A few days ago a local TV news story talked about a new "search engine" called Wolfram Alpha which some people have claimed to be a "Google killer." Really?? Could it be that Google, the Goliath of search engine world, has finally met a true rival? In curiosity, I visited Wolfram Alpha and gave it a few runs on search terms, only to be disappointed. Entering terms such as "how to drive a car", "chicken tikka masala" and even my fave -- "American Idol" -- all churned out the same result: "Wolfram|Alpha isn't sure what to do with your input." Hmm...let's try that again with "How to defeat Google" and we get the same result: "Wolfram|Alpha isn't sure what to do with your input."
However, if you enter simple definition-like terms such as "Honolulu", you immediately get information about the term such as population, weather, and geographic location without having to search through a litany of links for an exact explanation of the capital of Hawaii. Try entering in "July 4, 2009" and you get this information about how many months and days away it is, as well as predicted sunrise and sunset and the fact that it's Independence Day.
It's safe to say that if you are looking for an exact or even computed answer to a single item, Wolfram Alpha may be your direct link to an answer without having to click a link. I'd hardly call it a "Google killer" at this stage. However, if Wolfram Alpha could eventually provide precise answers to search phrases or even questions the way the ask.com search engine attempted to do years ago, Wolfram Alpha may eventually be the Achilles heel that Google must watch out for.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
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