Though creator Stephen Wolfram says that he is creating a computational data engine and not a search engine, it could eventually become as important if not more than the current leader. Here's why
Though creator Stephen Wolfram says that he is creating a computational data engine and not a search engine, it could eventually become as important if not more than the current leader. Here's why
There is an excellent line in Hrishikesh Mukherjee's film Namak Haram, where Raza Murad's character says, "Jeene ki arzoo mein mare jaa rahe hai log, marne ki arzoo mein jeeye jaa raha hoon mai" (people who want to live are dying; I want to die, but I'm still living).
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And when this film was released in 1973, there was no Web, but this line is relevant today in the context of search engines because search engines that have tried to dethrone Google have failed, but a computational data engine that doesn't want to challenge Google may do what competitors failed to do.
Challenging the king
It would seem ridiculous if you were to read that a new search engine is being launched. After all, if established giants like Yahoo and Microsoft can't take on Google, who can? And it is perhaps with this logic that Stephen Wolfram, a British physicist, mathematician, and businessman who has launched wolframalpha. com, has said that he is not interested in a comparison between Wolfram Alpha and Google.
But there are those who believe that this could be important. Nova Spivack, an entrepreneur, semantic web pioneer, and technology visionary, has said that Wolfram Alpha could be as important as Google.
Is it possible?
There are times when a certain technology looks unbeatable and Google, like it or not, is there now. People don't say 'search it', they say 'Google it'. And if you apply this logic, then yes, Wolfram Alpha or any other search engine for that matter doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell of taking on Google. This is because people are comfortable with Google.
But we also have to consider one other question why do people search? There are many answers, but the simplest one could perhaps be this because they seek answers. Using this context, any systemu2014I'm specifically avoiding the usage of the term 'search engine' here that gives you answers could be a success, Google or no Google. It need not dethrone Google, merely coexist along with the market leader.
What it does
As nytimes.com puts it, '...Wolfram's service does not search through Web pages, and it will not help with...camera shopping. Instead it computes the answers to queries using enormous collections of data the company has amassed.'
So, you have it in one lineu2014what it does and what it doesn't. And it is useful to people, they will be using Wolfram Alpha for computing answers and Google for finding answers on the Web, as they have done for a while. Of course, if Wolfram Alpha decides one day to also search the Web, then Google could have some serious competition, right?
QUICK TAKE
>>Wolfram Alpha is going to be launched soon
>>The service doesn'tu00a0compete with Google
>>But one day, it may become as important
Sneak peek
David Talbot, chief correspondent with technologyreview.com, was one of the few lucky people who got to test drive wolframalpha.com. Naturally, he compared it with Google. When he searched for 'Cancer New York' Wolfram Alpha showed him from where Cancer could be found in the night sky as viewed from New York. Google's first link was to the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre in New York. Just goes to show that natural language processing, which Wolfram Alpha uses, has its limitations!
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