Wolfram Alpha vs. Google — Results Vary 255
wjousts writes "Technology Review has an article comparing various search results from Wolfram Alpha and Google. Results vary. For example, searching 'Microsoft Apple' in Alpha returns data comparing both companies stock prices, whereas Google top results are news stories mentioning both companies. However, when searching for '10 pounds kilograms,' Alpha rather unhelpfully assumes you want to multiply 10 pounds by 1 kilogram, whereas Google directs you to sites for metric conversions. Change the query to '10 pounds in kilograms' and both give you the result you'd expect (i.e. 4.536 kg)."
Re:Conversions (Score:5, Interesting)
Funny, but it could be improved. I tried to get Google to convert decimal to hex the other day, no luck. It also doesn't convert radioactive decays per minute (dpm) to microcuries. These would be useful. Not that I can't do it myself.
Re:this just in (Score:5, Interesting)
Direct answers (Score:4, Interesting)
I expect something from Wolfram like the answer Google gives to this question:
How old is Demi Moore?
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=how+old+is+demi+moore&btnG=Search [google.com]
At the top, you'll see text that says:
Demi Moore -- Age: 46 years (born November 11, 1962)
According to: (some source) [more sources]
This is the proper way of answering a question like that. I don't want just the answer. I want to know where the answer came from.
How many french died at the Battle of Agincourt?
I expect a number from Wolfram Alpha, as well as a cited source. There could also be, like Google, the option to choose other sources.
Eventually, this will all boil down to me driving in my car and saying, "Computer. Tell me: At what speed did Marty McFly need to drive to travel in time?"
Re:Well, of course (Score:5, Interesting)
Even worse, "10 pounds kilograms" is not nonsense. It is the standard way (except for the s on "pounds") to mean that you have some funny unit that is mass squared. Alpha gets it right, Google gets it wrong.
Alpha does not tell you when you don't understand your own question, though, I guess. ("You have asked a question that only makes sense if you know basic physics. Are you sure you know basic physics? (Y/N)")
Re:Well, of course (Score:3, Interesting)
As a human I don't know what the correct answer to "Microsoft Apple?" is. Or "Sydney New York?".
Do you want info on running Microsoft Office on Apple Macs? Trying to find if there are a town called Sydney in NY state, etc!
I think it would be better if Alpha asked for clarification.
Finding the magic word (Score:5, Interesting)
Most search systems do well if you can find the "magic word", the word or phrase which nearly uniquely describes what you're looking for. When you're searching for something which is described with common words, not terms of art, search engines usually don't do well. That's where to test Alpha, which supposedly has some "understanding" of its data.
Here's an example of something I was doing today. I'm sketching out a design for a special-purpose DC-DC converter, something I haven't done before. I'm looking at a data sheet for a transformer, and at the rules for describing a transformer to LTSpice, a circuit simulator. LTspice wants a value K, the "coupling coefficient". The data sheet for the transformer has various numbers about the transformer, but not the coupling coefficient. How do I calculate the coupling coefficient?
It turns out that the magic words for answering this question are "leakage inductance". Once you know that, you can find the Wikipedia entry that gives the necessary conversion formulas, and calculate the coupling coefficient. Until you find the magic words, though, it's tough. If you just go looking for "coupling coefficient" in Google, you're directed to theory papers. "Leakage inductance" is the number that appears in data sheets, because it's directly measurable.
If Alpha can answer questions like "How do I compute the coupling coefficient for a transformer given the data sheet parameters?", it will be a nice capability.
Yet, if you put in the entire phrase "How do I compute the coupling coefficient for a transformer given the data sheet parameters?" as a query to Google, you get as a first result a paper on how to model a transformer in LTSpice given data sheet information [cliftonlaboratories.com], which is exactly the right result to return. The answer is in that paper, and it's a good paper. Google does better at this than one might expect.