Dear CK - I just found a software tool that could help you tremendously in your research. I am grateful there is someone like you who is willing to sacrifice her own personal life for the good cause.
With this tool, instead of doing Yahoo-Search-Copy-Paste, now you can do WordCruncher-Copy-Paste and you can search for complete expression such as "embedded Y2K doomsday apocalypse testament bible Noah bagel meltdown" etc.
Survivor Mike.
P.S. CK, you were right about Rob L.
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Small Utah Co Tries 'Craziness' With Search Engine Auction
By Mark Boslet
PALO ALTO, Calif. -- Silicon Valley executives like to break new ground with their products and technologies. Now a small Provo, Utah, software company aims to break new ground with its sales method.
WordCruncher Publishing Technologies Inc. wants to auction to the highest bidder a license for its WordCruncher search engine software - technology developed by Brigham Young University researchers for finding computer information.
So last week it faxed rather breathless bulletins, without the company's name attached, to the chief executives of 41 prominent technology firms, including Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) and Internet navigation market leader Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO). The bulletin - to be followed this week by a more detailed mailing that will identify the company and include a software sample - made the claim that come Groundhog Day, the day of the auction, all other Web search technology will become obsolete.
It's no surprise that industry executives find the assertion hard to believe.
But it's no surprise, either, that WordCruncher sees a need to go to such lengths. Internet navigation is dominated by several large, well-established sites, such as Yahoo and Excite Inc. (XCIT), and this unusual promotional effort reflects "how tough it is to establish an identity in search-and-retrieval technology," said Ron Rappaport, an analyst at Zona Research Inc.
"It's a giant marketing attempt to draw attention to another technology," he said.
But there actually may be some truth to the WordCruncher claim. Mark Cannon, a former project manager at General Electric Co.'s (GE) Schenectady, N.Y., research center, was sent by GE to examine WordCruncher, and came away impressed.
"Nobody has done what they've done," said Cannon, who now runs a small business in Utah. "They've still got a couple years lead" on other search technologies.
Any advantage would clearly be valuable to Internet surfers, increasingly frustrated by the hundreds, and many times thousands, of responses they get to Web queries.
Cannon said the software stands out for its ability to search in numerous languages. Beyond English, it understands Chinese, Japanese, Hebrew, Eastern European languages and many other tongues, WordCruncher officials say.
May Be Too Late To Win Share Of Market
The search program also does better proximity searching, allowing users to whittle down the number of responses they get, Cannon said. For example, someone interested in the migratory patterns of North American butterflies might type in the keywords "butterfly" and "Mexico," and expect the search engine to find information about butterflies that winter in Mexico.
WordCruncher Executive Vice President James W. Johnston also said the software gives users greater information about responses by printing surrounding sentences and phrases with keyword searches.
Still, industry executives are skeptical. Yahoo! looks at interesting technology, said Farzad Nazem, senior vice president, but "I wouldn't say the door is way open." Far too many people have technology they think is revolutionary, he said.
"We always look at technology," agreed Infoseek Corp.'s (SEEK) Leo Jolicoeur, vice president of product management and business operations. But Infoseek already offers proximity searching, he said.
In all likelihood, "it's too late" for a company such as WordCruncher to break into the Internet navigation business, said Keith E. Benjamin, an analyst at BancAmerica Robertson Stephens. "The game is over."
But WordCruncher Chief Executive M. Daniel Lunt, a former vice president at WordPerfect Corp., isn't dissuaded. Already Oracle Corp. (ORCL) and Sun Microsystems Inc. (SUNW) have expressed some interest in looking at the technology, he said.
And while the auction idea "has a slight aura of craziness about it," he admitted,"I think it will get some attention."
And if the attention generates a sale, that could mean - depending on the type of license a company wants - anywhere from $10 million to $60 million for WordCruncher, he said. |
