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Re:Like Google, Only Much, Much Worse by stratomorph on Tuesday May 19, 2009 @12:21AM (#616236)
What Wolfram Alpha needed was to avoid the Spore-style overhype in the days leading up to release. It was nearly inevitable that a product touted as "the Google killer" would get slammed on the rebound, regardless of actual performance. As long as they manage to avoid getting a unit of measure named for them, or returning results about handing hamburgers to crying mimes while the universe abruptly fails to exist, they'll be doing better than some.
Re:Like Google, Only Much, Much Worse by pg on Tuesday May 19, 2009 @12:47AM (#616271)
Yes, if they'd just described it as a free, online window into Mathematica for ordinary people, everyone would be talking about how cool it was that it could do such a huge range of calculations.
Re:Like Google, Only Much, Much Worse by amichail on Tuesday May 19, 2009 @01:08AM (#616294)
That wouldn't get as much publicity. Most people hate math.
Re:Like Google, Only Much, Much Worse by vlad on Tuesday May 19, 2009 @01:37AM (#616326)
pg submitted Wolfram's announcement of Mathematica 7 a few months ago, and believes in launching early and then iteratively improving the product. I think he might have been sarcastic.

I think Wolfram really does want as many users as possible. This is a type of search engine, not an online version of Mathematica. Students may stay for the step-by-step solutions to many types of math problems, but statistics on how real people use and seek to benefit from such a product are what Wolfram must really be after.

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=369056

Re:Like Google, Only Much, Much Worse by pg on Tuesday May 19, 2009 @02:35AM (#616372)
I wasn't being sarcastic.
Re:Like Google, Only Much, Much Worse by 1gor on Tuesday May 19, 2009 @03:08AM (#616400)
What Wolfram Alpha needed was to avoid the Spore-style overhype

To avoid? I'm quite sure he (or his PR firm) has engineered the whole hype thing.

Re:Like Google, Only Much, Much Worse by vaksel on Tuesday May 19, 2009 @01:37AM (#616327)
without the hype, wolfram alpha would have been a sidenote in history that noone heard about