When it comes to search engines you can’t get better than Google?  However, Wolfram Alpha may be poised to send shock waves through the digital world with a new take on the established search engine.

In recent years Google has dominated the digital world and replaced Microsoft as the technology super-power, but every reign has to come to an end. On May 09 2009 Wolfram Alpha is set to change the way we search the web with its natural language interface it seems that Stephen Wolfram’s creation could make searching the web more human.

It will be based on the same familiar Google single input field, but will work in a very different way.  It won’t just search its database for keywords it will compute the answers from questions asked in many different ways.  I won’t even begin to get into the science behind this, so here is an article from cnet.com that may help explain the ins and outs more clearly.

In short, Google will help you find the car, music or holiday you’ve been looking for, while Wolfram Alpha will give you facts about subjects in a more intuitive way than Google can at the moment.  Obviously Google will be watching Wolfram Alpha with interest, and I am sure they would love to own it which with their power shouldn’t be too much of an ask.

However this turns out, Wolfram’s search facility can only mean more options and clearer answers for the end user, while at the same time keeping Google on its toes which is no bad thing.  I wait with interest for May 09 and potentially the next digital revolution.