I just received a nice little note from Amazon reminding me that my birthday is coming, and perhaps I'd like to update my wishlist? Things they thought I might like to add included the book I just raved about below, and also a Linksys BEFSR41 Etherfast 4-Port Cable/DSL Router, which I have been shopping for, but offline, not online. They are getting a little too prescient. What's next? "Christina, we've made reservation for you at La Folie for your birthday, and after tickets to Dave Brubeck. click here to cancel, click here to confirm?" (shudder)
, from oldest to newest:
Hahaha!
If it's at all reassuring, their recent email offering "Corporate Accounts" pictured three items: a Palm Pilot, a camera, and a Harry Potter book. I wonder how many corporations buy children's books...
Posted by Stewart Vardaman @ 09/22/2001 03:04 PM pst
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Hey, it was reasonably on target wasn't it? Gotta admire that.
Posted by James @ 09/22/2001 06:01 PM pst
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Disturbing yes, at first. But it's also incredibly encouraging. Making web sites smart isn't impossible, just a matter of making intelligent rules and fine tuning them over a long time, being patient in the development cycle. It's paying off for Amazon. It's permission for the rest of us to tackle these problems.
Except for that one Emmylou Harris album I bought, which turned me into a country music fan in their eyes (not).
To Stewart: Harry Potter a children's book? Since when? ;-)
Posted by victor @ 09/22/2001 08:55 PM pst
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Victor-- it's easy to refine your recomendation sby either telling them to exclude that albumn or to not suggest the country genre.
Stewart: I'm told the story of my husband's best friend who works for sun and flies first and business class a lot. He says when he saw "who took my cheese" and "seven secrets" books that folks usually read completely taken over by harry potter's it was time to check it out... amazon may know exactly what they are doing.
As for amazon: it is exactly eirily on target, including in areas where I had never bought a thing. The first movie they ever recommended me was "Princess bride" which is one of my all time favorites-- i still have neer bought a film from them. I have bought three cd's of bands I've never heard of and liked all.
Posted by christina @ 09/23/2001 08:05 AM pst
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I have lost hours perusing what Amazon recommends and tuning my preferences. Some of Amazon's recommendations are a little narrow for me at times. I will buy items in my recommendation list which can narrow their offerings to me. In the past I had a list tilted strongly to Perl or Usability offerings. Putting things on ones own wish list also influences what Amazon offers. I have put things on my wish lists for short periods (a week or two) just to get variation in what Amazon offers, just to expand my horizons.
I only wish I could put La Folie on my wish list or have Amazon recommend it. Better yet would be shipping that dining experience to me. That is one of my favorite restaurants in the US.
Posted by vanderwal @ 09/23/2001 10:13 AM pst
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