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OMG! How do they know?!?!
Jan. 9th, 2005 09:34 pmI swear, amazon.com is psychic.
You know that "Recommendations" thing they have where they tell you what type of over-priced merchandise you'd like based on previous purchases? Well, I occasionally check out what they think I'd like because they some good ideas (esp. around Christmas and birthdays when I never know what I want). But this time, I swear that amazon seemed to know more about me than it should.
First it was all, "We recommend Return of the King: Extended Edition." I was a little surprised because I have never bought anything LotR on amazon. But I figured that since it was an extremely popular movie, and it just came out, they were recommending it to everyone. Plus, I had bought that Lloyd Alexander book last year, so it knew I liked fantasy.
The second recommendation was Philip Roth's The Plot Against America, which was slightly weirder. I really do want to read this book, but I'm waiting for it to come out in soft cover. Now, this is also a Best Seller novel, so it would make sense for them to recommend it, but why no other Best Sellers? Every other book recommendation is politics and humor because that's what I've bought from them. It's kind of odd that they would pull that fiction novel, but it is kind of politics related...kind of.
The next one totally got me. Amazon somehow figured out that I want Batman the Animated Series: Season One. Okay. How the hell do they know this? I read comics, but I have never bought any trades on amazon. I have bought a few mangas, but I don't think amazon is clever enough to make the manga --> American comics --> cartoon shows based on American comics leap. Shouldn't they be recommending me Inu Yasha or something?
Of course, then amazon had to ruin things by recommending me Hour Game by David Baldacci, which is a crime story, which I never read.
But still, they were three out of four, and that's damn weird. My only conclusion? Amazon.com obviously has a well-placed network of spies monitoring everything we purchase with cash, credit or personal checks, not only on the Internet, but in every retail store in the nation. That sounds reasonable, doesn't it?
You know that "Recommendations" thing they have where they tell you what type of over-priced merchandise you'd like based on previous purchases? Well, I occasionally check out what they think I'd like because they some good ideas (esp. around Christmas and birthdays when I never know what I want). But this time, I swear that amazon seemed to know more about me than it should.
First it was all, "We recommend Return of the King: Extended Edition." I was a little surprised because I have never bought anything LotR on amazon. But I figured that since it was an extremely popular movie, and it just came out, they were recommending it to everyone. Plus, I had bought that Lloyd Alexander book last year, so it knew I liked fantasy.
The second recommendation was Philip Roth's The Plot Against America, which was slightly weirder. I really do want to read this book, but I'm waiting for it to come out in soft cover. Now, this is also a Best Seller novel, so it would make sense for them to recommend it, but why no other Best Sellers? Every other book recommendation is politics and humor because that's what I've bought from them. It's kind of odd that they would pull that fiction novel, but it is kind of politics related...kind of.
The next one totally got me. Amazon somehow figured out that I want Batman the Animated Series: Season One. Okay. How the hell do they know this? I read comics, but I have never bought any trades on amazon. I have bought a few mangas, but I don't think amazon is clever enough to make the manga --> American comics --> cartoon shows based on American comics leap. Shouldn't they be recommending me Inu Yasha or something?
Of course, then amazon had to ruin things by recommending me Hour Game by David Baldacci, which is a crime story, which I never read.
But still, they were three out of four, and that's damn weird. My only conclusion? Amazon.com obviously has a well-placed network of spies monitoring everything we purchase with cash, credit or personal checks, not only on the Internet, but in every retail store in the nation. That sounds reasonable, doesn't it?
