Quick Comment: 5 Sites Better than Google
Just a quick comment on Harry McCracken’s provocatively-titled post “Five Sites That are Better than Google“. His picks? Bing, Aardvark (now Google Aardvark), Wolfram|Alpha, Twitter, and Siri.
For the moment, let’s leave aside the question of what makes a site “better” than Google (other a conceit to attract clicks like mine). And while we’re at it, the elevation of Bing or Twitter (or heck, any of these five sites) to the rarified stratum that Google occupies. (It is Fox News, after all.)
What got me blogging was the fact that he singled-out three Q&A services: Aardvark, Wolfram, and Siri. Tell us, Harry, what makes these sites better than Google?
[Aardvark] works well when you’d rather get quick advice from a few real knowledgeable people than scour Google results for relevant links on a question such as “Should I buy a mountain bike, a road bike, or a hybrid to ride around San Francisco?”
Wolfram|Alpha calls itself a “computational knowledge engine,” but I think of it as a 21st-century equivalent of a thick, fact-packed paperback almanac. It’s a vast repository of knowledge skewing towards the mathematical and scientific that you can explore by entering questions.
[Siri]’s a “virtual personal assistant” that uses voice recognition, your GPS location, and links to local information and services to respond to requests you speak into an iPhone 3GS.
The answer? Their ability to deliver precise bits of information — without having to “scour” Google results. That’s also where he sees value in Bing:
[With Bing Travel], You can enter dates and locations for plane tickets or hotel stays, then get a grid of results that you can further refine — to direct flights only, for instance, or to hotels with swimming pools.
Despite the attention-grabby headline, I love articles like these because it suggests conscious is changing regarding Web search. While traditional search engines aren’t going away anytime soon, consumers are beginning to see value in services which can get you to the content you’re really looking for — or, at the very least, can hook you up with experts who can help you get on the right track.
What’s particuarly interesting about Aardvark, Wolfram, and Siri is that they’re all providing access to information that has been created — and vetted — by humans. Vark is brilliant because it lets you ask questions to your social network en masse — without having to wait for anyone friend to pick up and tell you “I have no clue.” Siri makes sure you don’t have to search Yelp or Gayot or yes, Google, to be able to find if Boom Noodle closes at 8 or 10 pm on Sundays. Wolfram saves you the trouble of trying to cram the latest Information Please almanac in your pocket.
Yes, all of this information is great. And yes, I use all of three of these services every day. But truth be told, I find all of them a little unsatisfying: I’ve got so many more questions that these services can’t answer. Here are just a few that I thought of this morning while watching the Winter Olympics:
- What’s Sidney Crosby’s number?
- What country did the Winter Olympic sport of skeleton originate in?
- Who is the fastest female luger? (And where can I meet her?)
Like I said, I’m an enthusiastic user of Q&A services. (And yes, I’m building one of my own.) But I want these services to be transformative: to do things that I could never do myself (even if I had the time and energy). Don’t just improve access to data sources that I could likely manipulate myself. Give me access to knowledge that I could never have.
I know, I’m impatient. And lazy: I could probably spend time pouring over search results to find my answer. Or go to Wikipedia. But I want what Harry wants: content at my fingertips. I may be more greedy than Harry, though: I want all of it.
Tags: q&a, semantic search, siri, Swingly, wolframalpha
