This morning, I realized that what I needed was an app or Web engine that could recommend new music to me based on old music I liked back when it was of use to the music industry for me to like it. Because it’s rare that I hear guitars in new pop/rock music today, distorted ones at least. And I like distorted guitars. Surely someone’s using fuzzboxes?
I imagine it’d go like this. The app or site would prompt you to fill in the blank:
When I was young enough to be marketed to, I loved…
And then it would use algorithms or something to figure out what the closest present-day analogue is:
Now that you’re older, the album the kids are listening to that you might also love is…
But then you have to trust the algorithm, and what little I know about tech people and big data tells me I might not want to, that I might go When I was young enough to be marketed to, I loved…
And it would then go Now that you’re older, the album the kids are listening to that you might also love is…
So be careful, enterprising tech people. Don’t recommend that I listen to Imagine Dragons. And get on it. Why not? Yesterday I was followed on Twitter by an app I can download to help schedule my office hours and other student meetings. Why waste time on voice mail or email trying to arrange a meeting? Why try to diminish my interactions with students which can’t be mined for data?
The saddest part of it is that I couldn’t even sign up if I wanted to. They’re currently “overloaded with requests.”