My Kindle served up this message last week: “Alexa, what should I read next?”
For some reason, that offended me. Why should I listen to what Alexa tells me about what I should be reading? Won’t I just be playing into the hands of Alexa’s father, Amazon?
But then I stepped back.
Spotify’s algorithms have done a fine job of serving up fresh music to me for a few years now. I’m a devoted fan of their “Discover Weekly” playlist, which provides new music to me based on the tunes I like. They don’t always get on-target… some of the bands and tunes have been a little too weird. And lately, they are serving up too much of the kind of music I enjoy. I like to find music that stretches my boundaries … but not too far.
So let’s ride those algorithms… but let go when it gets too choppy.
A few weeks ago I Googled “What should I read next?”, and Google gave me a list of book lists to peruse. As a result I ended up reading “Wuthering Heights”, which I’d never read, and mostly enjoying it! It sometimes amazes me what you can find on Google when you just ask!
Deb, it’s fascinating what those algorithms will serve up! I’m glad Google’s was useful for you. (I haven’t read Wuthering Heights yet, but maybe someday.