Re:Are Algorithms the Magic Bullet?
by J_McQuade on Monday August 31, 2009 @12:25PM
(#796207)
Good comment.
Saying that algorithms are the secret to the success of Google and the like is like saying that tunnelling machines are what made the London Underground popular - not quite true. Obviously, once they'd had the idea for the Underground, designing and building the machines for its construction became an absolute necessity which allowed them to create a far more wide-reaching network than previously thought possible - but this ignores the fact that people would still have used it if it had remained a hand-dug tunnel between King's Cross and Paddington.
In short, one could say that insight makes things popular while implementation makes them excellent - and that you should really be aiming for both.
Re:Are Algorithms the Magic Bullet?
by coderdude on Monday August 31, 2009 @05:08PM
(#796724)
I'm not sure that's a good analogy. People would not use Google if it had "hand-dug" search results. It's that algorithmic edge that makes Google useful for finding things.
Saying that algorithms are the secret to the success of Google and the like is like saying that tunnelling machines are what made the London Underground popular - not quite true. Obviously, once they'd had the idea for the Underground, designing and building the machines for its construction became an absolute necessity which allowed them to create a far more wide-reaching network than previously thought possible - but this ignores the fact that people would still have used it if it had remained a hand-dug tunnel between King's Cross and Paddington.
In short, one could say that insight makes things popular while implementation makes them excellent - and that you should really be aiming for both.