Search without Search, Sort of, Maybe
February 7, 2009
Ina Fried’s “Microsoft Offers to Just Fix It” here describes an interesting twist on getting online answers without some of the messiness of traditional search and retrieval. The idea is that one of my dwindling number of Windows PCs has a problem. (What? A problem!) The user locates a Microsoft knowledgebase “help” document. The document has a logo featuring what looks like a young version of Mr. Rogers, my plumber here in Harrods Creek, Kentucky. Click the icon and Microsoft automatically (perhaps auto magically) fixes the glitch. I am ready for a fix to Word’s autonumbering features. I am ready for a fix for PowerPoint’s replacing black text with light blue text when copying a file from one presentation to another. I am ready for Excel charts to eliminate surprises when trying (note that I said trying) to customize an Excel chart. I am ready for Outlook not to corrupt its PST files. I am ready for Visio’s export filters to work without creating graphics excitement. And so on. I am ready for a search function that doesn’t motivate me to download an alternative from Exalead, ISYS Search Software, or another vendor including the IBM Yahoo clunker that runs on Lucene. The idea is that the user clicks a button and gets a useful “answer” is refreshing. I am eager to try this service. With more than my share of Word gotchas under my mouse cursor, I have to be convinced.
Stephen Arnold, February 7, 2009
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