My Robot Knows Me Well

A friend of mine tells a story of the time his TiVo made him realize what a shallow TV executive he had become. It was September 11th, 2001, planes had just crashed into the World Trade Center, no one knows what is going on or where the President is, and my friend is glued to his TV terrified. Aaron Brown is on CNN trying to calm the nation when a little TiVo reminder bubble pops up with the following text:

"Would you rather be watching Designing Women right now?"

He realized then and there that his TiVo was trying to tell him something. He really would rather be watching Designing Women and the predictive function, void of tact or judgment, did not see anything wrong with this.

I thought of this story when I purchased something on Amazon this morning and was startled by its recommendations for me; they were so accurate.

It's true, the only things I like are Edmund Wilson and sandwiches. Full list here.