Be like Janelle!

Janelle Brown, the glib-twit, heavily-indulged technology columnist who only occasionally gets her facts right, moons over music personalization.

We said it couldn’t be made to work: No system could make plausible recommendations of music you have not heard yet but would probably like. Brown, just thrilled to effervescence at a new toy she claims to understand, declares the problem has been nailed, which we do not buy at all. And what’s this little throwaway line Brown includes amid her giggly, unskeptical tonguebath? “Media Unbound also suggested a few songs I hated, but heck, no technology is perfect.” A single recommended song you hate outweighs a dozen complete albums you love.

Who’s right? Us or her?

We would love to find out, but the vaunted Media Unbound demands registration up front and refuses to work with our browser and plug-in combinations, which are actually now quite state-of-the-art. Personalization means nothing if certain persons cannot use it.

Posted on 2001-04-13