Sometimes I worry less about the future of books...

Microsoft has released "Songsmith" (see their SHOCKING horrifying ad). It allows you to "sing" your own song and then IT creates the music to "fit" the song you have sung. I offer, for your consideration, "Creep" by Radiohead as orchestrated by Songsmith. I offer the original at the end both for comparison and to purge the first from your brain.

Gawker has down a nice piece about it here (with embedded iterations of St. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, Roxanne, etc). Slashdot's tech-intelligensia is duly unimpressed. My favorite quotation:

I checked the links. Now I feel so dirty.

Hey Microsoft, will you please stick with the business that you are good at? You know, Operating Systems?

Oh, nevermind.

It really is simply appalling. I think they are targeting the wrong market. My 7 and 11 year old would probably have fun with it...for a few hours...

I'm going to go listen to good music and read a good book and try to ever think about (or hear) anything by Songsmith.