Opening Pandora's Box

If you hadn't noticed, a lot of the posts and links you see from me these days are from "Web 2.0" companies. What is Web 2.0? Well, that's up for debate, but basically it's the act of making the web an application layer: programs, functionality, and more, but living on the web.

One of the most useful, and immediately beneficial? Pandora Internet Radio. I know, you groan and say "not another damned music online thing," but hear me out. First, it's FREE. Second, it's SIMPLE.

Here's how it works: you type in the name of a band or song you like. Within moments, that song, or song from the band starts playing. Nice quality, good sound, no skips. As the song ends, it plays another song that it has determined is similar to the one you last listened to by algorithm: music type, vocal type, etc.). Like it? Click the "thumbs up" button. Don't? Click "thumbs down," and the song stops, and it tries another one, immediately.

In this way, Pandora learns what you like. Better yet, you can set up multiple "stations" with different types of music, so you can be in different moods, and play whatever you want. Keep a browser window open, and your customized learning radio continues to play all day and night.

Use it for partied, background music, or while you work. It's free, great quality, and a really innovative way to discover new music.

For instance, I recently discovered a band I never heard of, Audioslave. I really like their music, so I created an Audioslave inspired station. If you like hard rock, slightly alternative, with dark undertones, listen for yourself!

Comments

Loyalty Review: Kohl's Yes2You

As some of you know, I've spent over 15 years in the customer loyalty space. So, when I come across a new retail loyalty program, I can't help but see the pluses and minuses. After this many years, it's kind of ingrained. Periodically, I'll share my thoughts with you. Today, it's Kohl's turn under the scope. Let's have a look, shall we? I've divided the review up into three sections: what's good about the program, what's bad about the program, and what I'd change about it. That last one has some actual value: I charged hundreds of dollars per hour for loyalty program consulting, and had over a dozen clients, before I moved to JustAnswer FT. But, being a pandemic and all, I'm giving it away for free here. Kohl's, you're welcome. Here we go! The Good Sign up is opt in Seems odd to praise Kohl's for this, but in department store loyalty, this is a rarity, and a smart one. It means the customers who are opted in are already prime

The Icarus Effect

This morning's news started with the latest grim proof of overdevelopment in a tough sector: SkyBus Airlines shut down , less than year from when it started. Never heard of Skybus? Not surprising; they chose to focus on trips from Ohio to the West Coast for ridiculously low fares. Yes, you read that right: the airlines' unique niche was that they focused on trips from Ohio . Was air travel such an amazingly profitable business that we needed that much segmentation and focus? Of course not. A year ago, when Skybus was just getting off the ground (har har), fuel costs were at an all time high. United was still in bankruptcy; Delta, a fellow airline with a major hub in Ohio, was just exiting Chapter 11. And yet, "irrational exuberance" led investors like Nationwide Mutual Capital, Huntington Capital Investment Co., and Battelle Services Co. to ignore the obvious signs of risk, and dive into what was a dubious investment. Today, they, and the passengers who were lured by

2020 CV19 Lockdown: Winners and Losers

It is said that in any time in history, the winners and losers are determined when a unique set of circumstances arises the requires an unprecedented response. How a company responds to those conditions can often propel them to new heights, or sentence them to an ignominious end. This post is meant to be an ongoing and often updated list of those that may come out of the Great 2020 Covid19 Lockdown as champs...or chumps. Winners Zoom How is it that, with all of the video conferencing choices in the market, a relatively obscure one (and a freemium one, to boot!) ran away with the title? Think of it: you had entrenched competitors like Skype and Facebook, as well as work-focused like Microsoft Teams , Google Hangouts , and Amazon Chime , any one of which had far greater reach than Zoom . Yet Zoom won, to the point that they achieved the exalted state of having their product/platform become a verb ("I'll Zoom you later"). More amazingly, they even continued their gro

Tretakoff Musings

Search This Blog