Wolfram Alpha

[GadgetMaster]

I tried asking it some questions about the Amiga and all it responds with is:

"Wolfram|Alpha isn't sure what to do with your input."

It's shite.

LOL  

I'd laugh if it's just a guy on the other end trying to annoy us. Not really a search engine at all.

[Karlos]

It's shite.

Nope, it's just that Amiga trivia by and large isn't "computable" knowledge, is it? You can't blame it for not returning any meaningful results as a consequence of your misunderstanding how it works.

Try asking it something like "how big is antarctica?" or "how far away is saturn today?" and see what you get.

[impactor]

LOL  

I'd laugh if it's just a guy on the other end trying to annoy us. Not really a search engine at all.

Behold... Mr Wolfram.

[impactor]

Nope, it's just that Amiga trivia by and large isn't "computable" knowledge, is it? You can't blame it for not returning any meaningful results as a consequence of your misunderstanding how it works.

Try asking it something like "how big is antarctica?" or "how far away is saturn today?" and see what you get.

As I said I tried asking it some questions about the Amiga, such as "what is an amiga computer?" and it can't even provide any response.

[Karlos]

As I said I tried asking it some questions about the Amiga, such as "what is an amiga computer?" and it can't even provide any response.

Again, that isn't computable knowledge, that's just indexable data, which is what Google specialises in.

From the first entry in the FAQ

Is Wolfram|Alpha a search engine?

No. It's a computational knowledge engine: it generates output by doing computations from its own internal knowledge base, instead of searching the web and returning links.

Never mind. In a few months it might actually have learned enough to tell you

[impactor]

Again, that isn't computable knowledge, that's just indexable data, which is what Google specialises in.

Never mind. In a few months it might actually have learned enough to tell you

I guess the thing is that Wolfram Alpha is a totally different concept and when I read on the BBC website such bold statements that it's possibly going to be a challenge to Google then I was expecting much more straight away... as you say perhaps it will indeed grow to become something much more

[Karlos]

To be fair, that's typical of the bbc technology section. "Experts predict that the orange will surpass the apple very soon"

[Speelgoedmannetje]

Again, that isn't computable knowledge, that's just indexable data, which is what Google specialises in.

Ehm, it combines indexable data with computable data.
I just love what they were thinking.
It's revolutionary (I think).

[Speelgoedmannetje]

I guess the thing is that Wolfram Alpha is a totally different concept and when I read on the BBC website such bold statements that it's possibly going to be a challenge to Google then I was expecting much more straight away... as you say perhaps it will indeed grow to become something much more

Then they got a totally wrong image of WolframAlpha.
It's something totatally different, and Google (the company) might well be interested

[Karlos]

Ehm, it combines indexable data with computable data.
I just love what they were thinking.
It's revolutionary (I think).

It uses indexable data to feed it's family of algorithms and derive knowledge from it. It doesn't simply search and rank indexable data in the same way search engines do.

[motorollin]

:LOL:

Does it contain bifidus digestivum? Bifidus actiregularis? L. casei immunitas?

Or is it just trussed up crack?

[hooligan]

So, has anybody else tried it yet?

http://www.wolframalpha.com/ - rather intriguing.

It's very different from the usual search engine paradigm, instead you can ask questions, enter formulae etc.

For some reason though, the page renders extremely slowly on firefox 3 here at work (fedora 10)

Rather useless, I'd say. 99% of times Google is more of your friend, and usually it doesn't give answers to trivial questions. Thumbs down.

[motorollin]

It can divide by zero?

Actually it can
http://www30.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=1%2F0

[GadgetMaster]

Rather useless, I'd say. 99% of times Google is more of your friend, and usually it doesn't give answers to trivial questions. Thumbs down.

Well Google and Wolfram both got the answer right when asked:

What is the answer to life the universe and everything?

[motorollin]

I tried asking it some questions about the Amiga and all it responds with is:

"Wolfram|Alpha isn't sure what to do with your input."

It's shite.

I think some people are missing the point. It's not supposed to give you trivial information or return search results. Read the FAQ if you want to understand its purpose.

IMO the AI behind it is more exciting than the actual usefulness of it. Imagine what it could mean for human-computer interaction if the parser were developed to a sufficient level to accurately interpret spontaneous language, and the database were complex enough that the computer could make sense of, and respond appropriately to, whatever you say to it.

[Karlos]

Rather useless, I'd say. 99% of times Google is more of your friend, and usually it doesn't give answers to trivial questions. Thumbs down.

People seem to be completely unable to grasp that this isn't a search engine. It's a computable knowledge engine. They are completely and utterly different.

If the system has a downfall it will primarily be due to this, I suspect.