A Computational Knowledge Huh What?

| Feb 18, 2010 | 3 comments

About 9 months ago I stayed up late, all geeked out about the launch of the new search engine that was more than just a search engine, it was going to change the way we search and in doing so change the world!!!! Well, of course, it hasn’t and most people have never even heard of it but this is a nifty little “computational knowledge engine” – or at least that is what it says it is.

It goes by Wolfram|Alpha and is the brain child of Stephen Wolfram.  It could possibly be the coolest “computation knowledge engine” ever!

Ask it anything…ask how much sugar is in a apple….19 grams, for your average apple but it goes on to tell you that they are assuming you mean and apple with skin, if you want to know what it is without the skin you click on that link and find it there are 18 grams of sugar. Which by the way, is a lot of sugar.

So, why is this a big deal? Think of the information that is right at your fingertips. Go to the site and enter your birthday, it will tell you exactly how old you are, right down to the day. It will tell you about any holidays or special events happened that date, it tells you what time the sun came up and when it went down.  If you enter a city name it will give you the population, as well as local time and current weather. It will tell you about nearby cities and their distance and population.

This might not seem like incredibly useful information right now, but keep in mind that they continue to compile all sorts of information and the “computational knowledge engine” that it promises to be is truly incredible.  Check it out at www.wolframalpha.com – and keep your eye on it, I believe, in time, it will shock and amaze you.

Oh and to be exact, it was 9 months, 2 days, 19 hours, 23 minutes, and 12 seconds ago that I first geeked out on Wolfram|Alpha.

Filed Under: Business • communication • Innovation • Internet • Reviews • Technology

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Michelle D'Attilio

About the Author

Michelle D'Attilio (@identify_urself) is the President of Corporate Identity Solutions, LLC, a branding and website development company. She is half of the TweetUp Girls (@tweetupgirls) with Jeanette Pham (@identifyourself) which helps businesses take their social media investment to the next level through social media based events. She is a self-described techy and gadget geek who is crazy about tennis. Identify-Yourself.com
  • http://intensedebate.com/people/Matthew_Baron Matthew_Baron

    I played with it a bit when it came out but didn't really find a use for it. I guess I hadn't adjusted my thinking to its uses.

    They do need to lower the iPhone app price by about $30 at least. $50 for Wolfram|Alpha is unreasonable.

  • http://www.identify-yourself.com identifyourself

    So THAT's why you know so darn much about the sugar content of … everything! That is one cool know-it-all thingy… I know there's a fantastic use for it, just have to figure out what exactly ;) btw, anytime your blog post title contains a "Huh?", I know it's going to be pure gold!

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/identify_urself identify_urself

    I totally agree on the app price. Why would you buy the app when you can just use the site from the phone. If it had been $5 I would have bought it. $30 is crazy talk.