I recently read John Battelle’s excellent book The Search on the beginnings of Google, and the many search pioneers such as WebCrawler, Altavista, Lycos, and others you may remember. I was struck by the way that I view information today: as a problem with a solution out there, waiting to be found.
A perfect example of this phenomenon is this algorithm reference, containing some problems I’ve solved before and most that I haven’t. The point here is that the next time someone (or me) has to answer a problem with an algorithm I’ve got a ready-baked place to go that is even more specific than Google.
Battelle points out the basic difference, in his opinion, between Google and Yahoo: Google creates results with algorithms, and Yahoo mediates results by using experts and group opinions. Who will provide better search? It probably depends upon what kind of question you want to answer. In the meanwhile, I’ve gotten smarter about solving the problems that I want to investigate.
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