I wish tech companies knew more about me
Forget the dystopian nightmare of all-knowing tech giants; this author contends that despite all the data collection, companies still manage to spectacularly miss the mark on personalization. From incessant ads for recently purchased items to algorithms that fail to grasp simple preferences, the piece highlights the ironically poor user experience borne from purported 'hyper-personalization'. This resonates on HN as many developers and tech-savvy users frequently encounter these exact frustrations, making it a relatable, albeit slightly controversial, take.
The Lowdown
The author presents a provocative counter-narrative to the widely accepted notion that tech companies are omniscient spies. Instead of feeling invasively understood, the author experiences a comically inept personalization from major tech players, suggesting that despite massive data collection, their algorithms frequently misfire. The piece details a litany of personal examples illustrating this disconnect between surveillance claims and practical efficacy.
- Irrelevant Advertising: The author is repeatedly shown ads for items just purchased (like a gamepad or mattress) or completely irrelevant products (industrial 3D printer resin, asphalt cleaning tractors, local hotels in their hometown, email marketing tools).
- Poor Language Localization: Despite explicit settings, Google redirects to Finnish pages, and services like PlayStation or travel sites frequently revert to local languages (Finnish, German) even when English is preferred and consistently used.
- Music Personalization Failures: Spotify and YouTube Music algorithms fail to learn a simple, years-long habit of skipping every electronic track with vocals, continually recommending them.
- Lack of Contextual Understanding: YouTube suggests generic oven videos after a specific model's installation guide is searched, while banks offer car insurance to customers who already have it through them.
- Service Annoyances: Airlines send irrelevant visa info despite having passport data, Netflix prompts user selection for a single-user account, mobile providers push child product discounts to childless users, and HBO recommends foreign films without English subtitles.
Ultimately, the author questions the value and effectiveness of widespread data tracking if the resulting personalization is consistently so poor, concluding with a sarcastic plea for companies to actually use the data they collect more intelligently.