I am really impressed with the new Amazon mp3 website. Not only are the downloads DRM-free, but they are cheaper than Apple’s iTunes store. I had stayed away from iTunes because I wanted some security in case I got a non-Apple media player, but also because I am deluded by rap songs on the iTunes homepage and have to search for the songs I like. In Amazon, I get great recommendations based on music I like. Why hasn’t Apple done this yet??

For those of you who are interested in such things, Amazon is making available an RSS feed with my recent purchases. This is a cool feature, but I think it would be even cooler to browse “John Smith’s Store” which shows everything a person has bought along with their ratings. Obviously, you’d need to build some privacy control into this.

How cool would be to browse a virtual store with all your purchases and your ratings of products? This would make grocery shopping much faster. When can we finally get a kitchen which will reorder products automatically? How great would it be to visit a bookstore with just the books all your friends liked? I’m afraid that the hysteria over privacy rather than technology is the biggest roadblock here.