Ask HN: Was Apple's Ping Successful?

Posted by swellular on Wednesday February 16, 2011 @05:48PM
from the ask-hn dept.

Of course there was a lot of hate spewed across the interwebs about Apple's ping being a complete #FAIL. But was it successful in terms of Apple's goal for it--to get people to buy more music?

( 2 comments | 3 points | on HN )

Re:Ask HN: Was Apple's Ping Successful? by swiecki on Wednesday February 16, 2011 @06:46PM (#2228905)

It may be worthwhile to compare the success of ping in increasing sales to the success of Genius in increasing sales.

I don't have bulk data on this at all, but I can say that personally, I've bought songs and apps that I've seen recommended to me on their respective Genius lists, but I've never bought a song that a friend has recommended.

Is the genius algorithm more meaningful for sales than social connections? In my experience, yes, algorithm beats friends.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: Was Apple's Ping Successful? by swellular on Wednesday February 16, 2011 @08:22PM (#2229226)

Right, Netflix has proven that with their algorithm (worth $1M in a developer contest!)

[ Parent | on HN ]