But what really fascinates me is not the mathematics, although that is very interesting (incidentally anyone who thinks that mathematics is irrelevant should take a look at 'Alex's Adventures In Numberland' by Alex Bellos), but the reasons behind the statistics. What are they telling us about us? Delving into the very heart of our being and in doing so telling us more about ourselves that we dared to admit.
One of the nice little bonuses of writing a blog is that it comes with a stats. Oodles of them. 100% anonymous but 100% fascinating. Not only does it tell me how many times a page has been visited but also from which country, what time of day, what operating system, which browser was used and a whole host of graphs, tables and charts. Oohh I do like a good chart. I could lose myself for hours in this stuff. Above all, though, is that I can use this data to make sweeping assumptions on the popularity of individual artists. And it is quite revealing;
For example my blog about 'The Unforgettable Fire' is currently one of the least popular. Bottom of The Pops. I don't think even Bono's ego could take such a blow if he knew that. Conversely why does the blog about Gus Devlin have one of the highest number of visitors? Only slightly ahead is my musings on David Bowie. It seems that marketing pounds has no jurisdiction in this little corner of the Internet. Refreshing but confusing.
I do wonder, as I tap these ponderings into my computer, just what the Internet will make of Roddy Woomble's debut solo offering? What will the statistics show me about his popularity? Will it go down well in Russia? How will it fair against the great Gus Devlin? If the quality of the music is anything to go by then it should do well. But do they like Celtic tinged folk music in New Zealand? Who knows?
You see statistics are endlessly fascinating. Nearly as fascinating as his woolly hat.
No comments:
Post a Comment