There is a lot of buzz around Wolfram Alpha, the ‘computational knowledge engine’ and I was priveleged to have a look around. So here are my very first impressions, hot of the press, if you will.

1. Wolfram Alpha is beautiful

From the clean design on the homepage, it just looks wonderful. It is clean and clear but does not ape Google like so many other challengers.

2. Wolfram Alpha is currently a knowledge engine.

This means it is pooling multiple sources of information and presenting you with its own answer, not a list of pages that may answer your questions.

3. Wolfram Alpha is not a search engine (yet).

Try looking for cheap flights and it will redirect you to Google.

4. Wolfram Alpha is still short of information.

(which is understandable at such an early stage.)

5. Wolfram Alpha has a potentially bright future.

From spending a small amount of time on the site, I feel that Wolfram Alpha may not be the next direct challenger for Google, but a potentially powerful hybrid between a search engine and a knowledge base like Wikipedia.

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