Mitch Joel over at TWISTIMAGE on the potential of YouTube search:
Not sure how to wash a dog? Change a diaper? Jailbreak an iPhone? Build a deck? Do a magic trick? Play the solo in Van Halen’s ‘Running With The Devil’? Understand what Google TV will be? Whatever random question you have, someone, somewhere has created a video with the answer and the tutorial on how to do it.
Back in May 2009, Stephen Wolfram launched an ambitious effort that seemed likely to re-carve the landscape of internet search — www.WolframAlpha.com. Stephen’s project provides precise [and sometimes amusing] answers to what seems to be nearly every category under the scientific sun.
With Statistics, Physics, Geography, Medicine and Nutrition to name just a few, WolframAlpha search is unequivocally a stellar scientific tool. Using it though [for everyday search] is like walking into a physics class to find a recipe on how to make meatballs.
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