If this eventually bears out in reality, will not be surprised if they make an attempt to buy DuckDuckGo since they align on privacy as a business model. However, I'm not certain how I would feel about the concentration in a few large players, which would be the outcome of that, although it sounds like it might increase rather than decrease the level of competition...
Apple showing signs it may soon launch a search engine
81–90 of 198 posts
Re: Apple showing signs it may soon launch a search engine
#82I hope they do – Google is far, far, far too dominant in this space, and small-ish incumbents don't really stand a chance. If they keep up their privacy-friendly stance, this could really become something neat. I'd like for at least a little bit of competition in the gatekeeper-for-human-knowledge space.
I honestly don't like my search results mingled with the advertising industry: there is bias in all results, you can't trust in information if it is not impartial. People used to create content to advance knowledge, but the amount of crap nowadays motivated my money (even if it is good quality) concerns me about the education of the human civilization as a whole. "The love of money (greed) is the root of all evil": G…
I wonder if there'd be any value in a search engine that recognized popular third-party ad networks and simply did not add to its index any page which includes them. (Or, at least, provided users an option to filter those results out.)
Re: Apple showing signs it may soon launch a search engine
#83I hope they do – Google is far, far, far too dominant in this space, and small-ish incumbents don't really stand a chance. If they keep up their privacy-friendly stance, this could really become something neat. I'd like for at least a little bit of competition in the gatekeeper-for-human-knowledge space.
For me, this is the big reason to celebrate this. A duopoly in search is at least marginally better than a monopoly. If Maps is any indication, people will bitch about it for a year or so, but after 2 years, 80%+ of users will be using it.
Personally, I'd love if Apple put this out there ad-free. Getting clean, honest search results was why I switched to Google to start with. Google's current platform where almost all search results above the fold are paid for is what we switched to Google to get away from. DDG is piles better in this regard now.
Re: Apple showing signs it may soon launch a search engine
#84Wish Apple would release a GPU line. A man can dream right?
Apple Silicon will use an Apple-designed GPU.
Re: Apple showing signs it may soon launch a search engine
#85No, thanks. Apple is notoriously horrible when it comes to localization: Apple Maps (localization, regional maps, regional traffic data, turn by turn), iOS supported languages, Siri supported languages, their new Apple Translate that only has 7-8 languages, Spotlight suggestions, etc. They're also very slow to expand their services, I think Apple News still only supports 4 countries. Just buy DuckDuckGo
ddg is 99% bing.
Man that 1% of icing is pretty amazing then.
Re: Apple showing signs it may soon launch a search engine
#86I hope they do – Google is far, far, far too dominant in this space, and small-ish incumbents don't really stand a chance. If they keep up their privacy-friendly stance, this could really become something neat. I'd like for at least a little bit of competition in the gatekeeper-for-human-knowledge space.
Maybe they should build their own indexing backend and buy up DuckDuckGo for the frontend/user base/etc.
Apple doesn't buy companies for their user base.
And while DDG's front end was innovative 20 years ago when Google did it, it's pretty basic (which I love) and shouldn't be too difficult to copy.
The big challenge with search is the index.
Re: Apple showing signs it may soon launch a search engine
#87It's always a tempting story - Apple have the resources, they could make a lot of money from making it the Safari and iOS default, and they're pushing in to services for growth, but people have been suggesting that Apple will launch a search engine "soon" for at least a decade. It hasn't happened yet and there's no particularly significant reason to believe it'll happen now. That said, it would be nice if Google had…
> Search really hasn't changed in any fundamental or even noticeable way for a long time. Perhaps I’m cynical but I do think search has changed in fundamental and noticeable ways in the last five years but none of the change has been for the better. More ads, more “personalized” with more tracking, more results based on what the algorithm thinks I mean instead of what I’ve actually typed. I much preferred Google circ…
>I much preferred Google circa 2006
2000 to 2002 was "peak Google" (and "peak internet") according to my preferences.
Re: Apple showing signs it may soon launch a search engine
#88If it's anything like Siri, I'll pass. Went back to the iOS ecosystem last year after being in Android/Google land for the past decade. I used Google Assistant on a daily basis easily 20-30 times and 99% of the time it got me what I needed. Siri can't even do a 1/10th of the things I used GA for, and that 1/10th that it does, it does so poorly that I don't even bother anymore.
What sort of tasks were you using GA for? I use mine to turn a smart plug on or off, and set a timer when cooking. Nothing else I've ever wanted to do via my Pixel 2 is reliable enough to waste time trying. Sending a WhatsApp while driving is the one thing I keep wanting to do, but it's hopeless.
Depends on the phone. Bought a Pixel 3a to use after I lost my Pixel 2 in a car accident. The 3a picks up way less than the 2. But honestly, using my Google Home is super pleasant.
"Hey Google, turn on the lights"
"Hey Google, good night" -> reads me my agenda, asks me for an alarm time
Wake up, walk to the bathroom, "Hey Google, play the Economist podcast" while I brush my teeth. "Hey google, shuffle my thumbs up playlist" as I walk to the shower.
"Hey Google, set a timer for x seconds" while I'm cooking.
Fantastic tool.
Re: Apple showing signs it may soon launch a search engine
#89I hope they do – Google is far, far, far too dominant in this space, and small-ish incumbents don't really stand a chance. If they keep up their privacy-friendly stance, this could really become something neat. I'd like for at least a little bit of competition in the gatekeeper-for-human-knowledge space.
I honestly don't like my search results mingled with the advertising industry: there is bias in all results, you can't trust in information if it is not impartial. People used to create content to advance knowledge, but the amount of crap nowadays motivated my money (even if it is good quality) concerns me about the education of the human civilization as a whole. "The love of money (greed) is the root of all evil": G…
Buy books then.
Re: Apple showing signs it may soon launch a search engine
#90Earlier quoted context omitted.
What sort of tasks were you using GA for? I use mine to turn a smart plug on or off, and set a timer when cooking. Nothing else I've ever wanted to do via my Pixel 2 is reliable enough to waste time trying. Sending a WhatsApp while driving is the one thing I keep wanting to do, but it's hopeless.
[Disclaimer: I work on Google Assistant. I just started though; I'm much more of a user than an engineer at this point.] I use it a lot for media stuff. "Play by ", "Watch on Netflix", etc. My wife is very fond of the combined alarm + YouTube functionality: "Wake me up at 7:00 AM with deep meditation music". My toddler has learned to say "Hey Google watch videos of dump trucks". I use it a bunch for basic productivit…
Google Assistant really wow'ed me when, to settle a dinner table debate, I asked "Ok Google, on the TV show 'Friends', what was the name of the game show Joey hosted?" Before that, I'd never engaged with this device, which we got for free as part of a promo, and which sat on our bookshelf doing nothing.
It truly amazes me that GA is able to give a relevant response here. First, Joey never hosts it, he just auditions for it. Second, GA reads a paragraph or so from IMDB's summary of the one episode where this happens.
Very impressive, IMO
(It was called 'Bamboozled')