Compatibility Research Inc., granddaddy of online dating (Video)

Video: http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=espn:13415984

Five thirty Eight:

In our modern age of Tinder, OkCupid and Match.com, we’re used to the idea that algorithms can help us find love. But while the algorithms may have improved as the market for online dating has expanded, the inputs — the questions these computer matchmakers ask dating hopefuls — haven’t changed much since the 1960s, when Compatibility Research Inc. launched the first computerized dating service.

See also the Harvard Crimson article from November 3, 1965, about Compatibility Research’s Operation Match, which includes this ditty:

Well, I filled out my form and I sent it along,

Never hoping I’d get anything like this.

But now when I see her,

Whenever I see her,

I want to give her one great big I.B.M. kiss.

She’s my I.B.M. baby, the ideal lady,

She’s my I.B.M. baby.

From the first time I met her I couldn’t forget her,

She’s my I.B.M. baby.

Well we’ve dated sometime,

Things are going just fine, and I’d like to settle down with her.

Just like birds of a feather

We put 2 and 2 together, and we came one with an I.B.M. affair.

She’s my I.B.M. baby, I don’t mean maybe,

She’s my I.B.M. baby.

Today, one in 10 adults now spends, on average, an hour a day on a dating web site or app, according to Nielsen. Online dating in the U.S. was a $2.2 billion industry last year.