Last week, I saw first screenshots of WolframAlpha distributed via a few leading tech blogs. The idea, as far as I can understand from what is being said and shown, is really great. As great as what Mathematica did a decade earlier. I wasn’t excited that much for a while. Yet, just like Mathematica, only some people will realize the huge value of WolframAlpha and only those people will be using it in their lifetime.

Competing against Google? They seem to be on a very different track. I would expect Wikipedia to feel more pressure with WolframAlpha coming up…

Verdict: Great product, and I am up for becoming a lifetime user. A billion-$ success? Definitely no, but the social benefit should be enough for Mr. Wolfram…