The service computes answers instead of pointing to the websites containing related information, and thereby intends to change the manner people use online data. WolframAlpha aims to offer users direct answers, which at times may be quite detailed in scope, to their queries rather than directing them to other websites.
However, in addition to Google, the new search engine also seems to take on Wikipedia by providing the required answers to the users’ queries by just simply entering the requisite search term in its search window. It presents users with annotated pages of required info rather than a list of websites.
Wolfram, who earned a PhD in theoretical physics from Caltech at the age of 20, said: "The basic idea of WolframAlpha is very simple. You type your input, your question and WolframAlpha produces a result."
Wolfram said WolframAlpha is a "long-term project." "We´re trying to take as much of the world´s knowledge as possible and make it computable," he said. "So that anyone, anywhere can just go to the Web and use all that knowledge to compute answers to their specific questions."
According to AFP, Google dominates online search in the United States with a more than 64 percent share of the market followed by Yahoo! with 20 percent and Microsoft with less than 10 percent, according to industry tracking firms.
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