[whatwg] Trying to work out the problems solved by RDFa

[Charles McCathieNevile]

On Sun, 04 Jan 2009 16:37:08 +1100, timeless <timeless at gmail.com> wrote:

> On Sun, Jan 4, 2009 at 3:49 AM, Charles McCathieNevile  
> <chaals at opera.com> wrote:
>> No, I don't think so. Google searches based on analysis of the open web  
>> are *not* generally more reliable than faceted searches over a reliable  
>> dataset, and in some instances are less reliable.
>
> dunno. i use google to search apple, msdn, and a number of other
> technical resources because the actual technical resource search
> engines are unusable/useless.

Sure. That's wonderful that Google are so good (or sad that the people who  
make the information you rely on are so useless).

> i also use gmail (which i presume shares some intelligence with
> google) to manage access to bug databases, because it's faster/smarter
> than the actual database search engine..

And I use my Opera's filters to search for certain things because they are  
far more efficient than the full-text search I also use. It depends on the  
use cases.

My point is not that Google is bad. It is that there are all kinds of  
search where it is not the best. One set are those which reliy on faceted  
information and on well-developed metadata. I don't know what searches you  
do, but I know that some databases I search are dreadfully maintained and  
free-text is the only sensible approach, while others are well-designed  
and I can get better results from a tool designed for the job I am trying  
to do.

Anecdotal evidence that demonstrates there is a use case for Google is  
something we probably don't need. I think that we are all convinced that  
Ian's employer is important - not least because it kindly pays Ian for his  
work. I think the question is to establish what cases doesn't Google  
serve. (Well, and the rest of the search engine market, who I believe are  
the majority of searches performed globally even on the public internet).  
And my further question to Ian is what are the criteria for deciding  
whether a case is sufficient.

cheers

Chaals

-- 
Charles McCathieNevile  Opera Software, Standards Group
     je parle français -- hablo español -- jeg lærer norsk
http://my.opera.com/chaals       Try Opera: http://www.opera.com