Wolfram|Alpha fails to impress this blogger
My 1st inquiry for Wolfram|Alpha, Stephen Wolfram’s newly unveiled “computational knowledge engine” was this:
“snail shell”
And this is what I got back:
Wolfram|Alpha isn't sure what to do with your input.
I look under Tips for good results. It says, “Don’t use long complete sentences; just enter the minimum number of words needed to communicate.” My inquiry can’t possibly be shorter than those 2 words. Another tip was, “Wolfram/Alpha answers specific questions rather than explaining general topics Enter '2 cups of sugar', not 'nutrition information'. So, maybe I wasn't specific enough. I got more specific:
“composition of snail shell”
Wolfram|Alpha isn't sure what to do with your input.
Do I also have to provide the answer?
“calcium carbonate in snail shell”
Wolfram|Alpha isn't sure what to do with your input.
“largest snail on land”
Wolfram|Alpha isn't sure what to do with your input.
“penis of snail”
Wolfram|Alpha isn't sure what to do with your input.
May I suggest to Wolfram|Alpha that it can take my input and stuff it?
7 comments:
I just tried a few words and phrases. On a few economic words, it really missed the point. Upon asking it crayfish anatomy, it hasn't a clue.
It's obvious they need to go back and do some heavy duty soul searching.
So here is my recommendation.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y164/spongesgalore/1200895475266.jpg
You're right. I kept typing things in and kept getting that same non answer. Useless.
As they say "not ready for prime time!"
Charlie sturm
It managed OK with "What is a snail?"
However it thought a shell is a financial entity, and a slug is a unit for the measurement of weight.
I think the only info it can access on the topic of snails is the basic classification as Gastropoda and that's it.
When asked "what is a limpet?", it came up with Patella vulgata.
When asked "what is an escargot?", it came up with Helix pomatia along with author and date.
Pretty primitive, I would recommend sticking with Wikipedia for the time being!
Susan J. Hewitt
Yes, W/A scores a fat D - in biology. When I entered "Shark, dolphin, sea turtle" yesterday it returned a bogus phylogeny: [sea turtle+[shark+dolphin]]. Upon closer inspection it was actually a trichotomy, but just horribly and confusingly drawn. It appears that it is using coarse rank-based taxonomy to generate pseudo-cladograms...totally worthless. And potentially misleading
I gave up on trying to extract a sensible answer about zoology and entered my birth date intead. It assured me there were no notable events on that day. Surely some mistake there?
Howvere, I do now know the sunrise and sunset times in Melbourne on my birthday and also the phase of the moon!
I was born on the same day as Nostradamus. Probably why I talk bollox. Not my fault.
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