Article from The Internet Magazine

October 1995, page 85.
Circulation: 45,000


SITE OF THE MONTH

Name: The Similarities Engine

What is it? A really rather clever Web page which tries to predict what other music albums you might like based on the ones that you tell it you already like.

Where you'll find it: http://www.webcom.com/se/

What's it like? A brilliant idea, and it works - most of the time. You enter the names of your five current favourite albums into a neat little form, click the button to send them off and wait for a bit. The Similarities Engine thinks for a while and then returns to you, by e-mail, a list of albums from its database which it thinks you'll also be into, based on your input.

So. Send off your own choices. Wait for a day or so. The list duly arrives, with around 50 albums graded in order of suitability - and by heck, most of them are ones that you've already got before. The results are magically listed in order, with the ones you're most likely to like at the top, and the least likely matches at the bottom.

Upside: Saves spending your lunchtimes wandering round HMV or Our Price, thinking "Wonder if that's any good?" Cheaper than buying Q, too.

Downside: Would you really trust its opinion by spending your UK$12.99 on a CD by someone never heard of before?

Ed Ricketts

Overall **** [4 stars of 5 possible]



Thanks, .net!