Over at Scripting News, Dave is positing a system for giving feedback to the media about what stories you want to see and which you don't. This in an effort to get more personalization in the news stories we see.

I've had similar thoughts about podcasting (as has Dave and others). At IT Conversations, there is a feedback mechanism. Relatively speaking, no one uses it. Part of the problem is that when you're listening to podcasts you're probably not at your computer. Part of the problem is that people don't understand the benefit.

We have a recommendations engine that works off of your personal ratings. So, if you take the time to rate shows, you should see things you like in your personal recommendation queue (RSS feed enabled). Still, while I think the idea is great, the execution might put some people off.

We've grown accustomed to systems (the Web in general, but even systems like Amazon and NetFlix) that watch what we do and give us better results in the future as a result. Podcasting and the media haven't emerged with that natural feedback in place. Apple (following industry trends) conceived of the iPod as a "display" device--strictly one-way. Whatever feedback the device may do, Apple isn't sharing that information with anyone else.

In 2007, however, I think it's silly to build anything that isn't capable of two-way communication.