2009-01-28
Digital Trails
I want to start by saying that I am not a privacy freak. I'm not one of those people that think Google is evil, I don't encrypt my files, and I don't worry about phone conversations. I assume that if it's not something I would like people to know about ... I just don't do it. This post is not intended to evoke privacy fears, it's just a moment of recognition.
The recommendations from the iTunes store are spot on. To top that, when looking at new albums to purchase, the "listeners also bought" list is nearly always albums that I already own. The advertisements at the top of Gmail are also eerily on target. This says two things:
- There are quite a few people out there with nearly identical musical taste. Based on listening to KEXP podcasts, somewhere near 99% of those people are living in Seattle.
- I am super predictable. My musical taste and topics of email discussion are on such a straight line that machines are telling me about myself.
I could get freaked out, but instead I think it's awesome. I have this whole group of like minded music listeners that I can meet. Then, software may just hand me new music that I like!
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