I buy a few things online. Let’s face it, there are good deals out there, especially in specialty items that you’d have to drive 25 miles to some local store that has a limited selection.
So there are a number of sites that I have used to either but something, or just shop around at. They all seem to want to personalize their ‘experience’ and make it ‘better’ for you. I wish they’d just skip it, because it usually backfires.
Take for instance Amazon.com. I have bought some things through them, either directly or through their affiliates. It’s convenient and if I end up buying something through an affiliate, I at least know it has some level of legitimacy if they’re part of Amazon.
But Amazon tries to anticipate what you want. At the bottom of the page, they have this ‘Recommended for you’ area with some things they think you may want. Mine is showing a
Suzanne Vega CD, a Cannon lens, a camera bag and a 4GB CF memory card.
Just because I looked at things similar to those in the past doesn’t mean I want them today. I have no idea why they’re fixated on this Suzanne Vega CD. I may have looked for a track listing in the distant past, but I rarely buy CDs. If I did, they would be used ones, and my interest in music includes Suzanne Vega, but is much wider than any single artist or genre.
I’m a little more understanding on the camera stuff, but I bought a camera bag through an Amazon affiliate not too long ago. Why do they think I need another? And the lens. Why keep showing me a 50mm, F1.8 Cannon lens. I may have looked at one once, but why do they think that of all the lenses available, I need to know about that one? It’s always there.
Same thing with the CF card. I bought one almost 2 years ago when I bought my camera. I don’t remember if I bought it online, or at the store where I bought the camera. But I wouldn’t buy another 4GB card for the camera. I have a 4GB card in it and have only filled it once. When I did, it was such a chore to get all those photos off the card and into the computer, I swore I’d buy several smaller cards if I ever wanted more capacity.
I clicked on the little link that said “Why is this recommended for you?” and a window popped up showing the similar items I had purchased. I clicked a box next to the card theat said ‘Not Interested’ and the original page refreshed. In place of the 4GB memory card? An 8GB one. Sigh…
These so-called suggestions never change. I wonder if I actually bought one, it would finally vanish? If they think this is the way to get me to buy something, showing me things I already have isn’t working. I’d rather see something random, at least once in a while I’d see something new or useful.
