Google Squared is life! Is it better then WolframAlpha? Or is it Google's first missed opportunity?

Finally,

Without a sound, suddenly Google Squared is live.

How are the first impressions? Will it match up with WolframAlpha? Or is the Wolf down before it's conception?

Well, to be fair. The Wolf strikes. It seems to have a much smarter way of analysing data. Or; on interpreting questions and modelling relevant data.

Without knowing too much on the WolframAlpha engine, I guess they need much more efforts to model their algorithms, but when it's up... It will keep on running. You can compare it with the Pandora music system (WolframAlpha) and the last.fm music system.

The first analyses data. The second shows user-feedback.

What does this mean for Google Squared?

For example, do a search with http://www.google.com/squared on "netherlands'.

It will show you, in a spreadsheet like setup:


Amsterdam

Rotterdam

Utrecht

Eindhoven

Aruba

Tilburg

The Hague



Even though the Netherlands remained neutral in this war, Amsterdam ... Amsterdam is intensely urbanized, as is the urban area surrounding the city. ...
The Power of Knowledge
English
Netherlands

Just beyond Delft lies ROTTERDAM , at the heart of a maze of rivers and artificial waterways that together form the outlet of the rivers Rijn (Rhine) and ...
Amsterdam
Dutch
Netherlands

Until the golden age, Utrecht was the city of most importance in the northern ..... Utrecht Centraal's bus station is the busiest in the Netherlands. ...
116.49
English
Netherlands

Eindhoven did not become part of the Netherlands until 1629. ... Eindhoven remained a minor city after that until the start of the industrial revolution. ...
Amsterdam
Dutch
Netherlands

An autonomous region within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Aruba has no administrative subdivisions. Unlike much of the Caribbean region, Aruba has a dry ...
Oranjestad
Dutch
Kingdom of the Netherlands

Plan a Tilburg vacation with reviews, tips and photos posted by real travelers and Tilburg ... Interesting intricacies of the local culture in Tilburg. ...
No value found
Dutch
Netherlands

Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands lives and works in The Hague. ... Later, the counts of Holland used The Hague as their administrative centre and residence ...
No value found
English
Netherlands

As you might know, this is just a very small part of the Netherlands : )

On the contrast, WolframAlpha serves us with really almost ALL information (in numbers, graphs and pictures) about the Netherlands.

Users cannot give feedback on WolframAlpha results. Google Squared "squares" it's results, based on suggestions of users. And frankly, although I'm a big Google Fan and can't wait to get my hands on one of those Google Wave invites, I think the Squared system is cumbersome.

We will have to await future developments - but faced with the same choice I had many years ago (Pandora vs. last.fm), I chose Pandora / WolframAlpha once more. It's basic setup and logic just appeal to me more, with better a purer results.

What do you think? Love to hear from you.



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(more info on music philosophy: http://www.stevekrause.org/steve_krause_blog/2006/01/pandora_and_las.html)