So i think it is awesome that seth godin was able to “convince” google to give joel on software a google search appliance. That is amazing. I mean - Joel probably needed a better search engine, but what makes me mad is this:

Wikipedia needs a better search engine more than joel on software needs a better search engine. Wikipedia is probably one of the coolest sites on the internet right now. It allows such a diverse array of content editors and knowledge holders. The articles are well written and quite good. Of course their is a couple problems with quality and truth - but for the most part the allowance of anyone to edit keeps the truth breakers in check. So you have this amazing website that is revolutionizing content creation on the ole’ internet and it has one giant problem - nobody can find a damn thing because the search is so fucking shitty. Seriously. Go to worldbook.com (my former employer - where i helped implement search) and make a search for “wolrd war 2.” Now goto to wikipedia and do the same search “wolrd war 2.” WTF. Why is “Medieval: Total War Cheats” the first result. Why is it that their is no spell checking of search terms? Why does the number one encyclopedia have the number shit search engine. How do they expect to appeal towards children, parents and other wayward internet users if their search isn’t intuitive and makes finding what you are looking for hard to do. How can you “browse” the encyclopdia?

Anyway - this leads me to why i am mad at Joel on software’s new google search appliance. Why doesn’t google help wikipedia. I am sure that their is more to it than just them throwing a 5k box at wikipedia. But my point is this - why is joel on software being talked about as having bad search when the real issue is at the heart of the “web 2.0“. Oh sure - us coders love to be able to find joelonsoftware search results fast and easy. I mean. i love JOS and really enjoy reading his writing; and being able to search his writing is helpful. I am sure that google took seths advice and thought “lets flip the funnel and give joel a mini - this way he will blog about and everyone who has a large blog will want to buy and license a mini.” Great. Awesome. Meanwhile the internet is dieing and children can’t find their content - but coders can.

I think i am missing the point of joel getting a search appliance. I admit that. But i am still pissed that i can’t search on wikipedia and that i can on Joel on software. I mean wtf.
Can someone flip the funnel and buy wikipedia a freaking search engine (ENDECA!)!