The downside of customized media

One of my favorite magazines is The WORD, a music-centric but eclectic publication from Britain that leaves me invigorated. 

The WORD delivers wonderful surprises each month, among them this lament from founding partner David Hepworth's column in the August issue that suggests technology makes it too easy to put blinders on our media consumption:

"If you turn on the radio, they promise to perfectly mirror your tastes. Who wants that? Patrick Crowther was speaking for many when he posted this on the WORD website:  'Despite its obvious faults, old-school Radio 1 was instrumental in developing my love of music and my interest in different kinds of music. I might not have liked Lena Martell, but being exposed to music that wasn't specifically targeted at me was, in hindsight, a good thing. It broadened my horizons.'

"It didn't just make people keener on what they loved. It also made them more forgiving of what they didn't. The WORD Massive [the magazine's online community] is very tolerant but even I sometimes feel like taking issue with people who don't understand why a particular feature is in the magazine. Isn't part of being a mature individual showing that you can live with and even be interested in things that weren't designed with your approval in mind? I've spent months reading about people I'm not interested in. That's how you get interested. The narrowing is no way to go and that's where we're increasingly being led. 

 "With its personalisation devices, narrowcast channels and sophisticated content filters, contemporary media and technology is doing everything in its power to ensure we never have to go near anything we are not personally enthusiastic about. That way lies what? Better targeting? A station that plays nothing but Fleet Foxes or Tinie Tempah? One thing's for sure, it isn't happiness."

I'll argue that the freedom to choose your own content streams more than ever before is a great thing. Too much choice is much preferred to just three TV networks, a few news stations and a newspaper or two. 

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Interactive music video offers personalized trip down memory lane

Looking for a fun interactive mashup of technology, music and personal history?

A site called The Wilderness Downtown is showing off the power of Google's Chrome browser, Google Earth and Street View; and personalization using The Arcade Fire song "We Used to Wait" as a powerful trip down memory lane.

Background on the fun can be found at lemondrop.com but here's a quick how-to:

First, you MUST use the Google Chrome browser. Once equipped so, fire up The Wilderness Downtown site, type in the address of the home(s) you grew up in, then sit back and watch the magic of technology personalizing a music video by one of the hottest bands going. Smaller browser windows pop up here and there as the storyline progresses and your home shows up first in Google Earth, then Street View. Toward the end, you can type or draw in a personal postcard of your memories growing up in the house.

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Sage life and business lessons from Gary Vee

If you're not familiar with Gary Vaynerchuk (aka Gary Vee), you're in for a treat. He's raw, in an F-bomb kinda way, but the business and life messages he delivers through the web, books and speaking engagements are spot on.

His backstory is an immigrant who reshaped his family business, flipped the stuffy wine trade on its head by launching an "honest" wine channel online. (Sample quote from a recent webisode of Wine Library TV, a blind taste test of three wines: "These three wines are awful. All of these should be on your "Do Not Drink" list. Please never, never, ever put them in your mouth."). Vaynerchuk's success with Wine Library led to the world of business advice and consulting. In addition to Wine Libary, he has a popular Twitter feed, a best-selling book and what appears to be a successful consulting business.

He's energetic beyond belief and delivers sharp insight on things big and small. The core of his mission is to "do the right thing." For most people, that's a hackneyed, empty expression, but when GV says it and lays out all the benefits of being a good human, you want to fall in line (if you're not already).

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