Ask HN: Was Apple's Ping Successful?
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?
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.