On the other hand, try "4.7L/100km to mpg" in both. Alpha understands the question and reformats it nicely but then doesn't calculate the answer. Google just gives the answer.
it works if you match the ratio (i.e. 100km/4.7L : m/g) but it probably should understand that input and maybe have the result as blah^-1
Another thing I noticed about Wolfram Alpha is that it knows almost nothing about fictional characters. "Who is Luke Skywalker?" produces nothing.
That's the most poignant argument for WA that I've seen yet.
Who needs to do "integrate 1/log(x)" in a website?
i've been using it for plotting/calculations while learninating some subjects. i like it because the interface is elegant compared to say my TI-89 and even Mathematica with its ugly square brackets
or this one (the utility is questionable, but it's the kind of derived data that makes WA "computational")
http://www91.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=population+of+India*p...
Sorry, but Google and Wolfram Alpha are different beasts. Wolfram Alpha is aimed at a much smaller audience than Google. That doesn't necessarily mean that it can't be just as important one day -- the number crunchers get everything useful done in this society, after all.