One of the little things I enjoy about the new world of online shopping is the whole idea of targeted recommendations. I remember back in college checking out a service called Firefly that was supposed to be able to provide music and movie recs based on a profile of ratings you created. Never really got too far with that. Nowadays I have a customized “radio” station at Rhapsody – I told it ten artists I liked, it plays a lot of music by those ten and similar artists. The similar artists are the fun thing, although I had to take Alison Krauss and Union Station off the list – I’ve discovered my fondness for bluegrass is very artist-specific. On the other hand, most of these services tell me I should really like the Jayhawks, and other than “Save It for a Rainy Day” I never quite can get into them. Gonna have to try harder, I think.
At this point, the king of recommending is Amazon. It can tell you what people who bought the stuff you buy have also bought. Or browsed for. Or might also like. Or have set up lists about. And its Gold Box program is a treasure trove of tenuous connections. Apparently the books on Hinduism and Buddhism I’ve bought for my Philosophy East and West courses has Amazon thinking I might like a yoga mat or yoga brick. Although there’s probably an interesting discussion of theory, practice, and the transformation of belief systems into fads lurking in there somewhere . . .