A little synchonicity

07Feb08

After writing some blog entries for the company where I work (matchmine) and finishing my first non-software-related book (Trials), I’ve finally decided to jump in to the world of blogging for real.

So, as I was driving to work today, I thought about how the theme of personalization has converged in my life.

First off, I’m a cancer survivor. And the reason I’m alive is the vaccine made from my own tumor cells. It doesn’t get much more personal than that. And it worked – or at least seems to have. It’s been over 5 years and I’m still cancer-free.

Then, there’s matchmine, where I work as a tech writer. The whole notion of the company is to let you get personalized recommendations on music, movies, videos, and blogs based on what you like. There’s some pretty fancy math behind it. In fact, it’s the math that’s used in DNA research – so we’re back to the whole personalized medicine concept, applied to media recommendations. In fact, there’s a cool video in matchmine’s blog (““Our Higher Moral Purpose”) that talks about personalization and even mentions cancer research.

Then there’s this morning’s post on a discussion list I belong to about a documentary titled America in Chains.” It chronicles one man’s journey across the U.S. in which he tries to avoid doing business with big chains stores, including gas stations. You might wonder what this has to do with personalization. Well, I used to go to the local hardware store whenever I had a home repair problem. They gave me tons of advice, not because they were ordered to by corporate mandate. They just found solving problems interesting. Not just any problems. My problems. Unfortunately, they are no longer; instead there’s a “big box” store in its place. But maybe it’s time to seek and support the “little guys.” The ones who care enough to make it personal.

So I have to wonder. Are we about to enter the Age of Personalization? I hope so.

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Tags: cancer, matchmine, personalization, vaccine