It wouldn't be that surprising.

INC did an interview with Markus Frind where he talked about not necessarily trusting what his users wanted when it came to partners. He's got an algorithm that suggests people for matches even if they said they wouldn't be interested in the person:

... if you tell Plenty of Fish you want to date blond nonsmokers but spend all your time gawking at nicotine-addled brunettes, the program will adjust

(The quote is on page 4: http://www.inc.com/magazine/20090101/and-the-money-comes-rol... )

    ... if you tell Plenty of Fish you want to date blond 
        nonsmokers but spend all your time gawking at 
        nicotine-addled brunettes, the program will adjust 

Of course, if your business model was affiliate links to other sites, when they didn't find what they wanted on your site, such an algorithm would also be good;

Saying you despise Starbucks gets you anti-corporate kudos. Buying coffee in Starbucks gets you expensive but tasty coffee, well made by practised staff. Hypocrisy is a win-win.

I wouldn't quite say it's made by "practiced staff." The espresso made at most Starbucks is at the push of a button, hardly requiring effort, the rest is only a memorization of ingredients. It's turned into a bit of a ford/mcdonalds assembly line.

I think he was talking about the machines being the staff... I don't remember the last time I had a person make my espresso @ a starbucks!

Or maybe a "stealth" Starbucks isn't really that stealth in this day and age. I read about the 15th Street coffee shop before it even opened ... and I don't live in Seattle.

Every other old, tired company is trying to re-brand itself to be hip ... huge studios back "indie" films ... conglomerates buy the cool clothing company

Maybe people can just sniff it out now