New Search engine for scientists and mathematicians

[rov1200]

This new search engine, released today, is said to surpass anything on the market when it comes to computational factors. Do you think it lives up to the hype? There is a demonstration of its powers!

http://www.wolframalpha.com/index.html

[squarebear]

I don't see how this is anything different. It's supposed to answer questions wriiten in plain English but if you put something like "Who was the American president in 1923" into google, you'll get the correct answer.

[ChuckFickens]

You do as well (though it would seem there must have been two presidents in 1923)

http://tinyurl.com/rchncl

;)

[Buenchico]

It will never be a 'search engine for the masses', simply because you need to learn the relevant syntax before you can use it. (I'd estimate that at least 98% of Google users don't know how to force it to include or exclude certain search terms, search only for specific strings, or search only on a particular domain. If people can't be bothered to learn such basic concepts, they're not going to get anywhere with Wolfram Alpha!).

However, for those of us who occasionally need to use the type of functions which it offers, it looks useful:
http://www.twine.com/item/122mz8lz9-4c/wolfram -alpha-is-coming-and-it-could-be-as-important- as-google

That, of course, assumes that it will actually work! ;-)
http://news.cnet.com/8301-11386_3-10242172-76. html

Chris

[fo3nix]

Trying to ignore Wolfram's hype as much as possible (anyone read New Kind of Science?), the principle is very good.

There are lots of stats collected around the world, much of it free to be accessed by most people. But it's very hard to use this data effectively, so it doesn't get used.

This is a tool to bridge this gap, so that this information can be made available.

It should be very good. Perhaps not WolframAlpha itself, but something similar in future years.

[rov1200]

Vanity means that it will never become a household name

[rov1200]

Wolfram Alpha is now up and running!

[squarebear]

Actaully, I just put "who was the American president in 1923" into it and was very pleasently suprised by its result.

Not only did it tell me who it was but also he was the 29th president, his start and end days of office., his vice president, full name, place of birth and more.

Nice one.

[MTbowels]

Err if it's that clever, how come when Itype in "how many people live in Wales", the answer is 5956? I don't think so!

[squarebear]

lol

[rov1200]

Because he has designed this site with the US mainly in mind he has taken wales to be the one in the states.

[squarebear]

Not true, it says "assuming Wales (United Kingdom)"