On 6/22/07, Jon Pruente <
jdpruente@gmail.com> wrote:
On 6/22/07, Billy Crook <billycrook@gmail.com> wrote:
> The author needs to learn how search engines work. You can't converse with
> them like a person. "Why choose linux?" is not a smart query. Maybe "linux
> benefits OR advantages".
This is the problem that Kozoru (the place where all the 1U rackmounts
servers around KC suddenly came from) was working on. It worked, but
when they sat test subjects down and had them use it, they had already
been "trained" for keyword searching. They might put in a few
questions, but they would shortly revert to keywords and end up
defeating the advantages of the new tech. The tech got bought and
moved to
Ask.com, as one of the Ask VPs had a stake in Kozoru. Ever
wonder why
Ask.com suddenly started doing a bunch of commercials about
a month or so ago, several months after Kozoru folded and
Ask.com had
time to get it integrated and working? ;)
Jon.
IIRC "Ask" is the current incarnation of what used to be called "Jeeves"
A naming that was intentionally evocative of an olde English butler.
With cartoonish theming carrying the meme a bit to extreme for many users.
The focus difference with "Jeeves" being that conversational queries were handled more gracefully than other search engines of that time could. With the results often being either very much spot on or weirdly way off. I used it for "game show" questions or soft searches like " how many cover versions of the Johnny Cash song "ring of fire" are there ?
Oren