Wolfram Alpha, a new type of search engine that’s already being hyped as a threat to Google, is set to launch in just a few days, on May 18. Can it really challenge the search engine juggernaut?
Based on the introductory video that Wolfram put out and the current chatter from people who have been given the opportunity to play around with the search engine, Wolfram Alpha is probably not going to take the search engine crown from Google anytime soon. But here’s the thing: it wasn’t designed to.
Wolfram Alpha isn’t built for people who want to pull up relevant web pages about a particular topic. It isn’t built for people who are shopping, looking for product reviews, or who just want to see what someone else has to say about a certain topic. It’s built for people who want immediate access to relevant facts about a specific topic, without having to wade through a lot of the junk that gets in the way of these types of searches on Google.
There is a major difference between the two search engines: Google directs you to web pages that it thinks will give you the information you’re looking for, while Wolfram Alpha pulls relevant information directly from its database of facts, statistics and figures.
For example, if you need to know the GDP of France (one of the examples given in the introductory video), simply enter “GDP of France” or “what is the GDP of France” in the search engine. You’ll get back the most current GDP for France, a graph showing how France’s GDP has changed over time, and related economic facts about France. You can also use Wolfram Alpha to quickly and easily compare things, such as the GDP of France with that of Italy, and to uncover correlations between different statistics.
Who is Wolfram Alpha aimed at? As Adam Ostrow from Mashable noted in his review of the product, “The real strength and power of Wolfram Alpha does seem to be for the academic and research community, where the company’s founder has been innovating for more than two decades.” If you are researching a topic (especially one that’s related to math, statistics or the sciences), Wolfram Alpha can help you get reliable information quickly and will present it in an easy-to-understand format.
The limitations of Wolfram Alpha seem to lie in its coverage of certain subjects and its finickiness about certain queries. For example, CNET news reporter Stephen Shankland described it as having a hard time with subjects like art or philosophy, subjects that can’t really be graphed or described using numbers. He also mentioned that the search engine had a hard time finding information on the last solar eclipse, until he narrowed his search down by location.
Aesthetically, the user interface is somewhat bland-but it seems like it would be easy to use once you hit on the right way to formulate your search questions. The concept is extremely innovative, and to the right user, Wolfram Alpha could be an extremely useful tool, especially as the amount of information in its database grows and as it learns to respond better to a wider variety of queries.
Watch an introductory video of Wolfram Alpha in action!
Our Rating of Wolfram Alpha
Categories:web
Tool of the Day: Wolfram Alpha – Facts At Your Fingertips http://ow.ly/6SCk
I really like this idea that Wolfram is running with. I think that it’s serves a much different purpose than Google and there has the chance to really take off. I’m anxious to see how it goes over because I’ve read some reviews that see the user interface isn’t exactly directed towards the everyday user and people were getting confused. Having a easy to use interface is key in my opinion, just look at everything that Apple does. It should also be interesting to see how Wolfram will work with Google Squared as well. I found this video about the two new search engines:
http://www.newsy.com/videos/search_engine_war/
I agree…I like it, and I think it will take off quickly among its target audience. It does a great job at quickly bringing up quality information that can be hard to find on Google. I don’t think it will replace Google, though-at least in its current incarnation, it’s more of a niche product. I’ll use both engines once Wolfram Alpha is available to the public.
KILLLERRR APP!!!!!
I’m thinking queries like (“Number of facebook users with a twitter account” or “Estimated number of iPhone owners 2012″)
RT @usefultools Tool of the Day: Wolfram Alpha – Facts At Your Fingertips http://ow.ly/6SCk
RT @usefultools Tool of the Day: Wolfram Alpha – Facts At Your Fingertips http://ow.ly/6SCk