Off of the top of my head I think You Need a Budget (YNAB) is an example of software that is measurably improving many people's lives. As far as I know they hav

Off of the top of my head I think You Need a Budget (YNAB) is an example of software that is measurably improving many people's lives. As far as I know they haven't looked for or received VC funding or had any flashy events that would have generated press coverage. Fitbit is another example of a company improving people's lives but not generating a lot of press (though I do imagine they have been featured on HN and Techcrunch from time to time). I use Dashing (developed by Shopify) for a personal dashboard to track things. Every day I use bluetooth, video and music streaming, Kindle, the software utilities use to make sure I have gas, water, and electricity. Sometimes the silent majority is featured on HN but receives less than reasonable responses. An example are the stories on high frequency trading which decrease spreads and thus are a benefit to anybody with a 401(k).