Technical Communication 3.0

Anyone walking by my office risks seeing me bobbing my head, possibly with an overbite (you know the one that I'm talking about). It's not pretty and I am okay with that. While I'm aware that there are no strobe lights or VIP ropes marking the entry to my office, I feel as though head bobbing facilitates brilliant revelations and efficiency.

Pandora -- sweet, sweet Pandora -- is my personal DJ. Pandora's mission is "to play music you'll love - and nothing else," and it does a darn good job.

All you have to do is enter your favorite music. That's it.

Pandora then creates a "station" that reflects the musical patterns you prefer. Thanks to the mind-boggling skills of the 50 musician-analysts who analyze each song for 400 attributes, you are almost guaranteed a feast for your ears. From my experience, 97% of the time, Pandora is spot on.



Pandora's also great because:

• It's free. There is a quick registration process (so you can return to your choices) but that's it!
• If it starts playing a song you don't like, click twice and you'll never hear it again.
• You can make a personalized radio station to suit your every mood. As you can see, I have the following stations: Wyclef Jean (rap/R&B), Amos Lee (Pop/Folk), George Clinton (Funk, obviously) and sometimes I listen to Pandora's R&B/Soul station.
• Pandora will introduce you to new artists. I have added dozens of new artists to my collection.
• Networking, networking, networking...you can share your station and listen to the stations of other Pandora members.
• It keeps working with you until it gets it right.

I haven't "cheated" on Pandora yet. However, I am curious about other Internet radio options that exist.

Can anyone beat Pandora?

Update: A kind reader from the UK informed me that Pandora doesn't work outside the US. I love Sun's global community. However, it is a shame that Pandora doesn't blaze beyond the US' borders.