March 2009

Wolfram Alpha and the expectations game

Wolfram|AlphaStephen Wolfram made a post on his blog last week that sent hearts in the geekier corners of the Internet a-flutter. If Steve Jobs is the prototypical rock star geek, known the world over for his genius and one-dimensional wardrobe, then Mr. Wolfram is the influential indie rock act, influential in all the right places if not quite a household name. Wolfram's post unveiled his latest project: a search engine called Wolfram Alpha.

Within a couple of days, news of Wolfram's announcement started to spill over into the mainstream media. "British scientist developing 'Google killer' search engine" exclaimed the Telegraph. Fox News reported that Wolfram Alpha was positioned to "challenge Google". A ZDNet blogger asked if Wolfram Alpha was just "lots of hype".

Welcome to The Crowd Source

There's really no simple place to start when launching a blog, except perhaps to just say: welcome!  We are glad you've somehow made your way over -- and now know, put simply, that the onus is on us to continuously earn your interest and trust.  So, without further adieu, here's a bit about what you can expect to find here:

The Crowd Source, officially, is as the blog's subtitle states: 'a running conversation about the webs we weave'. Meaning, not just a listening post to the daily machinations of the interwebs, but a sincere hat-tip to the reality that online marketing done well and right must be rooted in those conversations in which the "crowds" are already immersed.  Towards that end, The Crowd Source will frequently use the lens of search to assess these realities.