Chapter 6

I found chapter 6 to be quite enlightening, like all the other chapters have been as well. I keep finding out that I knew a little bit about computers and the way things work, but I had barely scratched the surface in determining how things work specifically. I first noticed the "collaborative filtering" phenomenon while buying cd's on Amazon.com. I noticed that, after making a purchase, the website listed several cd's, books, and videos that were listed as "suggested." I was informed by the website that, "other people who bought this cd also liked..." and then I was introduced to a list of artists I hadn't even considered before. I actually discovered a couple of new musicians and cd's because of this feature. Moreover, I then noticed that each time I visited Amazon and conducted business, the website suggested more and more items and seemed to be customizing itself to show things that were suited to my likes and interests. In a somewhat scary way, the website generated a personality profile of me, the specific buyer.

This type of information storage and referral is very useful in my opinion. The world is an enormous place filled with copious amounts of things to experience. The World Wide Web is similar in that it contains vast amounts of information. Navigating around can become quite a chore, and often people begin to feel that they don't even know where to begin to look. Collaborative filtering offers people the benefit of seeing the paths that other people have taken so that they can begin to find their own way.

library of babel

the library of babel story, posted on infoport, was very interesting to me. i think it says a lot about information in general. the point of the story is about how infinite the possibilities are for people to create information. we generally regard anything written as information, but as the story shows, not everything that is written is done so to inform. the library is supposed to contain every book or piece of literature imaginable, every conceivable way to fit the letters of the alphabet together. this draws some comparisons to the internet, where it is so easy for anyone to get their information published and read by the masses. i'm not sure if the story has any point besides the idea that the possibilities for creating and finding new information are limitless.