Briefs

Preference engines' track consumers' choices online and suggest other things to try. But do they broaden tastes or narrow them?

September 20, 2005 latimes.com : Technology

By Alex Pham and Jon Healey, Times Staff Writers

Geoff Lester's two iPods can hold 20,000 songs, so he turned to the iTunes Music Store, which stocks 1.5 million online selections. But how to choose?

After the 28-year-old Los Angeles resident picked a few tracks, the software algorithms powering iTunes took over, popping out song after song they calculated that he might like.

He did. He estimates that he bought 500 tracks he otherwise wouldn't have over the last two years. He snapped up songs from the Dining Rooms, Zero 7 and Headset � bands that aren't exactly mainstream.

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