Search is Not Dead, Yet
Niall has some interesting things to say about the how discovery is the name of the game as opposed to web search. When connecting people on the web becomes de rigueur, yes, interesting problems like identity and trust will be solved, but that’s a long time away.
Even if the technology is available today, meaningful rollout to users beyond the pool of early adopters will take years. Ordinary folks are just coming to terms with booking flights online, watching videos on Youtube or Lolcat pic surfing. Habits are slow to change. Human nature is fascinating study in experiential toe-dipping. We love to try things out, but sweet coaxing can take hundreds of hours of meaningful web time.
Trust is not just a protocol that sits on the web and handshakes identified and verified partners; it’s a human act of faith. Sure, you can tell me you’ve solved a problem, but do I trust you enough to dip my toes?
People discovery is undoubtedly a driver for the future, but the calling death of Search at the cost of people discovery is short-sighted. Millions of people will continue to seek out and disseminate those search results found via Google or Live Search into the future, even when people discovery becomes a web reality. Habits, you see, are hard to break.
April 29th, 2008 at 11:24 am
Love the new look on the site. I agree on habits being hard to break. And that rapid adoption of something new is expediated when it connects with, empowers and coevolves with existing, hard-wired deeply engrained habits. The more primal the better. The more universal the better.
May 5th, 2008 at 10:33 am
Discovery does not trump search. They are not the same thing and do not solve the same issues. More discovery will mean more searching. Saying search is dead is like saying cheese is dead because whipped cream came about.
You discover buried treasure. You search the treasure trove you discovered. You discover this fantastic Italian cafe, you search the menu or the counter for food.
Discovery will unearth more information. There’s already too much information to handle or process. Connecting with people may enhance search but relying on connecting to people with all their inherent biases is damaging for the randomness that search can bring.
Search dies when humans know everything and have enough memory to retain all data in an easily retrievable way. Social networks are weak technological implementations of our real relationships with people and web search is a very very rough version of the constant drive to discover AND sort AND catalog knowledge.
May 12th, 2008 at 12:34 pm
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