EU to Develop Search Engine 460
William Robinson writes "Digital Media is reporting that French President Jacques Chirac is making plans for a European search engine called "Quaero" to rival US internet companies such as Yahoo and Google. From the article: 'Those involved in the Quaero project, including Thomson, France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom, have said that it will be much more than a typical search engine. It will provide an array of multimedia tools for identifying and indexing images, sound and text. Quaero will also reportedly include a powerful translating tool which will be able to 'understand' audio as well as text. The developers plan to make Quaero available on all platforms, including PCs, mobile devices and digital TVs.'"
Quaero.com taken (Score:3, Insightful)
Inquiring minds want to know.
Check out http://www.quaero.com/ [quaero.com] - its a marketing company from Charlotte, North Carolina.
Not going to work well (Score:3, Insightful)
I'm not saying it won't happen, just that it'll face lots of problems in a new governmental organization that is still trying to get its feet under it.
Doomed to failure? (Score:4, Insightful)
It's great that the EU is trying to assert itself in this area - having the US control 90% of the internet's technology is exactly the type of monoculture that is decried on the desktop - but is there any way this project won't end up crushed under the weight of its own bureaucracy?
Re:Why? (Score:2, Insightful)
Missing Feature (Score:5, Insightful)
You know, I thought marketing vaporware claims were bad, but political marketing vaporware, now that's whole new dimensions of vapor. It's bad enough when marketing has excessive influence on tech development, can you imagine what it'll be like when politicians are involved as a matter of "national prestige"? I have not the humor chops to properly satirize that.
Three Cheers for an "Industrial Policy" (Score:5, Insightful)
The Soviets turned their national scientific and research genius into making *one* perfect washing machine, as the foolish Americans splintered their effort among competing companies tearing each other to shreds in destructive competition over shape and color.
"Today, we are behind you. Soon we will be even with you, and we shall pass you, in glorious progress toward perfect socialism and communism!" (or something like that).
How can feeble, fractured American enterprises like Yahoo and Google survive competition with the might of central, coordinated European industrial policy???
Right.
Can someone from the EU please explain..... (Score:0, Insightful)
A few points to the EU powermongers... (Score:5, Insightful)
2. Start asking us EU citizens if we'd mind you spending our cash on something that isn't really required
3. get out of the mindset that the internet is somehow defined by geographical borders and edges - just what is an EU search engine? Does it just search the EU? What?
4. How about attacking the problem of low tech-esteem in Europe not by building a government-sponsered programme (which no doubt will require taxpayers money to be thrown at it year on year), but by fostering an environment where private tech companies can flourish (like in the US).
I hope they change the name (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:I think it's called "independence". (Score:5, Insightful)
A:Ego
Also, it's not European companies, it's a European govenrment subsidising European companies.
This will most likely fail (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:Why Is This in Politics??!! (Score:4, Insightful)
In this you are very wrong. This is all about politics: get control of vital resources. EU views USA with Bush II in power with deep scepticism, and tries to wrestle as much control as they can since USA has become sort of unreliable. Quite simply, enemies of USA is scared more than ever and close allies are apprehensive. Those that thinks this is good are fools (not that I suggest that you thinks so).
Re:I think it's called "independence". (Score:3, Insightful)
This aptly describes US defence and areospace industry.
Doomed to failure and obscurity (Score:2, Insightful)
-d
Re:Also in the news: (Score:3, Insightful)
Let's make a bet (Score:2, Insightful)
Train both sets of people to become software developers.
Let's bet on the outcome. Public programmers are shams just like public workers in any public office. Cronying at best, lazy worthless animals at worst.
How Europeans continually think that they can compete by removing competition and giving it to government is beyond me.
Re:Why? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Why? (Score:5, Insightful)
And you really expect a self serving religious movement to exercise compassion efficiently? Compassionate people excercise compassion, not community organizations. Get enough money in an org and the greedy come in and push the compassion right out the door.
Say what? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Anything you can do I can do better... (Score:4, Insightful)
You do realize, don't you, that France is a nuclear power[0], and sold[1] to Iraq 12.5kg of 93% U-235 and "research reactor".
And lets not forget the direct German help[2] in creating Iraqi chemical weapons.
[0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France_and_weapons_o
[1] http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/iraq/facility/osira
[2] http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/iraq/cw/az120103.ht
Yeah why must hollywood remake french movies? (Score:5, Insightful)
The following bit of info may shock some people so please, little kids leave the room, adults brace youreselve.
GOOGLE SUCKS AS A SEARCH ENGINE
Anyone still around? Good, we judge google by its peers and its peers are the totall crappers so by comparison google looks pretty good. BUT imagine that the people at google had thought "Oh, there already is a search engine no need to make another." We would still be using altavista or something.
Google is fairly good at returning pages regarding obscure linux error messages. When however your search should include words in common usage or possible of a retail product or god forbid be associated in anyway with the adult industry then you are floundering in page after page of crap results.
There is an even worse problem. Despite all what the fanboys will tell you Google is a business. A business that now not just provides search and ads but is becoming a content broker itself.
Could google one day prefer its own pages over others? For now the opposite it seems, I can't get google to return its own videos that it sells BUT some goverments might feel that internet search has become such an important tool that there is some importance to having an alternative to just depending on the US.
America is a funny country, ever since WW2 america has been complaining that it has to do foot the bill for the entire world defence. Europe thinks of creating a european army and the US gets upset. US taxpayer pay for the free GPS of the entire world and they complain. EU makes it own version and americans get upset.
Here is a suggestion for americans, you run your country your way and we run ours our way.
What you are missing is that not every goverment has the same motives. Perhaps some feel that not being a slave to america is a good thing. Since you aren't paying for it with your taxes what business is it of yours?
You mean india surely (Score:3, Insightful)
But I got a suggestion for any eu citizen who thinks the US is heaven on earth. Emigrate. It is actually fairly easy provided you got some half decent job skills and money. No you are not allowed to say anything bad about US immigration policy, remember, your a US fanboy.
1. Pff, I link to it once and that is it. I can always google for it
2. I rather they spend it on this then on a war.
3. Perhaps a search engine that does not bow to the Chinese goverment in the name of the almighty dollar?
4. Yeah, because the top cellphone company is european and all your pc's are made in the US. No I rather we keep our model. So do the majority of EU voters. EU socialist, US capatalist. Move to location of your choice.
Re:How much will they have to block. (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:Let's make a bet (Score:2, Insightful)
I was mostly speaking of the french political elite which does seem to have no idea what they are doing. I would recommend them to read Frédéric Bastiat
Re:Anything you can do I can do better... (Score:2, Insightful)
Considering France has nuclear weapons, and the US is building both search engines and space exploration vehicles... I am reminded of the great quote by Pauli... your statement, frankly, "isn't even wrong".
Re:Why? (Score:3, Insightful)
This is, most likely, not the case. Healthcare, like gasoline, fresh water, and electricity is less an elective service, and more of a utility. In order to survive, you will most likely need health care at some point. It is highly unlikely that you will shop around while your appendix is bursting. And ultimately, you will pay whatever they tell you to pay, because you could die without it. In fact, a company could raise its profits considerably by raising the cost of curing whatever Bill Gates happens to have at the moment to 1 billion dollars. Huge profits and you only have to pay a few doctors to do it. Forget everyone else; you were only getting 20 bucks profit off of them anyhow. I realize this is an extreme example, but I use it to illustrate a principle.
It is unlikely that the free market will ever take over your municipality's provision of water to your home, due to the incredible cost involved to compete over a low priced product. The same holds true with your current energy provider. Also, there is unlikely to be a business to spring up that will remove the dead people who had no health care littering your streets and causing disease, as this is the sort of thing that only governments, through some law or measure, have proven in the past that they will respond to.
Please remember, there have been several times in human history where the totally free market concept has been in full effect and found severely wanting.
Re:Anything you can do I can do better... (Score:2, Insightful)
you may or or less right with your claims.
>You do realize, don't you, that France is a nuclear power[0], and sold[1] to Iraq 12.5kg of
>93% U-235 and "research reactor".
>And lets not forget the direct German help[2] in creating Iraqi chemical weapons.
But, I have at first the pictures in my mind, where Rumsfeld is meeting Sadam selling him US C-Waepons.
Or, maybe you remember the Antrax hipe? Wasn't it come from your own laboratories?
So the best would be to sweap before our own doors - right?
Re:Anything you can do I can do better... (Score:2, Insightful)
... and they used it to build a ton of WMDs that we know they are hiding. We know where the WMDs are, they are near Bagdad, North, South, West and East of Bagdad.
You americans are soooooooooo funny.
Sheesh (Score:3, Insightful)
This isn't the first time our dear (cough) beloved (gak) President presses for a catch-up plan in the digital world. Remember he started a project to digitize our paper legacy, in an attempt to counter Google's similar but english-language project.
Now I can vaguely undestand the motivation behind such a move: present a counter force against english-language cultural domination. (considering how China is growing, I'm not sure american culture is the one to be feared in the coming century). This *is* a cultural problem on the internet. I'd rather we all speak a common language, but to each his own.
Maybe he's trying to get his name in the history books for starting such projects. People tend to try that when they get to that age. I could understand that too.
Of course, this project would be in direct competition with Google, such as it's presented. It strikes me as basic economic common sense that a trans-european politically-led project has not a snowball's chance in hell in any market competition.
Maybe as an academic project?...
EU has self-esteem issues (Score:3, Insightful)
Now that it didn't quote work our, they decided to settle for the next big thing, which is have their own "European Search Engine".
What the hell is that? A joke? And I actually live in Europe so it hurts to say this. I'd be proud if an European company comes up with "the next Google" but coming from the French government it comes up as a "me too" behaviour.
Re:You mean india surely (Score:3, Insightful)
What the hell are you talking about?
http://www.google.de/search?hl=de&q=nazi&btnG=Goo
http://www.google.fr/search?hl=fr&q=Nazi&btnG=Rec
Re:You mean india surely (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Why? (Score:3, Insightful)
Yes. Google's founders are part of the market. Even if they developed a lot of it in college, they were still acting to fill a void in the market.
Maybe you interpreted "true need" improperly. The internet was not a need before it existed. It has since become a need.
Google sucks? (Score:1, Insightful)
News flash: SEARCH IS DIFFICULT. Yes, it would be nice if someone made a search engine that could read our minds and deliver exactly what we want. But the fact that a problem has a perfect solution doesn't mean that it is possible to get to that solution. I wouldn't hold your breath waiting for a "good" search engine to come along - if you are, you obviously don't understand the complexities of the problem.
Re:Anything you can do I can do better... (Score:3, Insightful)
Uh, I hate to tell you this, but it is almost certain that any government-run project will also be, in some way, profit motivated. And unlike the corporate-run project, it won't be readily apparent exactly what the objectives are because you can't easily see where the profit is going (or coming from, for that matter).
Why Google Won and Chirac Won't (Score:3, Insightful)
Perhaps Chirac can win part of the popularity contest in France by getting some academics and engineers to produce a service that's elegant, efficient, and French, something with the spirit of Eiffel as opposed to Inspector Clouseau or Derrida or De Gaulle or Sartre. Or perhaps he can pull off another Minitel - lightweight and pretty lame but good enough to get the job done given the lack of competition. And hopefully he can produce something that provides really good access to the information produced by the French government. But bureaucratic fiat isn't the way to produce popularity - you need a combination of luck, really really good technical skills, willingness to experiment, and a deep understanding of what your potential customers might want, and usually bureaucratic fiat produces things like bureaucrats and Fiats.
Re:Why Google Won and Chirac Won't (Score:5, Insightful)
Look who's in the boat here - that reads like a who is who of the Public Fundinds Burning Society. Deutsche Telekom, France Telekom, both fornmer state monopolists, Thomson, french electronics giant and perpetual receiver of ample state subsidies. The rest is probably of similar calibre.
While your intent here is right and the wordplay is cute, that's deeply offensive to a great Italian car tradition that is way more succesfull and receptive to their customers needs than any EU buerocrats pet project ever could be.
Re:Why? (Score:3, Insightful)
That's strange, those all sound ideally suited for the market.
Water, for instance, doesn't involve the utilities so much anymore. People drive to a store and pick-up a forklift-load of bottled water, or they have 5 gallon bottles delivered. People get to decide how much they are willing to pay, and what level of quality they require. I wouldn't be surprised if, in the near future, the utilities at least in Southern California will only be providing "grey" water, since they have so seriously screwed up what was previously drinking water.
Gasoline is bought and sold as a commodity. The problems with gasoline right now are the oil companies acting like a oligopoly, and the US government not doing their job to stop it.
With deregulation, customers can buy their electricity from any company they chose. They have to pay a base fee for the utility to maintain the lines, but it's largely capable of being market-driven.
For healthcare, you've only listed the most critical situation, as if it's typical. The large majority of health care costs are not from your surgery in the emergency room. When you have any disease that won't kill you in the next 24 hours, you have every opportunity to shop-around for a less expensive but fully qualified doctor/hospital/etc. I know most people do this for things like dentists, as that's less commonly covered under company health-care.
I have to agree with the OP that it's the socialized aspect of US healthcare that has caused medical prices to skyrocket. Doctors will ask you if you have insurance before they want to know anything else about you... If you have insurance, then they'll insist on running a large number of unnecessary tests to inflate the bill. They give uninsured people a break, but by virtue of being able to scam more money out of insured patients, it drives up the cost to the uninsured as well.
Please list a few. There are always the extrordinary situations, but it works pretty well.
Re:Yeah why must hollywood remake french movies? (Score:1, Insightful)