Journal wowbagger's Journal: Wolfram alpha - What is the big deal? 3
OK, I think I've been fair in trying out Alpha, but I just don't see it being useful - let me give you my use cases and see what you think:
Use case 1: I wanted to know the change in elevation from Moriarty, NM to Albuquerque, NM. OK, this should be easy for WA, right? "(elevation Moriarty, NM) - (elevation Albuquerque, NM)". Result? "I don't understand your question".
Use case 2: I wanted to know the energy of a red light photon in electron volts. "energy red light photon in eV". FAIL. OK, let's help it a bit: "energy 638nm photon in eV". FAIL.
The sad thing is that Use case 2 was answered by Google on the first question.
So, what was WA supposed to do for us again?
NOTE: "for us", not for "it's hype feeding creator."
Maybe you should rephrase the question? (Score:2)
Elevation of Moriarty, New Mexico - Elevation of Albuquerque, New Mexico [wolframalpha.com]
1263 feet
638nm in eV [wolframalpha.com]
1.9 eV
Re: (Score:2)
Fair enough, but if Alpha is not able to even deal with a couple of parenthesis or an extra word - if the questions have to be phrased "just so" to get meaningful answers - then is it really all that useful?
Re: (Score:2)
That is a fair enough statement as well -- unfortunately computers are still pretty far away from a "do what I mean" understanding of input. However, when we reach the day that is possible, it will be way cool.
I guess the tricks I've learned for dealing with Alpha are these:
If it's a question you'd ask to an ordinary person, ask in English except for the mathematical operators (the elevation difference problem).
If it's a question you'd ask a computer scientist or mathematician, put it in mathematical form