the "achievements" model outside actual video games? People talk about it a lot, I don't think I've ever seen it done.
I also don't think my life needs any more pointless random goals set by somebody else. I have enough pointless and random goals of my own.
Sometimes Achievements can be for things you were going to do anyway but now you have a way to prove/show off that you did it.
http://stackoverflow.com/users - Jon Skeet probably doesn't go out of his way to earn points and achievements. Its just a biproduct of his actions and a good/measurable reputation followed.
Not really - credit card rewards/miles offer a real reward for doing something, achievements in the way Xbox does it (and everyone copies thoughtlessly) does not. I can exchange my points for something of tangible value to me - I doubt people would care about credit card points if they were purely for shits and giggles.
Achievements are fascinating, and MS certainly has pulled it off admirably. But whenever I hear of a web startup doing achievements and other game mechanics, I can't help but feel that it often is simply trying to mask the fact that their service offers insufficient value to their user, and they have to inject "socialness" to make it more attractive.
I also don't think my life needs any more pointless random goals set by somebody else. I have enough pointless and random goals of my own.