https://www.boards.ie/ Wed, 24 Jun 2026 10:59:36 +0000 en wolfram alpha — boards.ie - Now Ye're Talkin' https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2055565648/new-search-engine-answers-questions Fri, 15 May 2009 13:51:20 +0000 After Hours IIMII 2055565648@/discussions New search engine to go live

Irish Times
Fri, May 15, 2009
Internet users are expected to get their first glance of a new type of search application which is likely to revolutionise the way people get information online today.
Unlike Google which retrieves webpages based on supplied keywords, Wolfram Alpha is, according to its developer Stephen Wolfram, a “computational knowledge engine" which promises to deliver specific answers to questions.

While it is not being officially launched until Monday, internet users will be able to follow a live webcast later today which will show the service going live.

Rather than being a search engine as we traditionally know it, the online service allows users to posit specific questions which it answers by retrieving the response from structured data.

Therefore, if an individual wants to know what the population of Dublin was in 1932, how many internet users there are in Asia or how much the movie Godfather II grossed at the box-office, for example, Wolfram Alpha will tell you.

It works almost like a cross between a search engine such as Google and an encyclopaedia and as well as offering responses to scientific questions also covers.

Rather than replacing search engines, the service is expected to co-exist with them and serve as an additional source.

The online service has been developed by Stephen Wolfram who also developed Mathematica, a leading application for doing complex math on desktop computers.

Wolfram Alpha is expected to handle about 175 million queries a day, or five billion per month.
© 2009 irishtimes.com

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