Wolfram|Alpha, like magic, almost
Posted by Francis | Posted in Internet Stuff | Posted on 19-05-2009
Tags: Answers, knowledge, magic, wolfram
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This weekend something amazing happened. That thing is almost human, it is Wolfram|Alpha (ok, from now on I will stop putting in the |). It is a new way of getting answers, some say it’s like an encyclopedia. They’d be right really, kind of. It consists of a vast database and some very clever algorithms to make it a powerful way of getting answers to almost anything. You can watch a video here:
http://www93.wolframalpha.com/screencast/introducingwolframalpha.html
I love this but it has baffled some. A lot are comparing to Google, saying it could be a “Google Killer”. Anyone saying that doesn’t quite understand it. Google is a Search Engine, it finds sites, people, possibly sites with answers you seek, but it doesn’t primarily provide answers (it does a little for calculations or “1 USD in GBP” etc.).
Wolfram is a tool to answer, purely to answer, and it does this pretty well (remember, it is an Alpha so is not complete) with a different template of answers depending on your question type. Have a play anyway. The tech channels have been going crazy about it (try 88mph or “how many roads must a man walk down?”). I like the humour on some answers.