Comments on: Wolfram Alpha http://writtenbyallof.us/2009/05/21/wolfram-alpha/ Fri, 20 Jan 2012 00:06:30 -0700 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.3 By: Don Harder http://writtenbyallof.us/2009/05/21/wolfram-alpha/comment-page-1/#comment-1526 Don Harder Thu, 21 May 2009 14:48:37 +0000 http://writtenbyallof.us/?p=1631#comment-1526 I have read similar reviews about its limitations. And it's actually called out in the ZDNet video. I still think it's a good idea -- whether it's Wolfram or Google who does it -- to make sense out of the bits of data floating out there in the interwebs. I have read similar reviews about its limitations. And it’s actually called out in the ZDNet video. I still think it’s a good idea — whether it’s Wolfram or Google who does it — to make sense out of the bits of data floating out there in the interwebs.

]]> By: Marq http://writtenbyallof.us/2009/05/21/wolfram-alpha/comment-page-1/#comment-1525 Marq Thu, 21 May 2009 14:46:47 +0000 http://writtenbyallof.us/?p=1631#comment-1525 Wolfram Alpha is a novel toy that is, at best, still in alpha. I don't see it really growing out of its tiny computational niche, largely because its keyword parser is even more limited than the datasets it manipulates--ask it "largest cities", and you'll get a decent list, but ask it any form of "largest american cities", and it'll stare back at you dumbly. It's a glorified calculator that can pull data from almanacs--and since Google seems to be adding that ability soon anyway... Wolfram Alpha is a novel toy that is, at best, still in alpha.

I don’t see it really growing out of its tiny computational niche, largely because its keyword parser is even more limited than the datasets it manipulates–ask it “largest cities”, and you’ll get a decent list, but ask it any form of “largest american cities”, and it’ll stare back at you dumbly.

It’s a glorified calculator that can pull data from almanacs–and since Google seems to be adding that ability soon anyway…

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